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Show ALLIES DAZED BV DiSH OF GERMANS London, Aug 24. With a sudden-nes sudden-nes which apparently has temporarily dazed the a'lies. Germany has advanced advanc-ed in one vast concerted sweep along a battle line which now extends practically prac-tically from Lille to the Swiss border, bor-der, or a distance of 300 miles. The movements of the kaiser s forces for-ces in Alsace and Lorraine, if they have not been merged with the Belgian Bel-gian campaign, at least have been limed concurrently with the latter, so that simultaneously 1,000,000 Germans of all arms of the service have begun be-gun the advance through Belgium and across Alsace-Lorraine into France. There is no confirmation in London of the reported successes of the German Ger-man crown prince The admission of the allies, however, how-ever, that they have been forced to retire is open to the most serious construction. Credence Is now given to early reports re-ports that Nancy has fallen into the hands of the Germans. Nancy Is an unfortified town, capital of the department de-partment of Meurthe-et-Moselle, thirty-five miles south of Metz on tne left bank of the Meurthe and ten miles from the German frontier. It is one of the finest and best built towns of France, filled with historic memories, with a population of more than 90.000. Official Statement Obscure. Frequently the allies have been talc-en talc-en by surprise, Just what the French foreign office statement means Is not yet clear It is not regarded as possible, pos-sible, however, that the allies have been definitely defeated. That which both England and France warned their subjects to expect has probably come to pass a reverse. Germany has scored the first success. But the great engagement is still raging. On three Important fields battles greater and more sanguinary than the world has ever known are now in progress Altogether more than a nnlliou and a half of men are en gaged in these combats. Along 100 miles of territory, from Mons In Belgium to the Luxemburg frontier, one contest wages For three days 250,000 Germans have beeu locked in a death grapple there with an equal number of the allies, and the Issue is still undetermined. Crown Prince In Command. Then along the Lorraine frontier and extending over across the French boundary another great army, said to be under the personal command of the crown prince, Is hammering away at the French who have recently had things their own way in that vicinity. vicin-ity. Luneville and Nancy arc already reported to have fallen before the on-rushing on-rushing Germans who, with the crown prince leading his forces, are pursuing pursu-ing the French in the direction ot Longwy. Finally, a third great battle is under un-der way In Alsace, where another German army has fallen upon tho French In force In a desperate effort to wrest Mulhausen from the latter. Subsidiary to these three great battles, bat-tles, reports are received of a score of smaller fights linking together the three into one continuous struggle m i , . for supremacy along tho 300 miles of front ler A dispatch from Rotterdam tonight says the best Information obtainable as to the disposition of the German forces in Belgium is broadly as follows fol-lows The right flank, occupying the entire en-tire terrain immediately south or Antwerp is moving southwest in the direction of Lille. A second force Is moving on Maubeuge. fifty miles southeast of Lille In the department of Nord, and a third has captured the Namur forts which consist of nine ii rentes of steel and concrete surrounding sur-rounding the city. It is estimated that these three col nniiiH together comjbriae nearly a quarter of a million moa, The main northern Germau army Is advancing with Its front extending from Qivet, France to Diedenhofen In Lorraine |