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Show ENEMY MEETS DEfEAT French Carry Out Bril-; liant Attack and Win. CAPTURE GERMANS Veterans Go Against Wave After Wave of Infantry. : WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN j FRANCE. Thursday. April 18. (By the Associated Press.) The French administered a sharp setback today to1 the German forces which, aince the great push, have been hammering ; away relentlessly In an attempt to get astride the railroad connecting Amiens ; with Clermont. The attack was carried out brilliantly It began at dawn along a front ol about live miles extending, between Thionvillo Mailly Rainval. 1 The French captured several hundred , Germans and seised a number of im 1 pnrtant points which the enemy bad occupied. This ground has been the scene of nearly a dozen fierce encounters since1 ; April 4 in which the Germans have 1 used at least fifteen divisions. Before the French went over the : i top today, the Germans sent over poi- 1 Bonous shells, but did not do much harm. The French artillery prepara- J tion was extremely vigorous. Then the mfantrv went forward in a dense niist with a tine rain. Wade In Kneedeep Mud. The ground was in terrible condi-tion. condi-tion. The French went over their knees in the mud but those veterans of the Somme were not dismayed. On the northern flank ihr --oon carried the commanding heights. Meanwhile 'in the center wave of infantry enter-i enter-i ed Senecat wood, where numerous machine ma-chine gun emplacement- which defended de-fended the approaches to Cast el, were reduced and cleared up in most courageous cour-ageous style by grenadiers and riflemen. rifle-men. The outskirts of Castel were r ached and the garrison of that town was menaced. French Occupy Heights. Further south other French units occupied the dominating heights and I advanced toward Anchin farm on the road between Ailly - Sur-Noye and Morouil. Everywhere the German- of-! of-! fered the sternest opposition but nothing noth-ing could .stay the French advanc I When the fighting calmed down, prisoners pri-soners were still coming in A number i of machine guns fell into the hands of :the French. The German casualties I wore very heavy. " -no |