Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 162, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1918 — WAR SUMMARY. [ARTICLE]

WAR SUMMARY.

The second day of the FrancoAmerican counter offensive between the Aisne and the Marne opens .with the allied armies still advancing, and the German in the Chateau Thierry salient in imminent danger of capture or annihilation. The allies already have Soissons in their grasp, having seized the heights on the west and south of the city, have captured thousands of prisoners (the Americans alone are credited with more than 4,000), hundreds of machine guns and scores of cannon. Twentyfour French towns and villages had been redeemed from the enemy early today, Late yesterday, Gen. Foch ordered an advance in the Champagne sector, to the east of Rheims, which netted his armies two villages in the initial phases. The Franco-Italian troops to the west of the besieged cathedral city are fighting gallantly to hold back the enemy until the operations to the north and east force the apparently inevitable German retreat. The situation as a whole looks exceedingly bright for the allies although it is as yet too early to make predictions. Berlin officially admits that “the French” have made gains between the Aisne and the Marne and also admits that the German reserves have been thrown into action. If the present allied advance continues to develop the time would seem ripe for a British stroke in Flanders, where a notable increase in heavy raiding activity has shown that the battle situation is “boiling up.”