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Show INS SHOWING BETTER MORALE Prisoners Captured in Good Physical Condition and Aware of Peace Efforts. SURRENDER TO YANKS Withering Fire Too Much fori Troops to Hold Up Under at Inecourt. WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES NORTHWEST OF VERDUN, Friday, Nov. 1. (By the Associated Press) Most of the prisoners captured by Americans today were in excellent physic.il condition and displayed better bet-ter morale than usual. They were cognizant of the efforts of their gov-1 ernment to secure an armistice and while apparently overjoyed at the probability of an early peace, were of that class that has been disciplined j to war and which reflects the deter-1 mined resistance the enemy has been making against Americans. All ap-j penred to realize that a breaking through by tho Americans would result re-sult almost certainly in the loss of part of the German army on the western wes-tern front - With a curtain of exploding steel behind be-hind them and a steadily advancing line of Americansin front, .several hundred Germans found themselves in an untenable position and had performed per-formed itspart woll when tho Americans Ameri-cans stormed tho place, Machine guns sent a murderous fire into the valley until, on signal to tho American bat-1 tcries, there was laid down a barrage, not in town but along a line to the rear of it. The Germans say that the bursting shells came creeping toward them from tho rear as the batteries j shortened their range and that at the same time American infantry men advanced up the slope toward the village. vil-lage. The defending troops immediately immed-iately rushed down toward the Americans Ameri-cans with upraised- hands, crying "kamorad." In the woods encountered by the Americans, especially in Bois de Bour-gogne, Bour-gogne, machine guns were left to a number probably not surpassed by those in the Argonne woods to the south. Tho German forces are making i desperate efforts to hold their lines j and gas is being used in great quantities. quanti-ties. Bois de Loges and Bois de Bour-gogne Bour-gogne were literally drenched with suffocating fumes. . ! Woman Prisoner Brought In I Frontal attacks against these I strongholds are not a part of the American plan. The French are moving mov-ing upon tho west side of Bois de Bourgogne and the Americans on the right and a similar enveloping of Bois de Loges has been undertaken. The centers of these woods have been I subject to heavy gas bombardments. The Germans were forced to move out early in the day to tho edges of these patches of timber, where they manned heavy and light machine guns and In many cases fought to the end. Late this afternoon the air cleared and scouting airplanes reported enemy ene-my troops and Americans well toward the northern edges of both woods. Among the prisoners brought in was one woman. She was dressed in uniform, uni-form, carried a gun and had endured the same discipline and privations as the soldiers. Evidence received indicated indi-cated that this was merely one of those instances in which a woman managed to get into the firing line to seek adventure. Woods Drenched With Fumes When the order for the attack was given the Americans moved forward unhesitatingly and the advance was carried out according to schedule. In the center Dneuly farm, about two-thirds of a mile from the starting point was taken by 7 o'clock. It was defended by infantry, machine guns and some artillery. Hazols wood was cleared by 10 o'clock, 500 prisoners being taken there. The village of Lan-dreville, Lan-dreville, one mile northwest of the wood, was occupied at 10 45 and Item-onville, Item-onville, about a mile northeast of Landreville was taken at 11:30. The village of Imecourt, to the southwest, was captured at 10 o'clock in the morning and shortly after noon Bay-onville, Bay-onville, north of Remonville, was added ad-ded to the list. Americans Shatter Kriemhilde Line. In breaking through on this front the Americans shattered the last strongholds of the Kriemhilde positions, posi-tions, to which the Germans had clung so stubbornly. The positions wero protected pro-tected by wire entanglements, machine guns and artillery but the light tanks leading the army moved forward almost al-most uninterruptedly. Very strong opposition op-position was mot with on the extreme left. Many of the Germans were caught In the terrific bombardment which preceded the American advance. As far as the Americans are concerned, con-cerned, the elaborate preparations they had made to care for their wounded proved to have been unnecessary. |