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Show "NERVOUS ACTION I OFTEHOIES I Failure of German Artillery to Support Infantry Breaks H Morale of Soldiers. H BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN 1 FRANCE, April 15, via London, 10:45 1 p. m. (From a staff correspondent of IH the Associated Press.) Fighting like H men with their backB to the -wall, the IH Germans are making desperate reslstr IH ance to the British advance, especially IH along the Hindenburg line from Queant H to St. Qaentin. This line has been def- H Inltely broken between Queant and Ar- jH ras; consequently the Germans are at- ' H tempting to hold from Queant south- IH ward. IH In the meantime, Lens vras-being an- H proached late today from three direc- H tlons. The civilian population -was H evacuated by the Germans on Friday; H no person was allowed more than thir- IH ty pounds of baggage. With the de- H parturo of tho civilians the Germans seized three months' rations gathered H at LenB by tho American relief com- H mission. IH Realizing that the important town of l Queant, the switch point of the Hin- denburg line, was threatened by the lfl close proximity of iho British, tno Ger- H mans early today launched an attack from there over a six-mile front While H suffering Immediate reverses every- H where elBO, they managed by tho con- H centration of artillery to recapturo l Lagnicourt, opposite Queant, which was taken from them soveral weeks H ago. Their victorj' at this point was IH short-lived, however, for the joritish H immediately counter attacked and re- H took Lagnicourt with more than 2Q0 M prisoners, and, catching the retreating Germans under an Intensive field gun M fire, cut them to bits. Thus ended trie M first real "defensive offensive the Germans have attempted since the bat- tie of Arras began. IH "From one end of the British front IH to the other the Germans are palpably H nervous and Jumpy. Where they have been driven from their old positions l they are feverishly digging at every IH opportunity, particularly at night Each M morning new aeroplane photographs show the results of the nocturnal ac- tivitles behind the temporary line. M most of the new trenches are merely emergency defenses built at angles IH with a view to giving cover to ma- IH chine guns with which the Germans M hope to delay the British advance un- til further work can make the rear de- H fenses tenable. H It is now stated that no part of the Hindenburg line was expected to be H completed until the end of April, not- H withstanding the claims that the re- cent western retirement has been en- tirely according to German plans. H Where the Germans still hold their l old positions north of Loos, the slight- yM est movement on the part of the Brit- l ish sends them into a panic. Flares H and signal rockets of all colors spring 'M from their trenches. Bombs are cast H into No Man's Land; trench mortars tM set up a defensive barrage and artil- H lery help is frantically called for. H I Spectacular Flares. j Some of the German flares and M 1 lights are most amusing as well as spectacular. Their latest star shells have a parachute attachment and hang H suspended in the air for a long time, H lighting up the surrounding country for lfl several hundred yards. They break M into three balls, and the British sol- H diers call them "pawnbrokers." 'jM "For our infantry, which since the H Somme battle has been on the defen- M sive, it Is from the point of view of H morale of importance to be able to H count upon artillery support Infantry M that comes to regard Itself merely as H a target for the hostile artillery must H in the long run give way. A prompt and effective reply to hostilo shells IH has a recuperative effect on the mo- lfl rale of the troops, even in the most IH difficult situations." H |