Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 March 1918 — ENEMY PAYS FEARFUL PRICE [ARTICLE]

ENEMY PAYS FEARFUL PRICE

MASTERLY WITHDRAWAL OF ALLIES EXACTS AWFUL PRICE FROM ENEMY. With The British Army In France, March 24. —The British and French who co-operate at the junction of the two armies, were viewing the trend of the German offensive with optimistic eyes this morning. Hard fighting was in progress, but the latest reports showed little or no change in the situation in favor of the enemy since yesterday, while on the other hand the defenders had pushed the attacking forces back after a bitter struggle and were holding strongly along the whole new front to which they had withdrawn. Fighting of a most desperate nature has been continuous since the initial attack but so far the British have used few troops other than those which were holding the front lines. These shock troops have been making, as gallant a defense as was ever recorded in the annals of the British army and as a result they have enabled the main body of the forces to fait back deliberately and without confusion <and occupy positions which had been prepared long before the German offensive began. The Germans, on the other hand, operating under the eyes of the emperor and the crown prince, have been hurling vast hordes into the fray with utter disregard for life and have followed into the abandoned positions getting farther and father away from their supplies and finding, their communications increasingly difficult. More than fifty German divisions already have been indentified by actual, contact, and many of these men were simply given two days’ iron rations and sent over the top into the frightful maelstrom made by the allied artillery, machine guns and rifles, The slaughter of the enemy infantry as it advanced in close formation over the open has been appalling. The British losses have been within the bounds expected, due to the tactics of the commanders. The allies have lost a considerable number of men in prisoners and a certain number of guns. But very few pieces of artillery have been taken by the Germans since the first day. In fact, the whole withdrawal has been executed in a masterly manner, showing how thoroughly the British had planned for the very events which have occurred.