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Show AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN PI AVE ADVANCE; AUSTRIANS' DEFENSES GROWING WEAKER Allies Capture Twenty Thousand Prisoners on the Large River Front in Successful Advance. Yankee Artillery Responds Re-sponds to Heavy Early Morning German Attack At-tack With Gas Shells. WITH THE ITALIAN AEMY IN NORTHERN ITALY, Oct. 20. (By the Associated Press.) The towns of Valdobbiandene and Conegliano, on the eastern side of the Piave river in northern Italy, have been taken by allied troops from the Austro-Hungarl-ans. By the Associated Press. In the Italian theater, ove:- a front of nearly forty miles from (he nrenia lo the middle reaches of the Plave river, the British, French and Italian armies see developing with success an offensive against the Austro-IIungarlans and are swiftly driving them from the mountain moun-tain passes toward the Austrian front and across the plains cast of the Plavo In northern Italy. American reserves are behind the lines, prepared to aid the allies when the opportune moment arrives. On all of the other battlefronts (lie allied arms continue to be served. In Belgium there has been little fighting except by artillery wings of the opposlnff armies, white in the region around Valenciennes Valen-ciennes the engagements between the British and Germans have savored more of outpost encounters than pitched bai-tles. bai-tles. In whatever fighting there has been, however, Field Marshal Halg's men have retained the upper hand and taken more prisoners and additional guns and war stores. FRENCH PATROLS KEEP UP WITH HUNS. Farther south the French are continuing continu-ing successfully their process of leveling the old salient between the territory east of St. Quentln and fccthcl. Additional progress has been made by General Dc-beney's Dc-beney's troops, nolwlthslanding the lo-lent lo-lent resistance of the Germans, who all along ihe front are using machine guns to retard the advance of the Frenchmen toward the Important railway communication communica-tion to thd east. In some sectors the Germans. are slowly retreating, but nowhere no-where are the French patrols permitting the enemy to get out of contact with them. Aside from artillery and machine gun activity there has been little fighting on that part of the front held by tho Americans Ameri-cans from the Meusc river lo the vicinity of Grand Pre. The Germane have been heavily bombing the American positions with shellR of all calibers, including g;is projectiles, with the Americans answering an-swering them shot for shot. The new big guns of the Americans are violently shelling German positions far behind the lines, taking under their fire towns of strategic importance from the standpoint of . communications and troop formations preparing to be sent as reinforcements to salient points of the crumtillng battle-line. battle-line. HEAVY FIRING OF AMERICAN GUNS. Confians, lying to the west of .Me'.r and the principal Junction point of communication com-munication with the big fortress on th Moselle, and Splix'ourt and Domniary-Bar Domniary-Bar on court- also important railroad junctions, junc-tions, ail were under a particularly heavy fl re from t lie A merlcan guns t brougliout Tuesday. In addition, American avlatora continually are lending their aid to the 1Ik Kuns in tho process of blasting enemy en-emy positions and troop concentration . points inside the German lines. In the latest operations by the aviators nine German machines were sent crashing down. . . Lutrc numbers of prisoners and numerous nu-merous Runs have been Utken by the allied al-lied troops in the big battle that in In progress on the Italian front. The allies, particularly the TJrltifih. are well acrois (Continued on Pago Tom.) AUSTRIA'S DEFENSES GROWING WEAKER (Continued from Page One,) the Piave river from where the battle-Jlne battle-Jlne In the mountains curves and bends southward toward the Adriatic. The latest lat-est British official communication announces an-nounces the opposition of the Austro-Hungarians Austro-Hungarians appears to be weakening in the face of the attacks of the British Tenth army, which is successfully driving northeastward. Reports are to the effect that an Independent In-dependent state has been formed In Hungary. Hun-gary. There are also reports that Turkey Tur-key has made an Independent peace proposal. |