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Show FILL OF BAGDAD III HONS Declares There Is Every Reason to Believe Two-thirds Two-thirds of Turk Artillery Was Captured. IO.M 'O.V, March 1 J. 1 p. in. After announcing the fail of L:;a gdaxl In the house of conn nons toda y A nd rew Ronar Law, chancellor of i he exchequer, said t here was every rea son to believe that iwo-thirds of th Turks' ailillery had fallen into the hands of th British or had been throw n into the Tigris. Jfif. Donar Law said the fall of Fag-jfiC-! came, as a. sequel (o a series of hril-" hril-" lis nt opera t ions carried out by iSritish and Indian troops with dash an-1 determi-iiHtion determi-iiHtion for which no pra ise could he ioo high. Whn Ccneral Maude, coininander of t lio Mcsopol a in lan army, crossed the Visrris above Kut-el-Ainara last month ' he. Imperiled the wifely of the Turkish army. The Turks immediately retired on Kagdad and were pursued with Die inmost energy. Many Guns Captured. Large numbers of prisoners and quantities quan-tities of materials of all kinds were captured, cap-tured, Mr. Honar Law raid, there being good reason to believe that t wo-thirds of ihpir ariillcry was captured or thrown ln;o the river. On March 3 British cavalry cav-alry came up with the Turkish rear guard i wenty-seven miles from Bagdad. After -an a' tlmi I he Turks retreated in I he night, abandoning a position they had pi epaivd. On March 7 British cavalry found the Turks in position an the Diala river, eight mil'-'s from the lutskirts lof Hapdad. The river, he as id. was un-fordnhle un-fordnhle and constituted a formidable ob-si ob-si ado. General Maude therefore wit h-ilrrw h-ilrrw Iiis c n va Iry an j brought the infantry in-fantry into action. Meanwhile the Turks had received reinforcements re-inforcements and offered stubborn re-MstaiH'e re-MstaiH'e along tho Diala. General Maude threw a bridgVi across t he Tigris at its confluence with the Uiala. Not u i t list and ins the hea t and dust, Mr. Ronar I -a w said, the British made a brilliant march of eighteen miles toward fiagdad and found the Turks strongly posted six miles southwest of the town. The Turks were attacked at once and driven ba k to their second position, two miles in the i ear. On the night of March 8 the British established a footing on the bank of the Diala. On the nth and 10th troop3 on the right bank of the Tigris, in spite of dust storms, pressed their advantage and drove back' the Turks to within three miles of Bagdad. At ihe same time the troops on the Diala thrust the Turks back on the city, which was entered Sunday morn- Illtf. Gives Maude Credit. "General Maude in these operations," Mr. Bonar Law continued, "has completed Ills victory by a pursuit of 110 miles in fifteen days, during which the Tigris was crossed three times. This pursuit was conducted in a country destitute of suoplies, despite the commencement of tiie summer heat. Such operations could hp carried out in such a country onTy after the most careful arrangements, mado for the supply of tlie troops thoroughly thor-oughly and systematically, had been effected. ef-fected. The fact that General Maude not only has been able to feed the arrny, provide pro-vide it with munitions and assure proper a trentton for the sick and wounded, but has been able to report that he is satisfied satis-fied he can provide the necessities of his army in Bagdad, reflects the greatest credit on all concerned." |