OCR Text |
Show HI EYEWITNESS ills TELLS OF BAT- II: . TLE SCENES m I TO 1 I I fffi 1 : I IM I' 1 Describes DUel In the Air Between I '' V Mil ! Operators of Aeroplanes. Is I ' R ' mv' i Much L,ke a I ' I fflu t 8lefl0 I ' I ' MS ' ' I-ondon, Sept. 20. Tho offlclal H F Hill i press bureau today gave out a state- B 1 , jjjjjl i nii'iit which Biiyn: I' 1 11 If Tho,lotlowliig dcscrlpttvo account, K I iqli which has been communicated by an K I IjiCf ucwltues3 at present with tho gen- I 1 fltli ci:'' heuduuarlera continues and sup- ' j Vjtl , p cmonts the narrative published cs- S tordny o tho movements of tho IJrlt- J jj lsh force and of tho French armies II 1 Mill, " llulnL'll,;lt0 touch with It: K. i jllllj Wednesday, September 23 was a II ' sjjji pcrTiui autumn day. It passed with- II 'I Bill! uUt ",Luul-1 :'3 sards major opor- w. 'i MUl ntlous. Although thu enemy rccov- li 'St ill urc(i tholt urtiiiu,y " tiiu i)iue,ui II 'I hJjjI near Pussy nothing more than Incon- H P foil) enlcncu was caused. Hj 'I , Hill Tho welcome aosenco of wind gave Wk 1 mm our alrluo" u chance, which they B I I! rf took vantage of h' fathering much H li a U Information. Unfortunately one of Kj I 111 our aviators who had been partlcu- B y j larly actlvo in annoying tho enemy R I llri 1,y dropping bombs was wounded In U 'fin il a tluo' ln lll ar UelnB aIouo m a II ',1(1 'I slnglo seated monoplane, ho was not H ra fc ublo to use his rlilu and while clrc- HJ 'H'l A ling nbovo li Herman two seated ma- H H chlno m nn endeavor to get within BY II M i ' pistol shot ho was hit by the obaerv- 1 Si II II I cr of t,lu t"ur,11!Ul machine, who was 1 lit il ft armed with u rlllo. Ho managed to BE Vt ily back over our Hues mid by good Hf j I ft luck ho descended close to n motor HI II M ' ambulance, which at once cc(ivc)cd Bg w M U him to a hospital. I il 01 II Horses Are Killed BJ i Against this may bo set off tho fact BJ : W I ' tlutt another of our liters exploded it BJ 'IS II ' bomb among some artillery horses, HI ! ij tf " killing several and stampeding the Hi B rj others. HI i On Thursday, September 24, the U ' il M R ll" W0:itllLr continued, as did the Bn I K 1- In the action, the heavy Germtm Hi Ij shells falling mostly near Parguau, Hi ' jm twelvo miles southeast of Laon. HB ' fjil On both Wednesday and Thursday HB fj!l tho weather w.'is so lino that many Hj ' ijjfj lllghts wero mado by tho aviators, Hi III French, Urltlsh and German. These HJ , W Ik j produced u corresponding activity ljj ; uuiang lhu uutlalr craft guns. So HJ IJI ' still and clear was the air toward HJ I I'll i evening on Woduesday and during HJ Ii tllu wholo of Thuisday (ii'at to those HJ f Sij ' not especially on tho lookout tho pies- HB ' ?) once of ueroplaucs high up above HH till ' them was first nuidu known by thu HV H ii! bursting of thu projectiles aimed ut K 'I ill 1 1 them. HK ' jlij! Tho puffs of smoko from the detona- HB j Jin tlou shell hung In thu air for min HK j( utes on end llko balls of lleery cat- Hk '" If tu" ViU0' heioro they slowly expanded Hjc .1 (IB and were dissipated. HJ Ul Concentratlntl Flro Hw 'Kji! ' From tho places mentioned as be- HH 1 lns tllu clllof tarBta for tnu cncm's Hu Hifi ' heavy howitzers it will bo seen that HK i HJ thu Germans iiro now Inclined to con- HI ' Hli . eentrato their lire systematically on Hi ' U?l dcllnito areas In which their aviators KHj , lll think they hsvo located our guns or KKf ' H on villages where It Is Imagined our KKf fj i f troops may bo' billeted. Tho result BB D ij i will bo to glvo work to local build- KS li f H ! H i Tho growing rcsemb'nnco of this 1B I t tiattlo to slegu warfare already has li j been pointed out. The fact that tho ? d l later actions of tho Husso-Japancso 1 1 5 j f war assumed n similar character was xlf thought hy uiMiy to hao been duo I to exceptional causes, such as tho jH unrrowncss of tho theater of opera- KBS tlons lictween tlio riiinese frontier HH fl on tho west and the mountainous' KwJ i Shi country of uorthoin Korea on tho! KHJ Big cast; the luck of roads, wlilch limited HHi ' IBI! t I til0 ("tU'llt of ground over which it whs possible for tho rival armies to maneuver, and tho fact that both fo-3 vero tied to ono lino of railroad. rail-road. Such factors aro notioxertlng any, liillue'nco on tho Important battlo. Nevertheless, a slmllhr.'situatlon has been produced, owing, first to tho Immense Im-mense power of reslgtanco possessed by an army wlilch Is amply equipped with heavy artillery and has sufficient suffic-ient time to fortify itself, and second, sec-ond, to tho vast slzo of tho forces engaged, which lit tho present tlmo stretch moro than half way ocross Franco. Tho extent of tho country covered Is so gieat us to render slow nuy of-forts of-forts to maneuver nnd march hround to n flank In oider to escape tho cost ly expedient of a frontal attack against hc:illy fortified positions. To state that tho methods of attack at-tack must approximate more closely to those of siego warfare tho greater tho resemblance of tho defenses to thoso of a fortiess Is ti platltudp but It Is ono which will bear repetition If It ln any way assists to make tho present situation clear. I There Is no doubt that tho position on tho Alsno was not carelessly selected se-lected by tho German stnff after tho retreat had begun. From tho cholco of ground nnd tho caro with which tho fields of flro had been arranged to cover all posslblo avenues of approaches ap-proaches and from tho amount o! work carrlod out It Is clear that tho contingency of having to act on tho defensive was not overlooked when tho details of tho strategically offensive offen-sive campaign wero arranged. |