Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-03
GERMAN RETREAT A
ROUT, EXPERT SAYS
Retirement Becomes a Scrambl,
and Destructive 10 Hun,
He Points Out.

Washington, Aug 3 The uaratuafior
- thus anaiyzed by a prominent miltary
commentator:
"lhe elimination of Foch's glrategy M
the present attack has alnost bern
reached The German retreat has ceslsn4
| 10 be the Or,icrly. stubborn thing whi,t
we have been reading ~ for The past 'qyr
~ccks. u has become, through tho nfcn
/ lfy ~ the allied pressure very hurricd an.
+ prccipltate and most Destructive
The Allies operating Du the north sh
south line through -pssSus er(slcd al uf
! the German calculations frat hy thc cat.
/ turc # The Butte If CbalrGout aud batter
/ Nv the capture II Hlll lOJ, which uas caa
/ mentnd upon yc7tcrday
! hcsc tpOk the heart out ~ thc lr
/ fcnac, and opened pp tho oogntr. back
/ the German p01tious fpr many mlie+ G.
vas nm advantage whfch could rpt bf ,qi't
stood. and the actjVty ~ idr Fronoi
commander permitted hrn ~ rrtp n
immediate harvest from h,s 0'nr,,
Huvs o~IT HopT cp<r.
"Only ono hcpo remained ~ Hc g.r
mans The hei2hts along tho olvter-
of the Crgr River This ngcr NJ
through ~oissn1F ITS confluence
the Aisnc beng at thc iouo NhIr
river the usc i7 insignificant
nothing but narrow shaIloa' rraek
It Is ncverfhelesg dcfcr.gc -ogfiorl
considerable value bY reason ~ t tecf.
banks and the heights which crown .hnm
II the Germans rl8sd have r1adr
stand behind this screen they III gh+ barr
bcen able ~ stern the advance Iong enough
- make new and more effective dgvrs.i.
tions of their troops and hy ehr tdd-ou
of fresh unit take .tc Urt 14t /; ttr
attack oy bringing b - = aat
WORST R.TTLrs ~ Hfaronv
n appears however. 'hat tac D.o--
mans we're beaten t0o badly T'ho Sgh'
ing for The last fVo 9ceks Fac hrc-i r,r.-f
bitter II Is doubtful 'hr Har has -~r.,
more persistent. more yloi1rs battles a.ar
those whjch this front haz toen org gagrl I,
The Germans mrrr battling M vo-
disaster. the French and American to s-..
pose disaster m drfcatnd foe Wight sod
day the fighting continued without W .1
~ here must ~ = init III human
endurance FI'ter 'hc Miles had " vivr
no the attark 0r M German defense gad
~ break Fne ant- rad horn -cs~hed
something tad ~ c~ack Md THAT v1ylc
vas forced ~ crark whose morale was
Iowcqt
KAISER TRUTHFUL poP ovrE
The German haiser never sa,o an,-
thing IN hIs l,fe half ~ t-ie as ~ rn-nars
ln the early part If the Wepk that Y v the
spirit which brings the derIsInr VA taa
French were supported in fhIs Eyht tt
$50 90 troops not trst-oass t-oors aa
measured bv their experience M Furr-
pean battlehelds not iirst-class -rr0r,e AL
neasured by length of time ~ tae trenchcs
and familiarity wth modern war as X
has been waeed In Europe aut 'roora
~ the very highest c.ass IN qnrh 4nc
IN spirit, troops who Aad NOT crown
war weary, tired and stale INIT v1o
were fresh, eager, full ~ initiative. anc
Of the spirit that knows no defear
AMERICAN TROOPS PRAISED
What they NAV have lacked IN evneri-
ence they were furnished hv the rpncn
And the French, weaued nv their 'lng
wears of the mor grVell1g exoerence.
were spuued on bv the spirit oi tne
forces which supported them. he eIe-
rnenr Of morale Is not measured il num-
bers. it cannot be hecause it Il an ,n-
tangible thing. 10 .s. nevertheless. tna
most potent factor IN IN army Sic
ccss. And It was the morale OF he Allies
in this fight which beat down the morale
of the Germans.
1T was the German defense xhicu
cracked and gave the Allies their ep-
portunIty Moving forward from Har-
tennes and from Grand RozCv tar
French and Americans forced ther Ray
up to the Cr,se and turned +. at s
point OF origin But they did not stop
here. On he contrary trev crossed
the rayIne ard reached rhe EASTERN liD.
clearing the way 10 All mEn ground as
far rs the junction of The Alsne and rhe
NeSlc
- 49,, - ILL -
German lines IN scissors. and the tier-
mans were forced 70 begin their eyacua-
tion IL the town The Allies have aJ-
parentiy not completely occupied she
town, Friday afternoon but nave pefe-
-reted il and are fighting IN the streets
But 1t Is very short time now before the
viii be complete.
HUNS MUST RUN OR BE CAPTURED
IS matters stand, there Is b small
angle between the allied lines and the
Alsnc, which the next 0Ish viii occupy.
This Will completely isolate scissors
rom the southern bank pf the stream
As the bridges which connect scissors
Rith the northern bank have probably
,eon destroyed long since By artillery
ire, the Germans who are srji. wI~hin q he
own holding Il Will either Eave 10 va
ate wit hin the next twenty-:our hours
" be captured. here cannot RE mura
ioubt that they viii follow the former
.oursc.
TN. the remainder of the sa,leut 'h.
.llied Gains were none the less ronspicu-
,us The hold which the Ccrman- were
IN thc eastern haf As- been
udely broken, and the Allies forged
head for from three 20 five miles
''Nille-en- TardenoiS. che stumbling
lock in me east has tccn raseH sr
laced we'll behind the allied line Slowly
he entire salient ls being SGuee1el out
ntll hut little now remains The salient
SIS become . shallow bulge
There does not seem - he very much
hance Of capturing any material numbers
{ men There appears 70 ~ sn excellent
hance 10 do untold dsmsee 20 German
Material and supplies And this s what
och Is after Just IS much as the non
lvolvcd