The daily Alaska citizen., 1920-01-15

in effect, altho not in terms that the American army won the war.
 "It was this spirit ol determination animatinl every American soldier, says General Pershing referring to the Meuse-Argonne battle, that made it impossible for the enemy 10 main tain the struggle until 1919"
 "Twenty-two American and four French divisions" say General Persh- ing, had engaged and decisiyely beaten 47 German divisions, repre- .entng 9 per cent of the en"my's entire divisional strength on the west ern front Of the enemy divisions, 20 had been drawn from the French front and l from the British front Of the g American divisions l2 had at various times during this period Sept. 26 to Nov. II. l9lS) been en- gagged on other fronts than our own The lst army had suffered a loss Of about IF 900 in killed and wounded, it had cautured 26 0O3 prisoners. S4j cannon. 5000 machine guns and large quantities of material
 With the American army holding the heights dominating Sedan the re port said. and the German line of communications definitely sundered recognizing that nothing but c"ssa ton of hostilties could save his armies from complete disaster he ap- pealed for an immediate armiatice (Nov 6)."
 General Pershing's report follows in detail the growth of the American overseas forces from the date of his departure with small staff, May 28, 1917. until it numbered more than 2,00O, 900 men Every step of or ganization, every conference with the allied generals and the important de cisions reached are recorded.
 The document comprising 2 pamphlet of about 100 pages. or 3500o words, is divided into three sections: Period of Organization" Opera tions" and Supply. Co-ordinationa and Administration"
 Summarizing the military situation which existed in the spring of 1917, when the United States aligned with the allies, General Pershing said;
 Tn the months ending June 90, 1917 German submarines had aC- complished the destruction of more than 3,250,000 tons of allied shipDin@, During three years Germany had seen practically all her offcnsivcs except Verdun crowned with success Her battle lines were held on foreign soil and she had withstood every attack since the Marne. The German general staff could forsee now the complete elimination of Russia the possibility of defeating Italy before the end of the year and, finally, the campaign of 1918 against the French and British on the western front which might terminate the war.
 Financial problems of the allies exhausted and their armies had sui fered tremendous losses. Discourage ment existed not only among the civil population but turnout the armies as well"
 Within one month of his arrival, General Pershing recommended def nitely that 100000 men should be in France before May, 1918. it being evident that "a force of one million war will be a complete, well-balanced and independent fighting organiza- ton" Plans for the future, the rec ommendation added. should be based on three times this force"
 The general was equally specific In choosing the ground for American op- erations. He says:
 Our mission was offensive and 1t was essential to make plans for strik ing the enemy where a definite mili- tary decision could be gained. While the allied armies had endeavored to maintain the offensive, the British in order to guard the channel ports were committed to operations ir Flanders and the French to the DOT tion of the front protecting Paris Both lacked troops to operate else where on a large scale.
 '1To the east the great fortified district east of Verdun and around Metz menaced central France pro tected the most exposed portion o the German line Of communications that between Metz and Sedan. ant covered the Briey iron region, iron which the enemy obtained the greater part of the iron required for muni tions and material The coal fields east of Metz were also covered by these same defenses A deep advance east of Metz or the capture of thu Briey region, by threatening the in vasion of rich German territory fl the Moselle valley and the Saa