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Show MERCKEM PENINSULA IS CAP. TURED BY THE ALLIES AFTER MOST SPECTACULAR ADVANCE Battled Forward Over Morasses ir Which Soldiers Sank to Armpits. Austro-Germany Army Shakes Entire En-tire Italian Line. Paris. The French advance in Belgium Bel-gium continues, the war office reports. German positions were stormed Sunday Sun-day night and more prisoners were taken. The entire Merckuni peninsula, near Dixmude, has been captured by tli entente forces, according to the British Brit-ish official communication issued Sunday Sun-day evening. The communication adiis that additional prisoners also have been taken. The story of the highly important victory won by the French and Belgian Bel-gian armies over the marshlands ot Flanders Sunday is the record of a spectacular military operation, which before its completion would have been branded as impossible by the average expert. It is a story of men who battled bat-tled their way forward over morasses and through water into which they sank literally to their necks at times, and with rifle and cold steel conquered the enemy in a large and vital strip of territory which includes within its borders such places as Kippe, Merck-em, Merck-em, Ascbhoope, Verbrandesmis and Kostermolen. The striking feature of the performance perform-ance lies in the part played by the Belgians Bel-gians in the drive. When the poilus reached the neighborhood of Luyghem in the afternoon and began their assault as-sault on this place the-Belgians, wli. were watching from their lines across the floods, joined in and numbers of them, piling into the ferries, poled their way to the eastern shore and hurled themselves on the Germans concealed con-cealed in concrete defenses in the region re-gion north of Luyghem, with such good effect that they quickly captured this entire northern tip of the S'-called S'-called Luyghem peninsula. The Austro-German army under the command of Emperor Charles, whu has as his chief assistant the brilliant bril-liant field marshal, Yon Mackensen. are shaking the entire Italian line from the Julien Alps region to the Adriatic sea. Pressing back the Italians at several points on Italian soil, the combined com-bined enemy forces now have pushed forward on the Italian left wing and captured CIvidale, lying to the northeast north-east of Udine, and are nearing tli plains beyond. In addition, the Austrian Aus-trian town of Gorizla, a point of great strategic value on the Isonzo river, has been retaken from the Italians. According to the latest Berlin official of-ficial communication, 100,000 Italian have been made prisoners and in excess ex-cess of 700 guns have fallen into Austro-German hands. The second and third Italian armies are declared to be iu retreat. Rome admits the falling back of the second army, asserting that cowardice similar to that shown by the Russians iu Galicla, was exhibited exhib-ited in the face of the foe, the Italians Ital-ians surrendering or retreating without with-out giving battle, permitting the breaking break-ing of the left wing and thereby offering offer-ing easy access to the town of Civl-dale. |