Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-07-27 | Page 1 | Decisive Battle of War may be Forced by Foch

on si nil! u n U b i A L Fourth Anniversary of War to Be Ushered in by Flame of Fighting Raging From East of Rheims to North Sea. STORM TO COME AFTER THE LULL Allied Offensive Slows Down, but Has Not Been Checked; Germans Ger-mans Slaughtered by Yankee Machine Guns. WASHINGTON, July 26. Behind the apparent lull in the struggle around the AIsne-Mame salient today, the high command com-mand of the allied and German armies may be setting the stage- for tho decisive de-cisive battle of the war. In that event It seems more than likely to observers here that tho fourth anniversary of the conflict will seo a flame of fighting raging rag-ing from east of Rheims to the North sea; but with tho crucial conflict in progress somewhere just north of the Marne. There Is nothing as yet in reports to show General Foch's plan. Flickers or fighting have occurred to the north that may have more than local significance behind them. There is some evidence of a feeling here that tho time has not como yet when a sufficient American army has been assembled in France to warrant passing definitely to offensive tactics. SITUATION AT THE FRONT CHANGED. It was recalled today that General March recently indicated to members of congress that this was not to be expected expect-ed until later in the year. The situation has changed greatly at the front i-;lne, then, however, and only development a there will show what decision has been made. At first it appeared t hat the: fierce counter-attack launched by General Foch on the western side of the AiHiie-Marne salient was Intended only to offset On; ( Jcrman el fort to encircle I Uflms a nd furth'T exploit the menace toward i'arl?. As success followed Fra nco-A imTica n troopH, and a.-j the Italia j;h and J "r!t iwh joined, tho natui e of the opera 1 1 mi changed. It wan clear that the table:- had be on turned on the enemy a nd that the new tactics lie had attempted l apply ap-ply to Rheims were In turn being applkd to his armies. GERMANS QUICK TO REALIZE DANGER. The cn-miy wa s quirk to n-a ilze Ins danger. J'.'-hind a Mubb'irn rear ,uard bo drew back across the Marne and t or lay was apparently f-'til! i- tin j..';! ink-northward ink-northward out of the depth of the pocket in which he had been caught. To save his advanced forces here, rst. rves have been called to hold apart the jaws of the great trap until the urrnks of the crown prince could escape. Yesterday, the advance of the Hritili northwestward from the region of Rheim:! aroused hope among officials here t ha t the allied forces mirht be ;alfle to spring the trap. The lull today seemed to indicate indi-cate General Foch w.i s not pr- pared at this tl rnc to press his nd van la f;e to his full power in that direction. The pocket is not as yet km ftlciently narrower! at the top to prevent wit h-drawal h-drawal of the German armies falling hack from the Marne. officers believe. That the main pressure of the allied troops today to-day was rat her a gai nst the blunt Hpe than ua i nsl thet extended sieles of I he salicn t was taken as an ind lea Lion that the supreme commander was bent on (Continued on Pago Five.) CRUCIAL CONFLICT 1 PBLE1I1 i , (Continued from Page One.) forcing his opponent 4ut of the pocket than to trap him in it. Should General Foch feel that he should still await the coming of more American troops to give a decided preponderance in numbers, officers anticipated that he would continue to hurry the retiring enemy en-emy flank and front, exploiting his pres- i ent victories to the fullest possible extent ex-tent and forcing the enemy to decide upon making a stand. When that line was reached or approached, however, a sudden transfer of allied offensive tactics to the Pieardy or more probably the Flanders front would be natural.