OCR Text |
Show DOWN IN THE MARNE SALIENT. According to tho best information obtainable from the battle front, the Crown Prince is endeavoring to ex-: ! tricate his forces in the Marne salient j without outward evidence of his weak. j ness. : Unless the German commander can ' turn on Foch and open up the salient, i the position of the Teuton army is j untenable and all the region back from the Marne as far as the Vesle river, which runs through Rheims, must be 5 given up. I I Since Thursday the allied attacks j have slowed down, which may be due I f to the reorganizing of Foch's troops j and the waiting for rail communication 1 to' be brought up to the most ad- J vanced positions. The district fought over is wreckage and the army going j ahead must clear away the debris I and open new roads. Having driven - forward ten to twelve miles at the most important points, it is necessary jj for Foch's engineers to undertake the great task of bringing railroad trains up to within a few hundred yards of j the battle. Many of the long range ! guns are on railroad wheels and are j not moved into position until rails have been laid. At present it is essential to have these powerful guns well to 5 the front in an effort to coop up the ' Crown Prince's army south of Fere- en-Tardenois. Hig'h explosive shells of the largest caliber are necessary to create large craters in the roads leading out of the pocket. As soon as a shell blasts a piece of railroad on the i line of German retreat, the enemy en- gineers are rushed to the spot and im- mediately proceed to make repairs. Thus the conflict proceeds, with one i ' (Side tearing down and the other build-: ing up. ( j If the allies can dominate Fere-en- Tardenois, they may cut off a very large percentage of the Crown Prince 1 troops. f |