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Show Ales Progress in Face; of Stiff Resis- j tance. AMERICANS FIGHTING Man gin Commanding Some of Finest U.S., Divisions. PARIS. Aug. 31 While the center! of the ninety-mile battle line was rel-j atively quiet, enemy resistance in-' creased, yesterday on both wings. He was unable, however, to arrest the progress of the allies. At the northern end, General Hornet and General Byng gained important J ground for future operations by takingi Bullecourt. the most solid position In! that sector. Last night's British of-. ficial statement admitted that Brit-j ish troops had been forced back to the western outskirts of Bullecourt. ' General Mangin attacked the south- J era end of the line. The region in I which he is fighting forms an elbow j where the line running from Dunkirk' to Noyon meets a line running at right angles across Franco to Nancy. Tus "hingo" position is exceptionally strong, since it is based north of Sols -1 sons on a high plateau overlooking the 1 valley of the Aisne to the south and the Ailette to the north. There are I wooded ranges of hills in this St. Go.1 bain country which dominate Laon and 1 a serious defeat here would oblige th enemy to make a precipitate retreat I and force him to abandon not only the line of the Vesle but the three linc.V formed by the Aisne, the Chemin-dcs-Dames and the Ailette. j Best German Troops Thrown In, General Ludendorff, in consequence. I has thrown in the best divisions ho j can muster. These are Alpine res' - j ments, Prussian guards and picked Bavarian and Saxon units. American Crack Troops in Fight, t j General Mangin however, has in h's ; command some of the finest American divisious together with elite French and colonial troops. The fighting during dur-ing the last forty -eight hours had equalled in ferocity anything yet seen during the war. Nevertheless, the enemy had to give way and the Franco-American forces! havo won half the plateau between; Soissons and the Coucy-le-Chateau. ; The Soissons and the Anzy-lo-Chateau I roads are threatened and tho Germans I are faced by the danger of the Fronchl getting behind the Chemin des Dames in their rear 1 Conservative military opinion herej views the situation with great satisfaction. satis-faction. It is felt the Germans delayed their retreat too long and that thcyj are fighting hard and sacrificing men to gain time because the Hindenburg; line is not yet ready j oo ! |