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Show SOLDIERS WANT BIG VICTORY; Allied Troops Demand Utter Surrender of Germany Armies Ar-mies Before Granting Armistice. WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE, Oct. 7.-6:30 p. m. (By the Associated Press.) Tho soldiers of the allied armies want peace, but no peace except a completely victorious one. This was the opinion expressed by officers and men aliko to the Associated Associat-ed Press correspondent todav. If Germany Ger-many is now willing to admit, her utter defeat, then, say these men who havo been fighting the good fieht. for the liberty of tho world, so much the bettor; bet-tor; but, they declare, the trrnnting of an armistice at this time, unless the enemy Is absolutely sincere, might prove extremely dangerous. "Victory first; then peace." This is the manner in which French civilians who havo returned to their shell -wrecked homes in northern Franco, expressed themselves, when the subject sub-ject of an armistice is discussed. Victory Must Be Absolute. The same idea runs through tho minds of all the allied armies, where men havo seen their comrades die and where the feeling is that they have died in vain unless victory is absolute. abso-lute. The suspension of hostilities oven for a few days, would enable the Germans Ger-mans to continue their preparation of lines to which they might retire for the winter. Al the .moment the Hin-denburg Hin-denburg system has been smashed and tho German military leaders have everj' reason to beilevo that they may soon bo fighting back over country in which at present they have no lines, no i dug-outs, no protection from the advancing ad-vancing allied troops. The allied nrniipa am In u eii-nno and advantageous position and the general feeling here is that the defeat of Germany may come sooner than expected, ex-pected, elsewhere than at the front. GcrmariG Scheming to Save Men. By retiring unhindered, the Germans could materially shorten their lines and save men thereby. Thus they could thicken tholr ranks and probablv be ablo to hold until all the new 1920 class of about 500.000 young men could be Incorporated in the unit3 in the battle zone. In addition, a vigorous "combing out" is in progress In Germany which will undoubtedly yield reenforcements. Also machine guns could be shipped , Into tho field and replace some of the Immense number the allies have captured. cap-tured. A few days' suspension of hostilities would permit munitions of all sorts, including shells, of which there is now a great scarcity behind the German lines, to reach the front. Right now, army officers declare, the allies are In a position to continue smashing the enemy and an armistice armis-tice might enable the enemy to escape for a time the defeat which now stares him in the face. As far Belgium, the German military mili-tary leaders themselves apparently realized re-alized some time ago that they could not hope to hold on there, for German general headquarters was moved 'from Spa to well inside Germany's own borders The Germans have not troops enough to hold it. i A glance at the German battle map is enlightening In this respect. Stretched along ihe front from tho sea to Switzerland as represented by this map. are little numbers designating the divisions placed at sections the respective enemy units occupy In tho waving battle lines. Except at two I.x.vuo mum, l"v MUIU, UIUIUUJII 1'lUIl ders, the numbers are comparatively , thin and placed far apart- But in tho SL Quentin and Cambrai districts tho numbers are so thickly placed as to make it difficult to get them all in. Opposite the French and Americans on tho Champagne front a similar situation sit-uation exists. Tho Germans dare not take a single man away from theso places and as a matter of fact they are putting In every man they can lay hands on. i In the St. Quentln-Cambrai sector !tho HIndenburg lino exists no more. It Is no secret that the British will continue con-tinue their powerful thrusts along whore the enemy's strong line of defense de-fense has been broken. Tho Germans know this but what they do not know is when and how and with what forces the attack will be launched. And indications in-dications are plentiful that the British are In a position to launch It when they see fit. An armistice would save the situation situa-tion for Germany. On the British front it is believed that tho German armies so far have not tho slightest knowledge of events and it is with considerable interest that the British armies are watching for the effect among the Germans, when they find out what has been done. In the meantime the Germans continue con-tinue their destruction on a widespread wide-spread scale. The damage they have done to the coal mines in northern France, in the Lens district, is of a j most serious nature. From information at hand it would appear that the Germans Ger-mans have done their work so thoroughly thor-oughly that it may be Impossible to Got tho mlnos in operation for a long time. More towns are burning. Even tho farmhouses of the peasants in the area northeast of Lille have been set ablaze and the enemy seems determined to devastate completely the country and destroy everything his hands can reach. Again long clouds of smoke and sparks arc being blown across the horizon. |