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Show ILLl lS Left Center in Flanders Being Slowly but Surely Sure-ly Turned, in Spite of Desperate Resistance on the Part of the Kaiser's Troops. i LONDON, Dec. IS, 3:05 a. in. The Daily Chronicle's Dover correspondent cor-respondent says the allies ad- vanced to Westende yesterday, after the shells of the allied warships war-ships made the German position 1 there untenable. PARIS, Dec. 17, 10:55 p. m. The j following official communication was issued by the war office to- j night: i "In Belgium our troops have gained ground to the north of the road from Ypres to Manin and also to the south and southeast of Bix-schoote. Bix-schoote. "We have debouched to the northeast of Arras and have reached the first houses of St. Laurent in the Blangy district. "Appreciable progress has been made at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, Mam-eta Mam-eta and Mirecourt, in the region of Bapaume and Peronne. "From the Somme to the Vosges there is nothing to report." (Special Cable by Arrangement Wtth London Dajly Telegraph and International News Service.) PARTS, Deo.. 17. The German, left center in Flanders is slowly but surely being turned by the allies. Tonight's official statement contaius tho following; significant passage: "In Belgium our troops have gained tjrnnnd to thf north of the road fro.i Ypres to Mcmn. ' ' Th is, taken ,in conjunction with the other advances made by the allies to the east of Ypres. shows' that the Ypres salient, has been straight en eil tu the southeast anr it is now apparent that tin? line has been connected with t hat established by the British, which advanced ad-vanced to Passe hen daele a week "ago. The advance made at Gheluvelt, whore, the afternoon statement says the allies! have been able to strengthen their po- ; sitimis, enables the troops of General ( Joffro to strongly support this new bat- ! tie front. The 'fighting in this region ' has been continuous since the allies resumed re-sumed tho offensive three days ago. Battle Still Rages. The terrific battle to the north, where, following the debouchment of the French and Belgians from Mieuport to occupy tho line from the west of Lombaertzydo to the Georges farms, the Germans braved the combiued fire of tbe French land batteries and of the British naval guns bombarding from the sea' to attempt at-tempt recapture of their lost ground, still rages violently, The fighting is from ,trcnrli to trench and the bayonet is beijifi- used freely by both sides. The allies have been carry-ins carry-ins the fighting to the Germans with great dash and daring, but have been meeting with stern resistance. Bombardment Slackens. The naval bombardment slackened noticeably no-ticeably today. It is thought the British gunners desisted de-sisted for fear of hitting their allies, who were in such close contact with the Germans Ger-mans most of the time that they were Indistinguishable from the sea. The battle was renewed with great vigor vig-or toriav in the rptjion to the north of Arras Ar-ras and along the Oise and the Aisne To the north of Arras the French broke into the open and advanced in a series of charges that carried them up to the first houses of the town of St. iAwrent, in the Blangy district. Fighting in the streets ensued, the advance of the French being contested with great energy and determination deter-mination bv the invaders. The French established themselves on the edge of the town and now hold their advanced position. posi-tion. , , . , The war office announced tonight appreciable ap-preciable progress gained by the French at Ovilliers, JjZ Boiselle. Mametz and Mirecourt, and in the region of Bapaume and Peronne, on the front where General von Kluk was held for such a long period. Heivv artillerv engagements have been fought 'in the Aisne and Champagne re- E1Tracv-le-Val, once the storm center of the Msne battle, but recently a very quiet locality, again is under heavy bombard- mfn the Argonne district and in the region re-gion of Verdun, the big guns also are fighting scattered duels in which the Germans Ger-mans are suffering heavily because of the superioritv of the new French howitzers and the advantage the French gunners have over the Germans in marksmanship. |