Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1914 — GERMAN TROOPS OCCUPY GHENT; RUSH TO OSTEND [ARTICLE]

GERMAN TROOPS OCCUPY GHENT; RUSH TO OSTEND

Reports Say That Some of Fortt at Antwerp Still Hold. DOUBT REPORT IN LONDON Kaiser's Forces Attempt to Cut Off Belgium and British Forces Who Fled From Belgian CityTeutons Lose in Clash. London, Ost. 13. —The city of Ghent is occupied by the Germans, according to an Amsterdam dispatch. Uhlans have arrived at Seizaete, a short distance from Ghent, and the commander announced that 6,000 soldiers must be quartered on the village. The report of the occupation of Ghent was passed for publication by the official press bureau, which takes no responsibility for it. An official dispatch given out by the ministry of war in Paris said: "According to the latest information received here concerning the situation at Antwerp, the Germans ocupy only the suburbs of this city. The 24 forts on the two banks of the River Escant (Scheldt) are resisting with energy.** This statement is received here with considerable surprise and skepticism, in view of the announcement of the British war officials that the city was occupied by the Germans and the unanimous accounts from correspondents to the same effect, together with the Berlin statement that the invaders took complete possession of the city. London, Oct. 13. —The whole German front is preparing to take the offensive again along a battle line no less than three hundred miles long. German cavalry has advanced within thirty miles of Ostend; Ghent, according to a dispatch to the London Star from Rotterdam, has been captured by the invaders; Uhlans, screen- ! Ing a heavy Prussian force, have been 'encountered all through the territory west of Lille. Another report is that the allies still hold Ghent. These are maneuvers covering the establishment of the new Belgium battle line reaching out from and connecting with the German right wing in France.

Attack Renewed on Oise. Between Arras and the Oise the enemy has renewed bis attacks with increasing fury; the plateau north of Soissons continues to be the scene of vigorous offensive movements by the kaiser's forces, and Verdun, for eight weeks under almost incessant fire from the German guns, now is to be made the target of the monster howitzers that reduced Antwerp. Belfort, too, is to be battered by the monster siege guns, according to Berlin reports. The population of this city 4s fleeing in fear of a bombardment such as reduced Namur, Liege and Antwerp. The results of the series of battles extending from the Swiss border to within twenty-five miles of the Straits of Dover indicated by the fragmentary reports of activity in France and Belgium are laden with importance. The fall of Antwerp was essential to the consummation of far greater and more stupendous plan of campaign being initiated by the German staff, if for no other reason tban that it signaled the crusbingfof Belgium, making three-quarters 6f the kingdom solidly held by the kaiser; it eliminated Antwerp as a thorn in the side of Germany, and lastly and most important, it released 130,000 men and the besieging army's big guns, making them available for active operations against the more formidable opponent in France which the kaiser could not move. This force under General von Beseler, it is expected, will shortly swing in the southwesterly direction, seeking a junction with the army under General von Boehm, w ho is supporting von Kluck just over the border in northeastern France. Signal for General Attack. The attempt of this Antwerp attacking army to effect this junction in its westward movement toward the coast will be the signal, military experts here believe, for a general attack along the whole' German battle front. The concerted attacks at other points of the line are designed to keep the allies so busy locally that they I will be unable to hurl to the northward sufficient re-enforcements to relieve the threatened wing of the allies, against which ‘the Germans even now are directing a turning movement in the region of Lille. Allies Concentrate at Ostend. The French general staff has anticipated this strategy and. during the

past week is reported to have concentrated sufficient troops at Oetend, Including the newly arrived British forces, the Canadian regiments who are reported to have arrived there, and the Belgians, who have come to Antwerp, to be ready to meet the new Oennan front In the meantime there are indicar tions that General von Boehm, with Mons as his base, is swinging his .forces, like a great arm, forward in the direction of the oncoming Antwerp victors. Everything indicates that the Germans’ center and the point from which the main attack upori Ostend will be attempted will reet along the Scheldt river, which as it reaches south from Antwerp swings in a great arc toward Lille. This will bring the theater of the coming conflict near the course of the Lys river, between Ghent and Courtrai. It will be the purpose of the Germans. according to experts, to drive the British, French and Belgians concentrated at Ostend into the North sea or force them to evacuate. In this event the natural retreat of the army of occupation in Ostend would be westerly along the coast toward Dunkirk and then southward to fall back upon the allied left, operating to the south and west of Lille. Thscw is growing activity la the vicinity of Ostend. German cavafry patrols were encountered by refugees within a day’s march of the eoaM, and from Bruges and Eecloo fugitives continued to enter the city, fleeing before the reported German advance. If the Germans hold Ghent, it is practically impossible for the allies to attempt a flanking movement, and they will be forced to make a frontal attack if they take the offensive. Ghent also is essential to the German plan to hold this line so strongly that the allies would find their hands tied in any attempt to interfere with the German s of communication through Belgiu. The greatest activity in France aside from the cavalry movements west of Lille occurred in the region of Lassigny, Roye, Lens and Arras. The heaviest fighting took place at Lens, where repeated assaults by the Germans were repulsed with great losses, according to the French official communique. ’ The French war office also reports progress in the engagement being fought on the plateau before Soissons, on the right bank of the Aisne, and to the east and southeast of Verdun. In the Vosges the Germans essayed numerous night attacks in the region of Bau-de-Sapt, north of St. Die, with no success. They were forced to retire. Allies Halt Germans. Dispatches which are received here from Ghent assert that several German forces which attempted to destroy the Belgian and British troops retreating after the fall of Antwerp have met with severe reverses. One division of the German army; which threw a pontoon bridge across the Scheldt at Wetteran, was compelled to retreat, these advices assert, after a heavy engagement. “In their advance upon Ghent,’’ these messages add. “the Germans got as far as Loochrigti. when they were driven back on Lokeran. At the same time a rapid advance on the south of the Scheldt toward Ghent was met with at Melle, where the Germans were again repulsed with the loss of a battery."