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Show Fall of the Center of the German I I Communications Is Near at Hand ! " ' : PARIS.July 25. The important point of Ouchy le Chateau slowly but surely is being surrounded. If the Germans Ger-mans lose it it will be impossible for them to hang on to Fere-en-Tardenois. Military observers here are convinced that General Luden-dorff Luden-dorff shortly will launch a counter-offensive. His object will be to clear the front between Soissons and Rheims to lessen the demoralizing effect of a projected retreat to the Vesle and to have Germany regain the initiative. FRENCH HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE, July 25, ; via Ottawa. French troops are now within three miles of the! :! town of Fere-en-Tardenois which is the meeting point of eight roads. It is the center of the German communications in this ; region. The town is being heavily shelled daily and bombed by Entente Allied air squadrons. - s i f LONDON, July 25. The Pall Mall Gazette says that rumors are current that British troops have made a great ad- i vance in the direction of Fismes, about midway between T ' Rheims and'Soissons. It is also reported that French forces have advanced on ' another parofthe Aisne-Marne salient and that the armies of the German . crown prince have been placed in a position out of which extraction seems impossible. WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN FRANCE, Wednesday, Wednes-day, July 24, via Ottawa (night), by the Associated Press. The position . of the enemy south of the Aisne has become untenable. On the western side the enemy is fighting a desperate I battle, depending on machine guns to hold up the Allied ad- , vance. There is little left of the enemy artillery on this front. ; i Fere-en-Tardenois is about the center of the salient. An advance of a few kilometers would enable the Allies to sweep with long range guns the whole remaining area to the east of the front, where the Germans are engaged with the British and French between Vrigny and the Marne. WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE MARNE FRONT, July 25, by The Associated Press, 1 :30 p. m. ; ; Franco-American troops this morning advanced their lines north of the river Marne more steadily. The Germans continued con-tinued their retreating movement northward. The French and Americans also made gains on other parts of the fifty-five miles of battle front. The Germans viciously resisted in a majority of cases. The Entente Allied forces north of Chateau Thierry are paying less attention to running down machine gun nests and are advancing their whole line, small detachments being left to clear up the enemy machine gun crews. I (By the Associated Prc33.) In desperate fighting north of the Marne the German rear guards momentarily mo-mentarily succeeded in forcing the retirement of th'e Allies from woods north of Treloup and from Chassines, further east. In a renewed attack, however, the. Germans immediately were driven back. I Elsewhere :along the line there have II been heavy,4)ombardments but no in- ? fantry fighting has been reported. 'J As the days of heavy fighting con- I tinue It becomes increasingly appar- 1 cnt that the German retirement is well I under way. This .withdrawal Is ap- I parently beingvconducted in an order- I ly manner be'ingi covered by sufficient I rear guard actions ,as that at Treloup I and Chassines." ' I Along the-" line' from Jaulgonne' 1 northwest to Oulchy le Chateau, Just north of the Ourcq, or even farther, R the Allies have pressed ahead during H the past two days. The Germans have H been forced back long much of this fj line a dlstance'of nearly three miles since Tuesday. & North of the Ourcq the situation is w obscure owing to the lack of details. It may be said, however, that for the I moment the line from Solssonsisouth- I ward to the Ourcq has reached a state J' of equilibrium and which probably : will continue until the Allies bring up y sufficient fresh troops to break the j' line 1 h m The British have been conducting raiding operations In the Hebuterne sector and have repulsed attempted German raids along the Amiens front, to the south. The enemy artillery has been active at Arras and Lens, vital points of the British line. The French have carried out a raiding raid-ing operation south of Montdldier and have captured prisoners. PARIS, July 25. On the north bank of tho Marne the Germans last night launched a counterattack In the region re-gion of Donnans. The war office, In announcing this movement, reports that the encmv temporarily occupied the Petit "Wood to the north of Treloup Tre-loup and the villago of Chassines. Thcso positions, however, -were recaptured re-captured by tho French soon afterward. after-ward. Violent artillery actions aro reported report-ed from the region of tho Ourcq and to tho west of Rheims. The-text of the statement follows: "South of Montdldier a surprise attack at-tack allowed the French to capture thirty prisoners. "On tho north bank of the Marne in tho region of Donnans tho Germans during tho night launched violent counter-attacks. The enemy succeeded succeed-ed in occupying momentarily the llt-tlo llt-tlo wood 1500 meters north of Treloup and the villago of Chassines hut, returning re-turning to the aggressive, our troops retook tuese two points a short time later. "In tho region of the Ourcq and west of Rheims there were