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Show General Foch Executes Brilliant Surprise Attack At-tack and Captures a Strongly Fort i f i e d Building in Outskirts of German Base; One Hundred Prisoners Art Taken. RING TIGHTENS AROUND THE CITY British Make a Further Advance on a Mile Front, Taking Two Lines of Trenches; French Check Violent Counter-attack of Teutons Teu-tons Near Le Priez Farm. (Special Cable by Arrangement with London Daily Telegraph and International News Service.) LONDOX, Sept. 22. The first building build-ing belonging to Combles is in French hands. In- what is described by the Paris midnight communique as "a brilliant bril-liant surprise attack, " an isolated structure at the extreme outskirts of the German base on the Somme was captured by the French today. The building had been strongly fortified as a defense work. Three officers and ninety-seven men were taken prisoner. Simultaneously General Foch's troops rushed forward to the southeast of Combles, tightening the ring around that town. In this action forty prisoners pris-oners were made. A semi-official estimate says the German losses suffered in the vain counter-attack, around Bouchavesncs on Wednesday were 30,000. Unable to Stem Advance. The German commander tried vainly to stem the French advance against Combles by a sortie from the trenches south of Rancourt. It was nipped in the bud by the French barrier fire. The British, operating northwest of Combles, with the dual aim of breaking break-ing through to Bapaume and closing in on Combles, in conjunction with the French, registered a further advance on a front of a mile today, taking two lines of German trenches and straightening straight-ening out their front between the villages vil-lages of FIcrs and Martinpuich. On the northern stretch of the Anglo-German front, below Arras, the British carried car-ried out a successful raid, penetrating German trenches and inflicting many casualties. Waves of Teutons Hurled Back. The French earlier in tho day checked a violent counter-attack by tho Germans Ger-mans between Le Priez farm and Kan-court, Kan-court, driving back the Teutons storming storm-ing waves with heavy losses. The next forty-eight hours are expected ex-pected to witness a French attack en masse on Combles, with British cooperation co-operation from tho northwest. Tho British night report says that General Sir Douglas TIaig's troops during dur-ing the dnv ' pushed forward in several sev-eral directions." More than do, 800 prisoners were taken by the allies on the Somme from July i, when the allied al-lied of fen si vc began, up to September 18, the French night communication says. This makes an average of nearly 70d prisoners taken daily in eighty davs. Of the total, the French alone took ;u,oo0. On the Verdun front there was no action of importance today. The German Ger-man war office reported briefly on the Somme battle this afternoon, stating merely that apart from the artillery and hand grenade engagements th-re ' ' is nothing to report." BRITISH CAPTURE TRENCHES IN THE SOMME SECTOR I. OX PON. Sept. 22. 2:1." p. m. The British ;idvancel on a front of about a mile last night in the Somme yermr. soulh of the An-re river, y; e war office announced toil ay that two lines of hostile hos-tile trenches h:ni been rani urerl. "During the night we advanced on a front of about ;i mile." the statement, guvs, "capturing two lins of hostile FOOTHOLD GMED OT FRENCH Ifl COMES (Continued from Page One.) trenches, approximately between Flers and Martinpuich. Our front now runs approximately on a direct line north of Flers and Martinpuich. "The enemy's trenches were successfully success-fully entered last night south of Arras, prisoners being taken and many casualties casual-ties inflicted. North of Neuville St. Vaast a mine was blown up by us and the crater occupied." |