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Show iBAKER SEES NEW OFFENSIVE OPEN Secretary of War Present When "Land Battleships" and Infantry Go Over Top. HARD AREA AHEAD ' Troops Everywhere Success-ful Success-ful and Advance Ahead of Schedule. WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE CHAMPAGNE FRONT, Thursday, Thurs-day, Sept. 2C S:30 p. m. (By tho Associated Press.) Secretary of War Newton D. Baker witnessed the beginning be-ginning of the American drive along the front northwest of Verdun this morning. At 5 o'clock after tho enemy positions had been bombarded with high explosives and gas shells, the American infantry advanced. Squadrons of tanks again formed an effective part of the attacking force, especially in the region of Chepty, These "land battleships" moved up with the Infantry, smashing down wire entanglements and routing tho enemy from machine gun nests. The work of the American airplanes was one of the features of the combat. An aerial barrier bar-rier was maintained over the line, preventing pre-venting the enemy from observing the movements of troops. In splto of the fog, the airmen swooped low over the enemy trenches and materially assisted assist-ed the advancing Infantry. Without a hitch and absolutely according ac-cording to schedule tho entire line was moving tonight into position paralleling par-alleling the line of attack. Gouraud Continues Advance. WITH THE FRENCH ARMY ON THE CHAMPAGNE FRONT, Thursday. Thurs-day. Sept. "26 7 p. m. (By the Associated Asso-ciated Press.) General Gouraud's men were continuing their advance tonight along the front' west of the Argonno forest. Greater resistance was being encountered and fresh obstacles were j found to impede their progress. Ahead of them Is a belt of country seven or eight miles doep over which there is a labyrinth of trenches. Many blockhouses have been built by the Germans there and the ground seems as difficult of capture as that wrested from the Germans today. Germans Play for Time. The Germans by their retirement today have gained a littlo time In which to bring up reserves while General Gen-eral Gouraud is bringing up his guns. This is an advantage in which it Is difficult to And sufficient compensation for the ground and men lost today. Tho lines thoy retired to are no stronger than those they abandoned. Enemy airmen made several spectacular spec-tacular attacks on trench observation balloons today. Only one balloon was destroyed but the observers in three others were forced to descend by parachutes. para-chutes. Ono German attacked three balloons in quick succession plunging down upon ono and firing and then rising to dive at another. One of these burst into flames only an sastant before the observer ob-server jumped with his parachute. Shrapnel shells then began to burst close about the enemy machine and it turned and sped away for the German lines. Bombardment Magnificent Spectacle. WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE CHAMPAGNE FRONT, Thursday. Thurs-day. Sept. 26. (Reuter.) Last night's bombardment of tho German lines preparatory pre-paratory to the attack begun this morning was a magnificent spectacle. It was a cloudless night and thousands of guns all firing furiously wreathed tho country in a ceaseless sparkle of flamo like myriads of fireflies. For six hours the roar of the cannon, like tho roll of a giant drum, was unbroken. The enemy is reported to have been suspicious of an attack somewhoro In the Champagne sector, or toward Brlevy, and for the past ten days was watching this front" closely. During the 48 hours preceding the attack he had Increased his reserves in this region from four to twenty-throe divisions. Prussians. Fight Hard. Prussian guards defending Vaquois there being three divisions in tho lino and ono in reserve strongly resisted re-sisted tho advance of the American troops early today. Retiring to Prepared Lines. By a general review of tho fight after many hours it is evident that tho enemy is stubbornly retiring to pro-pared pro-pared lines to which all of his heavy aitlllory has been withdrawn. This was the reason that his artillery reaction re-action was Inadequate during tho early phases of the battle. Tho staff work of the American army was excellent. Continuous touch was maintained between' divisions and reports re-ports wero received without delay. The transport of supplies is working without with-out a hitch. American Artillery Fire. Tho American attack bogan at 5:30 o'clock this morning on a twenty-mile front between the Argonno and the Mouse. The artillory preparation commenced com-menced on tho flanks at 11:30 o'clock Wednesday night and on tho whole front at 2:30 o'clock this morning. It was of an extremely severe character and was carried to considerable depth. The Gorman artillery which was not in position to bring a half cross fire on tho front of attack was subjected to a gas bombardment during tho entire time. The night was fine but a dense mist formed townr morning, greatly increasing the difficulties of the young troops unaccustomed to night work. Troops Everywhere Successful. Notwithstanding this, tho American assault was successful everywhere. The enemy's front lino was occupied in advance of schedule and tho progress pro-gress continues, although the cnomy's resistance Is stiffening at certain places where nn attack apparently was expected beforehand. The Germans were forced to give up positions of great strength which for years had proved almost impregnable. Consequently, Conse-quently, a feeling of much satisfaction is permissible, but It. Is too early to announce definitely the results finally to bo attained. The countor battery work of the Germans to restrain our advanco and his machine gun lire caused trouble, His air work was veryiruperfect early in the day but Improved later and wns directed particularly against the American Am-erican balloons. The 'American tanks did well when thoy assisted in the advance. ad-vance. Several tons of , explosives were 0 dropped on the town of Dun-sur-Meuse. Germans Excellently Prepared Lines. The lines from which the Germans were forced today were, excellently prepared and it would have caused no surprise had the enemy offered such resistance as to make his withdrawal a question of days instead of hours. Across tho valley of .the Aire the enemy had lines which had taken months to prepare but tho American artillery and infantry forced the Germans Ger-mans to abandon them within less than three hours. Line Taken With a Rush. The first enemy line was taken with a rush in a few" minutes, the second line offered greater resistance and at the third line the Germans put up a fight that promised to delay the advance. ad-vance. However, the progress of the Americans was checked only briefly. Ono ravine in the path of the attack contained massed machine guns which poured a hot fire into the advancing I troops but without breaking the line. I During Wednesday evening and! early Thursday the enemy artillery continued to shell the regions east and west of Montseville but the fire quieted quiet-ed down soon after the American bom - j bardment began. Long Range Guns Used. I The American artillery had been so carefully placed, according to plan, that Wednesday night there was nothing noth-ing for the artillerymen to do but to wait for tho "zero hour." A number of long range guns joined in the attack and from hidden positions hurled a cross fire into the positions behind the German lines. oo |