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Show H TO GERMANS ' I Speed and Power of Assault in EH Battle of Arras Cripples ' ' H Enemy. , H TERRIBLY BATT ERED H i H German Soldiers Without H Food for Four Days Wire H Entanglements Gone. j H BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN ! M FRANCE, via London, April 11, 4:45 1 a. m. (From a staff correspondent of H the Associated Press.) The speed ana H power of the British assault, in what H will probably be known in history as H the battle of Arras, seem to have thor- H oughly surprised tho Germans. So , H much so, in fact, that their usual re- ll taliatory artillery fire has been abso- ''IH lutely negligible in the last two days. i IH This is partly due, of course, to the j jH number of guns captured, to which t must be added the number knocked r i out by the British artillery before the :H actual assault began. It is also due ll to the fact that the Germans have ' been too busy trying to get their re- maining guns away from immediate I J danger to bother firing them at the ' H enemy. In a German artillery posi- H tion east of Arras known as Battery H Valley could be seen the remains of H twenty-four field pieces today. ' i A trip over the newly taken lines if revealed a condition of trenches close ! !H ly approximating those recently evacu- H ated by the Germans in tho valley of 'H the Somme. Many dugouts remained IH with only damaged portals, but the H trenches, including all communication H lines, have been unmercifully battered IH about. hour uays witnout t-ooa. h So successful was the artillery bar- ' rier set up by the British back of the ' H German lines that some of the Ger- il man prisoners reported they had been nl without food supplies for four days. jH The barbed wire entanglements pro- Al tecting the German, positions were ob- 'jH 1 iterated and only stray strands could H be seen here and there on the first line. The thoroughness, with which H the wire cutung war carried out by 'H the artillery was a big factor in accel- M erating the speed of the infantry in tho M attack. l British Swinging Forward. HH The zest of offensive warfare could 'H be felt in all parts of the British front iH today. Troops were swinging forward ' with bands playing gay tunes. The r M Scotch troops, behind their pipers, were particularly picturesque, for not IIH even the vissicitudes of nearly three ll years of war have caused them to dis- ' card their kilts. Out over the newly J won ground airplanes were scouting ' while beneath them were tanks at M rest The tanks had done splendidly vH throughout, especially in attacking IH strongly wired points with which tho IH artillery had not dealt. Somo German fH anti-tank guns were captured. Machine 7H guns and trench mortirs were taken H in such large numbers that they have not yet been counted. ol Capture Big Howitzers. 0 H A cavalry corps had the unique dis- E Unction of capturing two big howit- u zers. They charged these guns in the c open, killing several members of the (il crews before tho others surrendered. j A German motor transport column was i captured Intact. It had expected to Ljl meet German troops at a certain point but encountered British instead. The drivers said that when they left Douai rH there was no idea that the attackprs had reached so far. rl Thousands of German Prisoners. " Thousands of German prisoners iH could be seen along the roads today. jH omc had little round caps and others i H were wearing the great coal scuttle j jH steel helmet Although the intense cold -H continues, only a few had overcoats. 1 jH They are a docile lot and somewhat surprised their captors by carefully jM sorting themselves into their respec- H tivo units before being registered and jH temporarily caged. Smaller cages were i VM provided for officers. Four of the lat- l ter have been in a furious rage ever since they were taken. They were in H a forward observation post, they said, 'M and saw the infantry coming back H from their front line, but had no idea H that they wore actually retreating. H Their anger was due to tho failure of WM these troops to give them warning so H they, too, could flee. H |