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Show GEB?MS MAY STRIKE TERRIBLE FUNK BLOWj i Danger of Counter-attack j Not Underestimated by ' Franco-Americans. WITH THE AMERICAN ARMT ON THE AISNE-MARNE FRONT, July 25. (by the Associated Press) It would he j no surprise if the battle between the j Aisne and the Marne ends soon, or if the crown prince should force operations in a j new phase by massing troops for a tre- i mendous counter-attack on a new part j of the battle front, perhaps the flank south of Soissons, where the Germans already have offered sucli determined resistance. re-sistance. Although outwitted by the strategy of i General Foch and outfought by the Franco-American commanders, there is rio I disposition to underestimate the danger of the staggering German armies striking another terrible blow on either flank. The losses of the Germans have been enormous. They are estimated to range between 150,000 and 225,000. But it is obvious to all except enthusiastic optimists op-timists that the hard-fighting German armies are not too crippled to attempt retaliation once they are in positions chosen by the commanders, What lines the Germans will select for a new stand is merely conjectural, but it is believed the logical place will be that long" plateau southeast of Soissons running run-ning toward the Ardre river and to the junction of the present line from Rheims. If the Ardre is" not chosen, the crown prince has the choice of the Valley of Vesle, or even the old line along the Aisne. It is believed more probable that the crown prince will choose the Vesle region, re-gion, where the forests and hills west of Rheims toward Soissons would make him relatively safe for the moment- That he intends abandoning the territory at the bottom of the pocket that rested on the Marne is evident. It is equally evident that he has been forced to such a course by the reduction of his number of lines of supply. It is estimated that the Germans had : mobilized here between half a million and 600,000 men. To maintain a supply for these men, even with all transport resources, re-sources, was no simple task, and the working out of General Foch's plans have made the positions untenable. There has been a fierce battle in prog-, prog-, ress for the highways and railroad with : the hope on the part of the allies, per-I per-I haps, to close the mouth of the sack and smother the Germans. It is believed, however, that the Germans will be able to get out of their positions with the greater" part of their army. Although the Germans have been frightfully fright-fully punished on the line north of the Marne, the retreat to where they are now was not due to this punishment, but was made imperative by the slowly closing flanks, from which the big guns daily are reaching farther toward the German munitions arteries. The operations of today brought the town of Fere-en -Tardenols within striking strik-ing distance of the heavy guns, and, unless un-less it is successfully defended, a retreat re-treat necessarily must be hurried. In that region the Germans have a number of light railways; these once out of commission, com-mission, it would leave the Germans no choice but to hasten backward. Military students discredit somewhat the probability of an early counter by the Germans on a big scale, especially on the Soissons flank. They point out that the Germans seldom plan hurriedly, desiring time to deliberate as to their movements. These students say it is more probable the Germans will be content con-tent with flattening out and readjusting and restrengthening their line in a new position. There is reason to believe that the personnel per-sonnel of the crown prince's organization has not been materially altered, although it is presumed there must have been heavy replacements in it made necessary by the terrible losses sustained. In the north, Generals von Eben and Walter are responsible for the operations on the front of the Soissons flank. The remainder of the sector is being cared for by General von Boehm, his subcom-manders subcom-manders including Von Winckler, Von Schoeler, Von Kothen, Von Vichurd and Von Schlehow. General von Eben's section sec-tion includes the Thirteenth army and,1 General Von Boehm's the Eighth army. |