Evening star., 1940-05-23
Defenders Fight
FuriousIy to
Reunite Armies
By the Associated Press.

PARIS, May 23.-The French
armies, effecting what foreign mill
tary experts called a miracle of re-
organization" fought today with
new fury to reunite their northern
and central armies and chop of the
long, sharp spearhead which the
Germans have driven through
Northern France to the sea.
Pocketed with their British and
Belgian allies. the northern French
Army, using tanks, planes, motorized
units and artillery. engaged the
Germans in bitter see-saw battle
between Cambria and Valenciennes,
Is miles apart.
Here, at the base of their long
southern salient which extends
northwest to the Abbeville coastal
region, the Germans attacked to
make tighter and smaller the sack
in which they are holding the allied
forces of Flanders ESTIMATED by the
Germans at between 100000 and
1000 900 mem.
Lost Ground Recovered.
Frances Army regained lost ground
and began a battle of Flanders"
which a military spokesman de-
scribed as extremely violent"
The battle line extended between
Cambria, about ITO miles north of
Paris, and Valenciennes, about Is
miles east Of Cambria. The spokes-
man said see-saw fighting resulted
in the French reaching the outskirts
of Cambria, territory from which
they had been pushed by the Nal
armored columns.
Military circles here said the fight
ing was progressing satisfactorily
on the whole"
StabiliMns lines along the Aisne
ana Somrne Rivers were reported
unchanged. The Somme was said
to be held firmly by French troops
from Ham to Abbeville.
The battle jockeyed back and
forth along the Scheldt River, with
temporary advantages for both sides.
At one point the French, a mill
tary spokesman said, fought their
way down to the outskirts of Cam
brai, territory from which they had
been pushed earlier in the week BY
Nazi armored columns volleying
west.
French Fight Way North.
South of the salient, moving
from their stabilized line along
the Laon River, other French forces
were en- route north, fighting their
way from the st. Quentin neigh
borhood toward the Cambria bat
tlefield.
A halt in Withdrawals of the
French and British troops from their
lines in Belgium, north and west
from this main battle-ground, was
implied in military reports, accord
ing to the authoritative newspaper
LIE Temps.
The extreme left wing of the
allied armies, which swung into
Belgium on the day of the German
invasion, has taken up positions in
the rear of the Scheldt and Scarpe
Rivers, and the troops face south
and southeast against the German
forces which are swinging on the
Channel. .
The soldiers of France were
heartened by their governments de-
termination to cling to Paris.
Three Zones in Battlefield.
The northern battlefield was de-
scribed here as being divided into
these three zones:
/. A stabilizing line along the
Aisne River extending westward
from Rethel, about 100 miles north
east Of Paris, to an indefinite point.
2. The strongly consolidated line
on the Somme River, whose south
ern bank the French said was
strongly defended from Ham TO
Abbeville, an airline distance of
about 60 miles.
3. A jagged line of confused posi-
tions extending northward from the
Somme area and eliminating in the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. battlefield.
In the last zone German units are
pushing in between independent
French groups, while French scout
ing parties zig-zag between German
advance guards. This confused area
includes st. Quentin, Laon. and
Peronne.
French troops were en- route north
from the st. Quentin neighborhood
toward the Cambria battle zone.
The Germans continue to hold
Amiens, 70 miles north of Paris.
The Germans attacked in force
along the battle line running north
and northeast of Cambrai along the
Scheldt River to Valenciennes, but
the French stood their ground.
But while the military arm re-
ported this newest success in a
northern battle being fought with
the greatest violence" the Admiralty