OCR Text |
Show YANKEES m ILL 0BJECTIKE5 Germans Surprised, and Speed of Advance Adds to Demoralization. Y IT H TT IK AM K RI CA N A R MY ON THE VERDUN FRONT, Thursday, Sept. 26. (By the Associated Press.) The American troops took the Germans some-wha some-wha t byB surprise by tlie sreed nf their attack t-xlay, and without giving the enemy en-emy time to recuperate they pushed him steadily northward. This evening the Americans between the Argonne and the Mcuse had reached Malancourt, Mont-fauenn. Mont-fauenn. Cuisy, Dannevoux and other towns along that lino. The example of intrepidity set by the Pennsylvania. Kansas and Missouri troops was followed by trie men in the other American unltf. The opposition met with at Montfaucon atid Pannevoux and oilier points indicated indi-cated that the German resistance was becomini; stronger, nnd it was apparent that the enemy had had time to place in position some of the artillery withdrawn with-drawn earlier fn the day. lAte in the afternoon the German aerial' activity increased, in-creased, indicating a determination to chtLk what had developed fo rapidly into a swooping advance. Tho w-irk of the tanks, which were manned by French and A merteaio, bnujcht praise from the staff officers. The machines, however, were unable to disrlay their ability to the fullest extent, bcr anso of t he boy condition of the terrain. The ground had been softened bv rains and, as the country is naturally swampy, the terrain was found to be ton soft in many places. Many tanks tie. a me stallfr I. but they w ere not dam-aced. dam-aced. as the infantry bad driven the ennmy well north wan! . Aviators Aid Troops. A mnt spectacular feature of tlie op-eration op-eration was t;e work of the aerial units. Tn.. aerial oli.Lrver3 were abln to a--npipiih little, until te afternoon, but hc'nr" the e'-boes of tho opening barruce b.ad died away tie pursuit airplanes were owr lla- German line.-. The rlnutl s made it apP1 r Improhab'e t';jt i! .to wo'.il'l b' a n- .creat display by t !' a'i:'. f ors and t lie foif seemed to hide the ere'iiy, but flyinu at a heiicht of less t!.m T'jn -..anls the airmen swept down on the (irrn ari troops In the line and on the toad-. .on trains were nttaeked and -it-ad h.'.r.s and debris blocked the path if t'fiov,. w!m shortly afterward .sought aw-nurs of p'treat. K the skies cleared. Ihe obserers ap-pea ap-pea e.l with their f Ik lit ins? escort? and 1 arlt-d ii ,iiet iall- tn rnrrn litis the aim of the iittihery. wdii.-h had ne er ceased its vicnnniM biirasslns fife. Ga-i f-iieMs werp used plentifully hy tlip mefieans in only n few instances, but when thev were, used the work wne done l I'ectlvh'. nne of (he rnre- subiected to a heavy at lack n'.n Va-iipjois. Tha t tdstnrlc place was known to lie well ("(milled. There was reason to be. lie vo that I he Germans miht lit llir.e t lie tori y ml'r of vibterra ue:t n passages iy t in- lhl'ot hood. It was flooded wil h Kas clouds and then enveloped I'v artillery fire, i.las also w.i". used against cettain woods, around which 'be. Americans afterwards marched, instead of goitre directly through them. Traps Escaped. 1 n forma t Inn rei eiv ei mih- t h-- day bp-fore bp-fore I ho a t taek ena bird I lie of Tirol s of jhr tank dela clmieii (s to oscupo the irai'js lontntcte.l at Keeral pho-os and silso thf baiterles of antitank mum. P.y in i da ft er noon every division he'id-qiiinler he'id-qiiinler be-an to look like, a prison camp. Groups ot" German prisoners from a half iio7,.m to l'i appeared at the luadi pia rt ers at intervals. A f I e r beirir I i tied tip n nd q nest Ion ed Kiev were sent on in the detention camps In the rear. For the ninpl part, the captured cap-tured men were cheerful, some Apparently W!, Joyful. Many of the prisoner.! were taken In combat, but the urealerpart of t hem bad been forced In take rover under the cnolheiiny baitane and bad been left behind be-hind bv their re rea t Ing ronipanlons. With them it wiik n ease of upraised bands. Several officers v.ete captured, but In this ha tile, as in previous oiikh Kemen t s. t he officers were well In tho rear w lien the ret Ii (Ttieut besan. Kverv objective was made nernrdlm: to schedule, and In some rn.ies ahead of time. The first objeeiivo was (jmnetl Just t'nriy minutes nfte.r tho Americnns started. start-ed. The l-'rench on llio left also kept up a swhi!;inr; stride. In telli-eticn rea chine 1 no Intelligence offli i'j today Indlcnled that the Germans bad expeeted the at lark to bo inado olse-Whe olse-Whe re. Allied avlfltorn eontlnued busy throughout through-out the da- behind (he German lines, nt-tacMiu; nt-tacMiu; va rloiiK la reels. Severn I tons of e plofii v cm were, dropped on tho town of I Miu-tair Aleuso. Fort ifiral inns Strong. Tim Hues frfun wbirb Gernintm wevp forced 1 o. hi v we ro eNcellenl ly prepa iad. a I'd II would have caused no surprise had I he enrmv offered Hticli re.-drdance as to ma he hi;', wi I In 1 1 a wal a tpier-1 Ion of da Vs In- lead of hours. Aeror the 'allev of the Ah-., the enetiiv bad HlW'H which had tnken moo' hs to pn-p at e. but 1 hp American ar-IITerv ar-IITerv a-nl In'aulrv forced the Gernuins in abandon theni wllliln Jess than three hour ., Th,. rir.-.t. etii'tny Hup wiih taken with n fu., 1 1 hi a few mliiutos, the ue.eond lino offered fn eater resistance and at the third line the Germans put up a fight that promised to delay the advance. However, the progress of the Americans was checked only briefly. One ravine in the path of the attack contained masted machine guns, which poured a hot fire into the advancing troops, but without breaking' the line. D urine; Wednesday evening- and ea rly Thursday the enemy a r til lory continued to shell the regions east a nd west -of MontzeviUe. but the fire quieted down soon after the American bombardment began. The American artillery had been so carefully placed, according to plan, that Wednesday night there was nothing for the artillerymen to do but to wait for the "zero hour." A number of long-range guns joined in the attack and from hidden hid-den positions hurled a crossfire into the positions behind the German lines. |