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Show Divisions Are Being Rushed to Protect I , 'Western Flank of the Defeated Army I WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN FRANCE, July 22, by The Associated Press. Frederick William, the German imperial crown prince, has been obliged to call for help from his cousin Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. German divisions di-visions from the army in the north have been hurried down to protect the western flank of the defeated army which has been driven back over the Marne and ejected from Chateau Thierry by Franco-American troops. The region immediately south of Soissons forms the key to the German position and here the enemy has concentrated heavy forces to hold the advancing Allies. The latter, however, how-ever, continue their progress although the fighting is becoming becom-ing heavier each hour. They have taken a large number of prisoners, more than 5 has been announced, and new batches are arriving. The nura-y nura-y ber of unwounded. prisoners, alone, jfar exceeds, the .to tal-cas-j t ualties of the Allies since their advance began. The correspondent has seen a large column of these prisoners coming in and from their appearance they were certainly cer-tainly picked men. The number of undamaged cannon taken by the Allies is very large and is constantly increasing, while quantities of ammunition have been captured. The advance of the armies commanded by General Man-gin Man-gin and General de Goutte on this flank averages ten kilometers, kilo-meters, while General Berthelot, who is smashing at the other side of the pocket containing the defeated Germans, is also progressing appreciably. The French, British and Americans are working in closest co-operation. LONDON, July 22. American troops yesterday crossed the river Marne between Charteves and Gland, cast of Chateau Thierry, and captured the wood of Barbillon, according to authoritative announcement an-nouncement made here today. The capture of Barbillon wood by the Americans means that the overseas men have advanced between three and four miles from their old position on the Marne. Chving to faulty working of the telegraph line between Paris and London, news of the French advance up to 8:30 o'clock last night is not very detailed. It is learned, however, that the French line now runs from Breny along the mail Chateau Thierry road lo Rocourt and then through Le Charme and Epids to the Marne at Charteves. Between the Ourcq and the Aisne the Germans again are making mak-ing violent counter-attacks but the French are maintaining their lines. On every front the Germans are resisting desperately and are making violent counter-attacks. Nevertheless the French troops yesterday yes-terday made progress along the river Marne to a maximum depth of eight miles. The object of the enemy counter-attack is to expedite the extrication ex-trication of his troops from the pocket between Soissons and Rheims. Meanwhile German troops on the southern end of the pocket must be experiencing great difficulty in getting supplies. Souther: of Rheims there has been heavy fighting and the i i FrtrTnave made progress. ; Between the Ourcq and the Marne rivers the French yesterday i took 400 prisoners. K The Germans are stubbornly resisting the French crossing of jf the Marne but the French have succeeded in getting two elements Ll over the Mezy and Courcelles which are constructing foot bridges I under heavy fire. The Germans arc using gas shells in large num-t num-t bers- Bj ROME, July 22. The Italian troops are continuing to gain HI ground in the bend of the Devoli river in Albania, the Italian war of-H of-H h'ce announced today. The advancing troops yesterday took a hun-l hun-l drcd prisoners and captured seven machines. I (By the Associated Press.) Rear guard actions are being fought rii the Germans north of Chateau Thierry. These were organized to de- Jay the pursuit of the fleeing enemy - by the French and Americans, who on Sunday passed through Chateau Thierry Thier-ry and advanced northwest of that cor. ncrstone of German conquest in eastern east-ern France. The reaction is marked between Grilles Gri-lles and Bezu-St. Gonmaine, two vil-;J vil-;J i?3C5 north-northwest of Chateau 1 Thierry at a distance of approximately seven and four miles respectively. Be- fl00 Griso"cs and Bezo-St. Gor- J fj Fialnc the, German attacks were brok- en and the allied line waG maintained throughout. North of the Ourcq river, the reaction reac-tion of the enemy was limited to artillery artil-lery fire. This was also the case between the Marne and Rheims, notably in the re-gion re-gion west of the Rheims mountain and in the Courton and Rol woods. American Troops Advancing. South of Soissons the Americans are reported to have advanced a distance dis-tance of a mile and a quarter, In the Ourcq valley the allies are steadily pounding their way toward Nanteu Notre .Dame. Southwest of Rheims there seems to be an indication that the allies have initiated a new drive for the purpose of outflanking the Germans between Marfaux and Cha-tillon. Cha-tillon. Allied "Nutcracker" Moving. If this last movement develops, the allies' "nutcracker" will be in full motion. mo-tion. Between the. allied front south of Soissons to the town of Bouilly, southwest of Rheims, there is a gap of about 24 miles. If the French, Italian Ital-ian and British troops southwest of Rheims make an advance of any importance, im-portance, the position of the Germans further south will be made even more critical than at present. Three Enveloping Movements. There appear to be at least two, and possibly three, enveloping operations along the western side of the salient south of Soissons. The first of these, evidenced by the breaking through of the allies northwest of Chateau Thierry, Thier-ry, forced the Germans back from the extreme tip of the salient. The second enveloping movement is proceeding up the Ourcq valley and at last accounts was very near Oulchy le Chateau. The third is the advance of the allies couth of Soissons. Thus Foch has projected tentacles eastward to catch the Germans Ger-mans retreating fromj the Marne. If another claw is thrust out from the Rheims salient, the situation will become be-come much more perilous for the enemy. en-emy. There are few details of the fighting between the Aisne and the Ourcq. It appears, however, that the reported advance of the allies south of the Aisne below Soissons, is simply the carrying out of the French strategic plan of keeping the Aisne on the French left flank. The actual occupation occupa-tion of Soissons would be a matter of slight importance In comparison to the demoralization or capture of the German armies to the southward, iichappeanJ.Jiavebeen in Gen-'eraT'Fbch's Gen-'eraT'Fbch's rnFncfas'a possibility "When the smash on the German flank was begun by General Mangin on Thursday Thurs-day morning. British forces on the northern side of the Plcardy sector have gained further fur-ther ground near Hebuterne, while east of Amiens, near Arras and In the Lys salient raiding operations charac terized the activities of the British last night. PARIS, July 22. Strong counter-attacks delivered last night by the Germans Ger-mans on the front between the Ourcq and the Marne wore broken by tho Allies, tho -war office announced today. to-day. Tho Allied positions have been maintained. Tho enemy counter-blows wore delivered de-livered In tho region of Grisollcs, sov-en sov-en miles northwest of Chatoau, and Beau St. Gormalne, four miles nortJi of Chateau Thierry. North of the Ourcq and between the Marne and Rheims the enemy's reaction re-action was limited to artillery fire. The fire was particularly notable in the region of tho woods of Courton and Roi. British Gain Ground . LONDON, July 22. Further ground has been gained by the British in the Hebuterne region on the front bo-tween bo-tween Albert and Arras, the war offico announced today. The British likewise like-wise in conjunction with tho French, carried' out a successful enterprise to the south of Vlllers-Bretonneux, east of Amiens In which prisoners were taken. The German trenches were entered during tho night by British raiding parties at several points on the front, including Neuville Vitase and north of Bailleul and prisoners taken. The statement reads: "Further ground was mado by our troops yesterday southeast of Hebuterne Hebu-terne and a hostile bombing attack was repulsed. We captured a lew prisoners. "In conjunction with French troops wo carried out a successful minor enterprise en-terprise last night south of Villers Bre-onneux, Bre-onneux, capturing a few prisoners and machine guns. "Our raiding parties entered the enemy's en-emy's trenches during the night at Neuville Vitasse. at Calonne-sur-la-Lys, and north of Bailleul and brought back prisoners. A hostile raid In tho last montioned sector wns repulsed. "The hostile artillery was active in the Locro sector." Foch Offensive Continues PARIS. July 21. Commenting on tho German withdrawal on tho Solssons-Chateau Solssons-Chateau Thierry line, Marcel Hutin in tho Echo do Paris remarks: "Tho offensive continues ours." It has needed all tho reserves which promised victory to the German people, peo-ple, he says, to attempt to stop the Allied progress which continues, nevertheless. nev-ertheless. Tho enemy has been forced to resist to tho last ounce. Germans Shot Down PARIS, July 22. Lioutenant Rene Fonck, a leading French ace, brought down two German airplanes on July 16, two on July 18 and three on July IS. Fonck's total officially is 56 machines. ma-chines. AMSTERDAM, July 2. Lieutenants Lieuten-ants Fricderlch and Kirchsteln, members mem-bers of the von Riohoften squadron have fieen killed, says the Lokal An-zclger. An-zclger. Fricderlch was credited with 21 victories and Kirchsteln with 27. |