The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-28
Tells Of the Mel On September l2

though ours were never used for prop aganda.
 I have mentioned that I had 3lso to consider the effect of our official re- ports on our allies. This was import ant in our case because our allies re- lied entirely upon us
 One thing must be admitted, Wolff S
 commentaries on my reports, edited in Berlin, and intended solely for the neu- trals, were not happily worded. There was good reasons for the tone of these
 telegrams; but I stopped them, all though too late, as soon as I realized l the harm they did.
 ADMITS HEAVY LOSSES On the Woevre plateau, the evacu- ation of the salient was carried l through, though with heavy losses, and the Michel position was occupied. The | fighting was dying down by the 1Sth. (Ludendorffs brief treatment of the American offensive and the remark able feat of breaking off the St. Mihiel salient, is characteristic of his treat
 ment of American feats in the war. When he does not belittle them he ig- nores them so far as possible, all the while showing plainly how badly he was upset by the coming of the Ameri- can fighting mem.
 | According to Athe reports that reachd me- the continuation of the of fensive against the Michel position Gin front of Metz) seemed probable Alter the 22d the situation changed in front of Von Gallwitz's army group The Likelihood of an offensive here dimin- ished and a battle on both sides of the Argonrie appeared imminent
 Duke Albrecht's army groups sec tor. too. Gin front of Nancy) was con
 sidered in danger, but that was based
 rather on the conjectures of my col
 leagues than on reports l. on tne
 other hand, chung to my opinion that
 the development of the offensive pc
 tween Rheims and the Mouse was
 ,nore likely than an attack in LOT
 raine.
 Our troops had suffered severely;
 their numerical strength diminished
 exhaustion increased. The situaion
 grew steadily worse. but the line heIo
 with the exception of few weak
 places on the Second army sector.
 BLOWS RAIN ON HIS ARMf
 The army groups of the Crown
 Prince Rupprecht Von Boehn anu ol
 the German crown prince had carrieo
 ont the withdrawals from Kennel and
 the Lys behind the ArleuN- Moeus. s4,ss es
 canal. into the Siegfried system Cthe
 Hindenburg line) and on the Vesle The movement went without a hitch and
 was completed by the Eighteenth army
 which had furthest to go, by apoue Sep
 tember '.
 The armies had not fallen back ev-
 anywhere to the German trenches' they
 manned in some places parts or the oiu
 enemy line Everywhere the enemy
 followed close on our heels. They soon
 resnmed their offensive, which devei-
 ar1N
 euyres and Holnon Gin front of Arras)
 apainst the left wing of the seven
 teenth the whole of the second l"esl
 of CambraD and the right wing or the
 Eighteenth army, (west Of St teue!'inl
 ana between the Ailette and the Aisne
 against the left wing Of the N1nth anu
 the extreme right of the seventh army
 (Here the Americans were heaViis e
 gagged, battling for the hiils hor'h oh
 inc Vesle and west of Rhelms)'
 Fighting was very keen, but our me
 recovered itself except that in the
 Second army some weakness still re-
 mained. On September IS and l9, par ticularlv severe attacks were launcneu
 on the Moeuvres- Holnon sector; the left wing of the Second army was nressed back several Kilometres to the Scheldt-Oise canal, north or SI Queh , fin. the Eighteenth army being torceo
  form with this retirement.
 HEAVY TOLL WAS TAKEN ctherwise the line was held, severe local fighting continuing up to Septen : her 25 and 26 The French extended their offensive further towaros Se' Quentin It goes without saying that these days, too, took heavy toll oi our entire army.
 The German crown princes army group had taken over command or the Ninth army from Won Hoehn about the
 rnidd1e of the month This army and tbe rieht flank of the Seventh were constantly in action. The army group had to find it's own endorsements. Tension was particularly h1gn on hoth sides of Rheims and, after the 2zu also on both sides of the Argonne'
 where on the 26th another great battie
 was to break out. CThis refers to the
 American French offepsiveo Ihe com pletion of the Hermann line between
 the two northern army groups hau o pun and similar work was actlvely proceeding in the rear ol 'he 0" princes group. Behind the line between the coas' and the Mouse, the work of evacuatior
 was often interrupted by successiu | enemy raids. Huge supplies of mate | rial had to be moved, which were es- | sential for the further prosecution oi the war. Many sectors had worked on bad supply systems and the result was now felt. | The stro-Hungarian line heid III | Jtaly. There were no indications of an i Italian offensive.
 BULGARS DID NOT RESIST Thus matters stood when events Tn Bulgaria forced us to great decisions. On September Is, the armies Of the entente attacked in Macedonia, east of 1 inc yardar, in the mountins between | Vardar and the Cerna. and also with weaker forces near Monastir. on ooth Hanks the attacks broke down. In the center. where the attack wal 1 faced with the greatest obstacles (herf l tbe French and Serbs had to cross a l high mountain range) the Bulgarian l Second and Third divisions offered nc resistance, they simply surrendered the | uositfon. No other explanations exists 1 for the rapid advance of the entente | troops over broken country. eminentls | suited for defense. hilly, even moun' | tainous.
 | General Won Scholtz sought to bring | the Bulgarians to a stand on the sec | ond line by removing reserves up Tn good time, but his hopes were not real | ized. The Second and Third Bulgarian divisions retreated as if on definite plan. without any show of resistance | behind the Cerna in one direction anc l behind the Vardar in another. The | Bulgarian reserves, equal in strength l to three German divisions. did not fight | at all.
 The German troops which had re-