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Show N FRANCE 1U51000 ,n Expeditionary (es Nearing Two Million Mark. E March Cites Proof German Power Is '.Fast Failing-. il GTON, Sept. 21. Striking the German power Is fast Jcame today in the announce-leneraJ announce-leneraJ March, chief of staff, .,ws from aU battlefronts was .,ly good," and that 1,760,000 j troops have now been em-overseas em-overseas service. S months ago today the enemy jll military power against the P's in Picardy in the great drive ylo end the war in a smashing oday he is fighting desperate-the desperate-the tottering Hindenburg line, ) 0 live system from which he '0 blow and back into which he juried. Side by side, British, p American armies have broken IN' he German offensive power, ' opinion here. Already the -sprees in France are more than ni? as the whole German army, ie of American lighting men jice is continuing at an even jfnt for their lavish expenditure H the abortive offensive, the ders have now been compelled decree to reduce the fighting , t" every infantry unit. Instead ' In each battalion, there are 3Ft50 under the revised organiza- ;o other way could the drain iS. To military observers this t every German battalion or tli-ust face an allied or American e same type that is at least IS ' stronger in fighting men. n: ses Heavy. if -jpcars good reason to believe c jrman losses in prisoners alone tide turned against them in reach well up toward 200,000. 11(I In guns and other material "' jeen computed. B steadily increasing superior-; superior-; man-power and war material "rnaud, military authorities here eihaps the most striking asset 'och has acq u i red in his two swift and victorious counter-the counter-the 'power to take the enemy ie tit will. No longer need, he " months, or even weeks, to or- 1 attack of more than local t is now possible, almost over-" over-" Vlng up the men and the rno- iCry for a thrust at any sector. K direction of the great French "ne whole front, virtually,1 is kept' "isiant state of preparation for 'Ifrarian army in Macedonia has en, and disaster of an irre-ntiture irre-ntiture may come to the enemy 1 1 Palestine the Turkish forces i:. routed by the British- In Si-tj.'it Si-tj.'it s are swiftly happening for ""it ion of an eastern front which I rk 7, . ,V1,e front "Hied at- aaln.st a foe discouraged and still ex- The Haverthih9 Austrian '"""""'alog me riaie tins summer. Officials Elated. iran1? officials- hoth Uied and Aroer-Th?v Aroer-Th?v tVS7 cauUou in predictions, nlprJ kC be6n unabIe t0 corrceal com-SIS! com-SIS! li' h0.wever- th,:ir Browing elation, i and there is no doubt that many of them here are looking forward to new and Hmn it successes before winter slows down the fighting. The situation on the various battle-; l rents was tersely summarized by General Gen-eral March today as follows- I "News during the week has been from an fronts continually and continuously , good. On the western front our new I lines in Lorraine were quickly stabilized. 1 The enemy has been hurriedly strength- j ening his lino of defense, the so-called : Kriemhild line, which lies only a mile or I two in front of our new line on a front of about twenty miles from near Maizeray to the Moselle river at Vandieres. We are now ten miles away from Confians and twelve miles away from Metfc. 'r "in Picardy, the British and French renewed their advance on the Carabrai-St. Carabrai-St. Quentin front toward the old Hin-denburg Hin-denburg line. In spite of the concentration concen-tration of the enemy forces defending this sector, they have made steady progress, prog-ress, and the enemy is reported to have lost very heavily. It is now officially confirmed that 10,000 prisoners hare been captured. "On the plateau northeast of Soissons, the French have continued to force back the enemy's best troops until they are now within half a mile from the junction junc-tion of the Maubeuge road and the Chemm-des-Darnes, and within ten miles of Laon, which is being shelled. "The reports in the press about the successful operations of the Serbian army on the Balkan front ore correct. The Serbian army attacked the Bulgarians on a front of twenty-five miles and drove them back about twenty miles." Americans Lauded. General March read a cablegram citing a general order issued by Major General Gen-eral Reed, commanding the Fifteenth Scottish division, British army, praising the First artillery brigade of the First American division (regulars) for work in co-operation with the Scots. The order said the Fifteenth had never received such perfect assistance in "taking over" op- erations, although it was realized that. ! the American division at that time must have been under severe strain and had suffered severe casualties. Answering questions regarding specific American units, General March said the i Ninetieth division (Texas and Oklahoma1 national army troops) is in a training sector sec-tor with the French. No commander has yet been selected for the Eighteenth regular division, which still is in rhts country training at Camp Travas, Texas. The 114th engineers of the Thirty-ninth division (Arkansas, Mississippi Mis-sissippi and Louisiana national guard , troops) has just landed in France. The Scottish division, it appeared, was relieving the First American division on an active front. General Reed's order said an awkward situation arose and that the voluntary action of the commander of the American artillery brigade, in remaining re-maining to join in establishing the British Brit-ish units and in giving up the well-earned relief for himseif and his men, had relieved re-lieved the situation. The order specifically thanked Brigadier General L. R. Hol-brook, Hol-brook, the American artillery commander, and Colonel Mabie, the med leal officer. If it had not been for the American ambulance am-bulance units. General Reed said, at least j 400 British wounded would still be on his; hands in this sector. j General March said that more detailed 1 reports of the American operations at St. Mihiel spoke highly of the French troops, which participated. |
