Show F PerIa iBi ae r s JEL a ar M count north rite american by the tory 0 jr jw of N alie mea ae A ee IF 40 scandinavian newspaper we world it including rights Allia alllene rk re re r the he 2 production ro duclion la in whole who or in part prohibited by 2 gea Gene johnj J I 1 service CHAPTER LX continued tile the third phase of the meuse ar gonne onne operations began october 14 poring during the previous phase important ono sing had been made along the whole front against increasing intensity of I 1 resistance the retirement of the enemy in front of tile allies to the west i which was being accelerated by our persistent gains in tile the east indicated clearly that hat he be was trying to sai sae a him pelf from froin complete disaster which it was wag urgent that we should byrhe all the more vigorously to hasten the strong defenses in the BAs de RolD ligne and the bois de had to be reduced before I 1 further considerable progress could be i made to the u west est of romagne heights we faced the strongly fortified position w which included cote de chat ilion landres st kt georges SL L juvin bols bois des loges lyones and granoli Gran opre our attacks on the and loth in conjunction with french fourth army met violent opposition especially at the beginning and although ground was often tako taken and retaken Te talen several times our lines were nere steadily pushed forward east of the mouse meuse in the french seventeenth corps tile the sixty fifth brigade ade ednard edard L aln king of the thirty third division and made some progress and the twenty ninth division despite tile the difficult terrain and severe casualties had bad entered woods north of Mol milleville molleville leville farm the fifth division in tile the face of intense tire ire on its front and flunks flanks on tile the reached the top of the ahe elopes northeast north tast st of romagne Roro agne and cleared the wood north of cunel bunel elements of tile the division pushed through to the lie northern edge of tile the bols bois des rappes crappes but were vere withdrawn by dint of the superior determination of our troops tile the lines allne i were broken at a vital point by the fifth corps cote dame marie taken unstinted praise roust must be given the thirty second division which standing ding heavy losses losse 3 october it 11 brilliantly captured cote dame marle marie perhaps the most important strong point of the hindenburg line on tile the western front the town of romagne and the eastern half of bois de were also taken by this division on that day while on the following day its line was advanced about a mile to the southern edge of the bols bois de baethe ville the forty second division fought aggressively gres against the roost most obstinate defense forcing its way through the western halt of bois de romagne its eighty fourth brigade douglas macarthur scaling the precipitous heights of the cote de Clia tillon and carrying its line on OD that position the desperate resistance on the left of the division south of st george and lan dres et st georges however could not be overcome the importance of these operations can hardly be overestimated the capture of the romagne heights especially its dominating feature cote dame marie was a decisive blow we now occupied the strongest fortified position on that front and flanked his tine line on the ainne aisne and the heights of the mouse meuse unless he could recapture the positions we held hek our successes accesses would compel the enemy to retreat from his lines to the north as we were within heavy artillery range of ills his railroad lines CHAPTER the pressure of the american army in the great meuse argonne offensive had biad profoundly impressed the enemy october 3 marshal von hindenburg sent the following letter to the german chancellor the rhe nigh high command insists on its demand of september 20 for the immediate forwarding of an offer of peace to our enemies there Is now no longer any aay possible hope of forcing peace upon 1 tb the enemy the situation grows more desperate every day and may force the nigh command to grave decisions the chancellor yielded and october 5 telegraphed through the swiss government ment to president wilson the german government requests the president of the united states to take in band the restoration of peace acquaint all belligerent states with this request and invite them to send starles diaries for opening negotiations it accepts the program set forth 4 40 A v 10 desperate fighting in trie me argonne by tile the president in his message to congress january 8 and in his later addresses especially the speech of september 27 as a basis tor for peace negotiations with a view to avoiding further bloodshed tile german government ern nent requests reque sis the Immedi immediate lite conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air signed max prince von bedan imperial Chan chancellor vellor the presidents reply was not satisfactory to the german government and tile the exchange of notes continued continue until finally the germans accepted the very frank statement by the president con preyed in a state department message me saige october 23 that the nations of the world to do not and cannot trust the word of those who have hitherto beer been the masters of german policy and that tile the government of the united pulled states cannot deal with any but veritable representatives of tile the german people who have been assured 0 of f a genuine constitutional standing as the real rulers of germany if it must deal with the military masters and the monarchial autocrats of germany now or if it Is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the german empire it roust must de demand manel riot not pence peace negotiations but surrender meanwhile with these peace negotiations tiati ons in progress and with our own and allied offensive continuing to produce favorable results it became more and more evident that the time soon must come when we should have to consider terms and conditions under which hostilities might cease tile the discussion of armistice terms in a genera eral way by the allies had in fact begun the most important defensive ill ve position on the romagne heights was in our firm possession and his final defeat was only a question of time ne had fought desperately to hold bold his ground but had been compelled to give way steadily before our effective blows we could have gone forward without special preparation and succeeded in driving the enemy from the field but the situation led to the conclusion that his big defeat could best be accomplished by one powerful stroke by a well organized offensive the difficult and continuous offensive front from september 20 ahad had been very trying on our troops and had resu resulted led in a certain loss of cohesion it was wag therefore deemed advisable to take a few days for the replacement of tired troops the renewal of supplies and the improvement of communications french delay attack october 28 was tentatively designated tor for the beginning of the next general advance the fourth phase of the meuse argonne offensive but the french army which was wa to 0 o support oar attack on the left could not get