Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-27 | Page 6 | French Still Win Battles

FINCH STILL 111 BUTTIES Violent Counter-attacks of Huns Meet Defeat in Every Instance. WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN PRANCE, Oct- 26, 2:30 p. m. (By the Associated Press.) The operations begun Thursday between the Oise and the Peron rivers by General Debeney's army and on Friday by the Fifth army northwest of Sissone, has gained considerably in advance ad-vance and are gradually taking on the proportions of a great battle. General Guillaumanfs forces, attacking from the right pocket north of Sissone, of which the Mortlers-Marle line Is the axis, has continued its advance, overcoming a series of obstacles quite as strong as any heretofore encountered. In the center cen-ter the village of Mortiers was captured and General Debeney's forces, attacking from the left, reached a point two miles east of Lucy. The First army this morning took 800 prisoners and fighting continued intensely intense-ly on the line of hill 120. hill 100, Cery farm, the village of PJeine-Selve, in which a violent infantry engagement took place, and Fremont wood, to the east slope of hill 115. which Is only about two miles west of the river Peron, on a line east of Ribemont. Mortiers, occupied by General Mangin, was one of the strong supporting points of the Hunding positions north of the Serre. The French troos all along the battlefront have hnd to face newly slrengTlu-iH-d positions, frcm behind which "German artillery and machine guns are keeping up a heavy fire. , General Gulllai'rrant's forces encountered encoun-tered five success! vo lines of wire, bo-hind bo-hind which were the same number of line of trenches, fortified with concrete and deep nrmored shelters characteristic characteris-tic of the German field works. The enemy's infantry, as well as hla artillery, reacts violently wherever French troops make inroads Into the German lines. Itst evening the enemy counter-' counter-' attacked with great energy In the neighborhood neigh-borhood of the village of Petit Caumont, endeavoring' unsuccessfully to drive M;n-Rina M;n-Rina troops bey jrt( the Souiin-z. The Tenfn army maintained its positions and took prisoner and supplies. The German counter-attack In that region re-gion was preceded by artillery propa ration ra-tion at the moment when the French troops were advancing tog the attack. Mortiers conMitut"s an important briuge-head briuge-head north of the Serre. the possession of which will facilitate further operations againtt the German positions in that region.