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Show PROGRESS OF THE WAR. As the Italian offensive began to subside into tho usual local operations, the British began a new offensive in the Ypres sector, capturing strong German Ger-man positions in an advance which was limited to one day. After that the British consolidated their positions, took a few more necessary positions and repulsed many counter-attacks. The fighting took place along an are ot eight miles, east, northeast and southeast of Ypres. This time the British-were able to operate from commanding com-manding hill positions against hill and dala positions held by the enemy. They captured shell-crater defenses, concrete redoubts, trench systems and other defensive formations to a depth of nearly a mile. They took such positions po-sitions as Glencorso wood, Inverness copse, the western sector of Polygon wood, Schuler redoubt, Anzac and a number of other positions, all of the greatest strength. Preparation for the offensive began with tho usual artillery bombardments, raids here and there so as to mystify the enemy and reconnaissances by aerial scouts. The artillery turned a destructive de-structive fire on enemy positions from the coast to points south of Ypres, thus keeping the enemy on the qui vive to find out where the main attack would take place. So heavy was the fire near the coast that the Germans felt almost convinced that, tho drive would occur there. In tho Ypres region they had been kept busy by British raids and by local drives for position, especially along tho Menin road, running from Ypres to Menin in a southeasterly direction. di-rection. When the real attack came it was launched north and south of this road. Each offensive seems to develop modifications mod-ifications of tactics. Usually only a single barrage fire precedes the attacking attack-ing troops. This time the British, owing ow-ing to tho time given the enemy to strengthen his defenses, were not satisfy satis-fy ' tied with a single barrier of shellfire, but put five into operation. Five barrages bar-rages moved forward ahead of the troops, thus catching tho Germans again and again under an inferno of fire as they sprang to their machine gun emplacements. em-placements. The Germnns must have suffered hundred's of casualties before they had a chance to resist the advance of the British, when the rush came they were speedily overpowered, 2000 being captured in a few hours. The to- tal in two or three days of fighting ex-j ex-j cods 3000. The British took all their principal objectives save one. The Germans were' abie to hold the powerful wurks known as Tower hamlet, southeast .of Ypres. Here the emplacements were -so strong that they were not badly shattered by shellfire and when the British stormed the works they were beaten back by a pitiless storm of bullets from machine guns. Back and forth the battle still continues to sway in this region, with tho Teutons still retaining their po- ; sit ion. : The British estimate that the enemy . lost 25,000 in killed, wounded or miss- : ing in a little more than two days of ' fighting. This can be compared with British casualties of 27,000 in one week during ordinary fighting. . In the regions thirty miles, more or : less, north of Kiga the Russians operated op-erated with some success against the 1 Germans, driving them back at a nuni- ber of points. The magnitude of the i operations and the extent of losses have not been made clear. Thebject of the Russians is not to recapture Riga., but to stem the enemy advance. When the R.ussians abandoned Riga and the Dvina river sectors they still maintained their forces on the west side of the river near Jaeobstadt. They evidently hoped that as they swung their line back they could pivot on Ja- i cobstadt, but now they have lost their strong defenses on the west side of the river and have fallen back to the eastern bank along a front of twenty-five twenty-five miles. Whether the fighting was severe remains obscure. It is quite probable that the Russians, finding their strategic .position untenable, retreated re-treated without much pressure from the foe. In Rumania the line of battle has not changed much for weeks. The Teutons under General Mackensen have not been able to attempt a big offensive since they were compelled to send reinforcements reinforce-ments to strengthen the Austrian line on -the Carso and Bainsizza plateaus. The Rumanians took advantage of the situation to force the fighting. Last week they managed to capture a height in the Ocna sector, northwest of Fok-shani, Fok-shani, but lost itSn a counter-attack by the enemy. British air and naval squadrons were active during the week in aid of the offensive of-fensive at Ypres. Airmen bombarded coast points as well as many positions back of the enemy lines in the Ypres sector. Twice Oetend and neighboring coast points have been bombarded once by a large force of airmen and the second time by a considerable detachment de-tachment of warships. Little has been said in Washington about the attack on American transports trans-ports which Secretary Daniels, as the result of an error, announced as an American victory. At first he stated that four merchant vessels were sunk and six submarines. Later he said that a mistake had been made and that it had been ascertained that only one enomy U-boat had probably been sunk. |