ready in time so the attack of both armies was fixed for november L in accordance with my instructions on october IL 16 two important preliminary operations were carried out during daring this period 1 operations against the bols bois des logos loges and bols bois de bourgogne to clear the woods east of the ainne aisne and north of the aire and thus flank that part of the hostile line on the aasine and 2 local operations to secure a gu sul tuble table line of departure for the general attack during the meuse argonne battle my personal quarters were on my tram train which lay partially hidden bidden la in 1 of first arav cam of malse oct a ilij 1 1111 1 11 W ack re oct oa ft 0 tale VY from by NOT nad 1198 1194 cor 1 t arabic K fl j i j stry N jy y m i i i T 9 forrae g ww r j ar Y 2 a T f t 1 JL the woods on a spur near So Sou ulIlY llly while there I 1 spent a portion of 0 each day at official headquarters giving oll il erections luns ions regarding operations and deciding other important questions I 1 usually occupied the rest of the day at the front in close touch with corps and divisions although I 1 had now relinquished ed the immediate command of the first army its activities and those of the second army carried out under my direction required close supervision farther west our second corps read with tile the british fourth army was engaged october 17 south of le cateau in the battle of the selle this corps with the thirtieth lewis and twenty seventh ORy oryan tin division in line from right to left crossed the selle river and advanced tour four miles in the face of strong resistance capturing 1600 prisoners and 12 guns the main objective of our initial attack september 20 26 had been reached failing to capture it in kurfirst our first attempt we had bad deliberately systematically and doggedly stuck to the task in the face of many difficulties and discouragements discourage ments CHAPTER the demands of incessant battle hail bail compelled our divisions to fight to the limit of their capacity troops were held in line and pushed to the attack aca 00 far 4 t et arnea A it k h farm 9 I 1 J nl vat 4 I 1 I 1 T blanco 1 I 1 it 1 44 0 f dell aj lin 4 4 92 f i octa algia 0 frant lin 1000 am oil until deemed incapable of further effort because of casualties or exhaustion tion artillery once engaged was seldom withdrawn many batteries fought until practically all the animals were casualties leaving the guns to be towed out of line by motor trucks or by band our men as a whole showed urial fortitude in this continuous fighting during inclement weather and under many disadvantages of position corridor consider armistice terms term my diary records paris monday october 28 1918 met marshal foch and allied commanders at genlis senlis friday to consider terms of armistice pe kalns views were stiffer than marshall marshal haws and wine mine more stringent than either have been laid up with grip since saturday at the opening of the conference marshal foch said gald la in substance you are doubtless aware that the germans are arc negotiating for nn an armistice through the intermediary of the american ican government and declare themselves ready to accept the fourteen points of president wilson as it a basis babis ne went on to say that he had called us together to obtain our views aad nd that he be thought the terms should be auch no as to render germany powerless to recommence operations in case hostilities are resumed one of tits his officers then read aloud from a newspaper the fourteen points defers to british and french forb fobb then asked my opinion as an to conditions that should be imposed and I 1 replied that as it was a jaath latter of greater concern to both great britain and france than to the united states and that as their armies had bad been engaged longer and had bad suffered more more than ours I 1 thought it appropriate for or sir douglas haig and general petain to express their views first firall marshal halg haig said in substance betance Bu that the german army was far from being disintegrated and was still capable ol of withdrawing to a shorter front and making a stand against equal or greater forces on the other band the atiles allies were pretty well exhausted the total shortage of men for the british and french armies he said was about each with none available to fill tile the gapp gap the american army he further farther said was not yet complete and some time must elapse before it would be large enough to relieve the diminishing allied armies he de thought the terms should be such that the germans would not hesitate to accept them he then proposed immediate and complete evacuation of invaded belgian and french territory occupation by the allies of alsace lorraine Lorr alne and the fortresses of 0 metz and strasbourg restitution of all rolling stock seized by the germans in france and belgium or its equivalent and repatriation of inhabitants of invaded territory ory marshal foch then asked my views I 1 replied in effect the general view that an armistice should provide guarantees against a resumption of hostilities give the allies a decided advantage and be unfavorable to germany in case host hostilities lil should be resumed meets with my approval I 1 think that the damage done by the war to the interests of tile the powers with which the united states Is associated against germany has been so great that there should be no tendency toward leniency the present military situation la Is very favorable to the allies the german forces since the beginning of the counteroffensive counter offensive july 18 have been constantly in retreat and have not been able to recover since that time the condition of the french and british armies can best be judged by the fact that they have been continuously on the offensive since then and that they are now attacking with much vigor rigor As to the american army the part lc 11 has taken la in the operations since july IS 18 has not been inconsiderable it Is constantly increasing in ID strength and training its staffs its services service and its higher commanders have improved by experience so there Is er every reason to suppose that the amerlean american army will be able to take the part expected of it in the event of resumption of hostilities I 1 therefore propose 1 I 1 evacuation of france and belgium within 30 days and of all other foreign territory occupied by germany without delay 2 withdrawal of the tb german armies from alsace lorraine and occupation of those territories by the allied armies T 3 withdrawal of german armies to the east of the rhine and and the possession of such bridgeheads on the eastern fide aide in the rhine by the allies as may be necessary to insure their control of that river 4 unrestricted transportation of the american army and its material across the seas 5 immediate repatriation of all nationals of foreign territory now or heretofore occupied during daring the war by germany T a surrender of all U boats and U bout bases to the control of a neutral power until their disposition Is otherwise determined 7 return to france and belgium of all railroad rolling stock that has bien ben seized by germany trob from those countries TO SS DID CONTINUED |