violent artillery ar-tillery actions. "There is nothing further to report." British Push Forward. LONDON, July 25. British troops last night pushed forward slightly south of Rosslgnol -wood in the Hebuterne Hebu-terne sector north of AlberLThe oflP-cial oflP-cial statement from Ffelir'Marshal Haig today adds that -a few prisoners and six machine guns were captured. South of Villers-Bretonneux the Germans last night pushed into one of tho British posts. Tney were driven out by a counter-attack. The statement reads: "Early last night the enemy attacked attack-ed and entered one of our posts south of Villers-Bretonneux but was ejected by an immediate counter-attack. "Later in the night a hostile raiding party attacked another of our posts north of the Somme and was repulsed. The enemy left prisoners in our hands. None of our men is missing. "During tho night we advanced our line slightly south of Rosslgnol wood in the Hebuterne sector and captured a few prisoners and six machine guns. "The hostile artillery was active last night south and north of the Scarpe and north of Lens and at a number of points in the northern portion por-tion of our front." Allied Forces Advance Three Miles. LONDON, July 25.--On the western front of the Solssons-Rheims salient tho allied forces have advanced to an average depth of three miles on a twelvo mile front during the past two days. There were no new developments this morning In tho battle area, according ac-cording to advices received in London Lon-don up to noon. The situation was considered quite satisfactory for the allies. Tho reports show that the German high command has thus far engaged sixty-four divisions or nearly one-third one-third of the available German army, in the battle. Germany on Downward Curve. In authoritative circles here the view is expressed that Germany has reached tho downward curve in her manpower. This drop is not sudden. It has been known to the allied military officials for some time. The kaiser's units have been weakened by the withdrawal qf storm stroops and by heavy losses. (By the Associated Press.) Big developments are impending on the Alsne-Rheims-Marne battle front Unofficial reports make it appear that not only are the allies rapidly continuing the process of ousting the Germans from their Marne salient but that a movement is forming to trap a goodly section of the' German crown prince's army. Driving in on the west, the French are now reported to have reached a point within three miles of the important im-portant road junction town of Fere-en-Tardenois where eight roads over which the Germans move troops and supplies converge. On the easterly side of the salient British troops seem to have driven In a great distance toward Fismes, the real German base for the district south of tho Aisne. This town, 11 miles from the last reported position of the British, Brit-ish, lies about midway from the top of the pocket in which something like half a million Germans are massed. Easterly and westerly movements are tending to converge to close the! pocket. Speed seems to be'the.watch-l word of the allies all along the line as attested by orders on the American front to ignore machine gun nests and press on, leaving detachments to deal with the German gunners. I Morning Review of War Situation J (By the Associated Press.) Overcoming strong enemy resistance 'the Allied troops maintain their progress pro-gress on tho Rheims-Soissons battlefield. battle-field. General Foch's offensive enters upon up-on its second week with the Germans Ger-mans still being forced back. Extreme Ex-treme severity marks the fighting.' Goodly gains are being made by the French and American forces between the Ourcq and theMarne and by the British southwest of Rheims. Germans Preparing New Blow The Germans defensive efforts have increased in ferocity due to the continuous con-tinuous throwing in of reserve divisions. divis-ions. Military observers in Paris believe be-lieve that the German command is preparing for a new blow against the Allies in order to counter balance the situation on .tho -Rhplms-Soissons front. Closing In On Supply Base From the west along the Ourcq and from the south tho French and Americans Amer-icans aro closing in on Fere-en-Tardenois, the German haso of supplies. The town ha3 been under violent shell fire for several days and tho enemy has made vicious counterattacks, which although partly successful temporarily, tem-porarily, finally were turned into advances ad-vances for the French and Americans. Not only has Epied been re-taken but tho Americans have advanced beyond Courpoil, five miles south of Fere. Between Be-tween Courpoll and Epleds the French and Americans aro fighting forward through tho forests of Fere and Ris. Bridgeheads along tho Marne have been extended. The steady pressure on the eastern side of the salient Is making progress. British trdops near Vrigny, threo miles south of tho Vesle and tho Rheims-Soissons Rheims-Soissons railroad, slowly aro pressing tho enemy back. From all sides the Allied army is batting unceaslngy. Bombs by the hundreds are being dropped with good effects on dumps and depots. American Ameri-can aviators brought down five Ger- man machines in combats north of tho Marne Wednesday. Berlin continues to report that all Allied thrusts are being defeated. The lull on the upper fighting sectors sec-tors In France and Italy are still unbroken. un-broken. , 4 |