Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-10-07

| IlUfltN OF the enemy, WHICH was com
siderably greater here than on the
fronts of the two northern army
groups. Our leadership was distin-
guished for exceptional calm and
| judgment, and the enemy gained
ground but SLOWLY
The continual and violent assaults
on the left wing of the LIST and on the
Bird army caused the army group of
the German crown prince to decide in
the early days of October to break off
the fight and to withdraw all the
troops to the Hunding Brunhild line;
l. e.. halfway to Laon-Marle-S issone-
Aisne from Rethel upward to Grand
| Pre-. CHIC. was unable to give this
group, which husbanded its men
carefully, any new forces. 1t ap-
proved the proposal, which was car
ried out as arranged in the days
ending with the 18th of October.
Second Divisions Great Blow.
The army group of the German
crown prince began in the early days
of October to withdraw the troops
Ibefore Rheims behind the Suippes.
In the night of the 10th-11th the
whole front from the Chemin des
Danes to the Argonne was given up,
after strong attacks had been beaten
off by the Bird army
Ut was the great attack of the End
| division in the Champagne. October
2-3-4, and the dashing capture of
Mont Blanc, the dominating height of
the hills east of Rheims, which caused
| this retirement of the crown prince.)
| By the morning of October 13, the
| 18th, 3rd and 1st armies stood ready
for defensive fighting in their new
and well-constructed line, and the
evacuation of the ground in front
| thereof had been almost completed
The engagements of the two last
mentioned armies at the end of Sep
| TENDER and beginning of October pre-
sent fine example of completely de-
| fensive fighting. of which the leaders
of the men may well be proud. The
army commanders, Won Etnem and
Won Mudra, and their chiefs of staff.
Won Klewitz and Hasse, once more
rendered their country exemplary
| service.
! The enemy followed up the retire
ment of the German crown princes
I army group theoretically between the
Disc and Aisne, and heavy fighting
soon developed round our new posi-
tons. In the sweep of the Aisne to-
| ward Rethel, the enemy advanced
more cautiously On the other hand.
he soon attempted, at first without
success, to capture the Vouziers-
Grandpre bend of the Aisne.
! American Pressure Severe.
| In the Aire valley, west Of the
| Meuse, the American pressure against
our 5th army was unusually severe.
The battle extended to the east bank
of the Mouse also. In spite of their
enormous numerical superiority. the
attacks of the youthful American
/ troops broke down with the heaviest
losses.
! Their success on September &c was
merely due to the failure of German
preserve division, and to the fact that
at another point their attack was met
only by a division, which, though a
brave one, was very battle-worn and
had an extended front to hold.
/ On the 18th the position was thus,
that we had fallen back on the whole
of the front west of the Meuse. ON
! the right wing the retrograde move
ment was still in progress. A serious
loss was the fact that in falling back
to the Hermann FIunding- Brunhild
! position, we had to sacrifice a num-
4 Der of installations that served the
convenience of the troops, For ex-
! ample, we lost a number of disinfec-
/ tation stations. which were a serious
! loss.
CHIC, anticipated continuance of
{! the attacks in the direction of Client
and Maubeuge, between the Disc and
Aisne, and between the upper Aisne
| and the Meuse the latter extending to
the right bank of the Mause l also
expected considerable wastage in
strength and nerves.
War WEAKNESS Grows
| At many points we had actually
| fought with success, and at others the
enormous superiority of the enemy
had brought him only small gains.
The result of the further fighting de-
pended mainly on the maintenance of
the mems morale.
| Every man required to be kept at
the front, and to be inspired with
the utmost determination. The armi-
stice offer had had an unfavorable
effect on the mems spirits, and war
weariness had increased. No stirring
call from home came as a counter
| blast, and the work of explaining the
situation seemed to have been aban-
doned there.
On this point there were many COM
plants from the army. In the end
the army and the population would
have to show their colors, and let it
be seen whether they were really de-
termined to fight, for only thus could
we hope to improve the morale of the
army. The commands and eXplana-
tons issued to the troops from Spa
were not in themselves sufficient.
The intimate connection between
feeling in the army and feeling at
home could never be more clearly per-
ceived than it was in these critical
days The army wanted to know defi-
nitely what was to be expected from
the people at home.
Lays Plans TO Destroy.
| The evacuation of the ground be-
hind the new positions was carried on
with all speed. The railways were
continually worked to the utmost lin
II of their capacity. Enormous mass
es of war material had to be dealt
with, involving weeks and months of
work.
| / laid great stress on the import
ance of thorough preparation for the
destruction of lines and bridges.
which could not but have its effect on
operations, and upon the removal to
| Germany of our own material. / con-
tinually discussed with the chiefs of
staffs the problems of evacuation and
| destruction.
| We dealt with the populations with
| the greatest leniency. as we always
had done. We have statements to this
effect from the inhabitants them