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Show oq, iMffl MAKING A BRAVE FIGHT WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN FRANCE. Monday, Sept. 16. Night. (By the Associated Press) Creeping I upon all fours up plateaus and up ra-I ra-I vines dbtted with German quick firers, ; the French arc seeking hidden ma-1 chine gun-nests and reducing lliem with grenades. General Mangin's troops are making one of the most courageous and admirable ad-mirable fights of this war south ofi , SL Gobain forest agninst what p high French officer has described as a "nat- 1 ural citadel that men have been per-j fecting for four years." j The French made GOO prisoners in this region today under conditions of difficulty which can scarcely be appreciated ap-preciated except by persons on the ground. They gained a thousand yards over a front of 2V miles which would seem insignificant in proportion to the effort were tho positions leas important. Every hundred yards of an advance ( German resistance in St. Gobain for- j made here weakens a pillar in tlioi German resistance in St. Gobain forest. for-est. ' Germans In Vital Position An order signed by the general commanding com-manding a German division defending defend-ing this position was found on n prisoner. pris-oner. The document pointed out how vital it was to hold the lines there., "If the height to the cast of Laffauxj remains in our hands," says the order, "it prevents the enemy from obtaining obtain-ing a view of both sides of tho canal from the Oise to the Aisno. If it falls into the enemy's hands it gives him a most favorable point for future attacks. at-tacks. "I expect," concludes the order, "that the division will be able here to maintain its previous reputation and will hold the position integrally against all attacks." Crack Division Defeated Advancing from shell hole to shell hole over ground that appeared from a distance to be a gigantic face rav-j aged by small pox, General Mangin's men defeated this crack division and five others that were put Into Hue over a front of 5 1-2 miles between Allemant and Vailly. In doing so they conquered four caves at the summit of" the height from which the stone was quarried to build the city of Sois sons. One of the caves measured 400 by 300 yards and has a dozen galleries through which an automobile can I pass. An entiro German battalion was made prisoner in one of theso caverns while in another a colonel with his en-tiro en-tiro staff was taken. All the caves were defended by machine guns that where ra'ised to the mouth of the cave. This sort of resistance was particularly particular-ly stubborn at the top of Mount des Singes where the French troops exterminated ex-terminated the garrison which belonged be-longed to the Fifth Prussian guard division. di-vision. They also occupied Vauxaillon definitely after it had been taken and retaken several times. Many Caves Mined j Although stone qliarrics and caves that were not defended to tho lasti woro mined before they were aban-1 doned. Ten such mines were dlscov-; ered in time and rendered harmless. Wherever the caves were free of: mines, conclusive evidence was dis-1 covered the Gorman expected to hold t them. Fifteen violent enemy counter-at-1 tacks were repulsed around the 'quar-1 ries before they were finally con- j quered. The French wero obliged to contend not only with theso fortresses cut out of solid rock, but with floods in the valleys to the north. Some of the troops fought 24 hours in water up ' to their knees. I One battalion near Menonjean farmj refused to be relieved after several at- I tacks and counter-attacks and consented con-sented to retire only when the farm was captured and considerable gains i made to the oast of it. In this region the French are facing a part of tho Hindcnburg line which they already have broken into from the Mont des Singes lo Vailly without tho aid of tanks. This morning the French advanced 1000 jtirds at a sin gje effort which is an enormous gain considering the enormous obstacles met with at every hand. The Germans have reinforced the fighting front not only with dense masses of infantry but are bringing up three-inch guns close to the front line and are firing point vi a ni.- Latest reports from the front are that the fighting is still in progress and -that General Mangin's men are slowly pushing on toward the Chemin des Dames. oo |