The Washington herald., 1918-07-20
VICTORIES RECENTLY
WON HAVE TURNED
TIDE OF BATTLE
coNrINuHD IRON PAGE ON

T..
troops In France.
They had been assured they
say" declares one Of these dis
patches. that the American aid
was nothing but q gigantic piecs
Of blur snd that they would
scarcely be able TO put more than
| few insignificant troops into the
line. The surprise effect caused by
the brilliant operations appear to
have impressed the enemy 90
much that he ala not attempt any
opposition.s
Another dispatch 10 the French
Embassy. speaking Of the surprise
TO the enemy In the attack between
the Aisne and the Marns, said:
The surprise was 90 complete
that soldiers and oniicers were
caught In . deep sleep. A group
OF Germans were surprised while
they were In the act Of cutting bar
ley In the zelda Some prisoners
taken In the preceding days In a
surprise attack declared that their
omcers had assured them that there
was absolutely nothing 70 be fear
ed seeing that the French were In
capable Of attempting the slightest
Offensive for some time to come.
Supported By T.nka
Certain enemy divisions were re-
nevins each other. Our attack was
powerfully supported BY tanks that
We were able TO bring up in the mid
Ole OF q storm near the scene of the
combat This circumstance contrib
uted In not giving the alarm TO the
ThA Ran1Ny ~
tillery was rather weak, and the
Franco-American troops. animated
with . superb dash. were quickly able
to reach their first objectives, upset.
ting the enemy and seizing his posi-
lions.
The help given by the aviators was
of q very active nature. They spot
ted the enemy positions ana bonn
barded his concentration points. II
was thus that trains loaded with Ger
man troops bringing up reinforce
ments were stopped, fired up by bom-
bardiers.s
The comments Of the German pa
pers, a. quoted In diplomatic dis
patches received here, make no men,
ton whatever OF the Franco-American
drive, but are typical in their careful
reflection Of the official German COM
muniques, now strangely brief, and
referring only to the German ''of-
fensive.
For the most part, the dispatches
state. these comments are in the ma
ture OF explanations intended to give
the impression .'that the present situ-
alton does not in any way resemble
the preceding offensive"
Press Comments Brief.
They add little to what the oficial
German communioues have TO say.
The Berliner Tageblatt considers "the
victory Is not complete" meaning,
OF course, the German victory" The
Strassburger Post says the '-ressst-
ance Of the enemy has been stubborn
and intense south Of the Marne."
The Frankfurter Zeitung, In attempt
ing q resume OF the situation. says
that ''the territorial gains OF the
first day are less important than on
previous occasions" and adds, In it's
attempt to explain this difference,
that the ground was excessively dif-
ncult so that the conquest Of the
first enemy lines was thil time par
dcularly arduous because the Marre
on one side and the presence OF
hills on the OF 1e- must have i'm
peded the march Of the assailants." :"
The very poverty Of the comments
a ems TO reveal the. disappointment
Of the German public, =
The fall OF scissors was generally
predicted here late yesterday. Allied
military officers stated that although
confirmation OF the capture of the
railroad center had not been received
from field headquarters, Il was ap-
parently a matter Of q very short
time
A prominent British officer said, ct
is apparent that the allies are now
inflicting the same variety Of tactics
upon the Germans that the Germans
used at Cambria And II is safe to
assume that the same result will fol-
low-namely, that the Germans viii
be forced 70 fall back.
Big Retreat May BE Forced.
THE Germans by placing strong
troops at Scissors and other strategic
points. may be able to hold I'd the
allies for two or three days, but il
would appear that q general retreat
back to the Chemin des Danes Ia in
evitable. Such q retreat would display
the exact condition Of the German
morale, for II Ia when an army is in
frantic retreat that the courage or
despair Of its men count so heavily in
avoiding or bringing about . disaster. i"