"VICTORY EVERYWHERE COMPLETE"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2255, 15 September 1914, Page 5

"VICTORY EVERYWHERE COMPLETE"

; ,;;\.;-: : .: ;GERIMS. i FULL: RETREAT'. '; / ■ ENERGETIC PURSUIT BY THE ALLIES . By Telegraph.—Press Asßodatfon-Cosyrieht - V ■ Paris, September 13. General Joeffre has telegraphed to M. Millerand, Minister of War:— "Our victory is confirmed as more and more complete everywhere. The tenemy is retreating everywhere, abandoning wounded and' materials of war. lifter a formidable struggle, lasting from the 6th to the'l2th, all our arms £re flushed by success. We are executing a pursuit which is unexampled ; for its extent, and it will be continued with all our energy." An official communique states:— . "On; our left wing the German general retreat oontinues. The British ,land French forces pursuing reached the. lower course of the Aisno. Similarly in tho centre the enemy continues to retreat. We orossed the Marne between ■ Epernay and Vitry-le-Francois.. On our'right wing the enemy has bc<mn to .fell back, abandoning the region around Nancy. AVe have reoccupied°LuneVille. (■ ~ ■ ■ ■■■ . . . ; , ■■ ' ■. . "Notwithstanding/ five days of incessant fighting our troops are vigorously pursuing fe enemy in the'general which appears to be more ■.rapid than was the aovance. So precipitate was it that at certain points we ■picked up in the German headquarters, notably at Montmirail, maps docu-,-nients and personal papers abandoned by the enemy, .also letters received or iteady for posting. Enemy abandoned its batteries of howitzers and numbers ,of ammunition wagons. The prisoners markedly convey the impression thatfi i.thoy are starved and overworked. They are much depressed. Their horses are ■particularly jaded. : ... ■ "When the French entered Vitry-le'Francois they found it'had been previously occupied by the staff of. the Gorman corps. Orders were found dated : September 7 and signed by General von'Weidenbach, to the officers and men, risking them to do their duty to. the last breath, as everything depended on the result of the following day. , , Commandant Thomasson, at the Ministry of War, declared that the in,Vadere were retreating helter-skelter. The .country, from the Marne to the •;lower reaches of the Aisne, is strewn with evidences of the German rout and ■demoralisation.. '■ ■:■■ ■ PRESENT LINE OF THE ALLIES' ADVANCE. ■:.. (Reo. September ,14j 7.30 p.m.) ' „-.„■.•;-„ •■•■ ■ Paris, September' 13, evening. 'An Official Communique states:— ■■' ' •' "On our left wing, the enemy, continuing its retreat, evacuated Amiens, and falling back eastward between Soissons and Reims, retired north of the .(Vesle Riveri They did not defend the Marne south-eastward of Reims. In the centre, the enemy, who lost Revigny, is still south of tho Argonne district. On our. right wmg, the enemy's forces recently on tho Meurthe, are retreating beyond St. Die and Luneville. We have reoccupied Raon I'Btape/ Baccarat, Nomeny, and Pontamousson. In Belgium, the Belgians have pushed their vigorous offensive movement . south of-Lierre. . . .- General Joffre has issued' an army order, in which he etates: "Thebattle of five days' duration is now closing as an incontestable victory. The retreat ] of the First, Second, and Third German armies is becoming more pronounced - tin our left and centre, and the enemy's Fourth Army is beginning in turn to fall back northwards of Vitry and Seraaise. As we gain ground, our troops find traces of the intensity of the struggle,, and the magnitude of the means j employed by the Germane in their endoavour to reSist.us. Our elan, and the vigorous resumption of the offensive have determined our success. You all, officers and men, have answered my call. You air have deserved well of your, country." , • : ' . The various points mentioned in the above communique, connected up by a . line drawn on the map, give a fairly approximate idea of the line now hold iby the Allied armies from Amiens in tho north-west to St. Die in tho southeast. Amiens is 60 miles due north of Paris; Soissons, 46 miles from Paris, ia 48 miles south-east of Amiens; 22 miles further along from Soissono, but more east, and 70 miles from Paris, is Reims; 26 miles south-east from Reims, and 80 miles almost due east of Taris, is Vitry, with Revigny and Sermaiso a few miles further due east, flank'ing Vitry right and loft as the baso of a ■triangle of which'Vitry is the apex. On tho right wing of the Allied lind, running e/nith-east from Pont-a-Mousson, 60 miles north-cast of Vitry, to St. Die, north-east of Epinal, are Nomeny, Luneville, and Baccarat —tho Pont-a-Mousson St. Die line occupies a front of 50 miles. : RESULT HAILED WITH-ENTHUSIASM AND BELIEF. Bordeaux, Soptembor 13. The significance of the titanic struggle about the Marne is fully realised %hroughout France, and the result is hailed with enthusiasm and relief. General Joffre, in common with the German loaders, warned his troops that tho fate of the country depended on tho issue, a nd orhorted them not to yield, but •lather to die in their position.

ENEMY'S RETREAT BECOMING A ROUT. ■ London, September 18. The Bordeaux correspondent of "The Times" says that the retreat is becoming a complete rout in. Argonne, a heavily wooded and mountainous district. A serious problem confronts the enemy. There are no roads through the Argonne forest running north and south, and the Germans must therefore choose between going east or west.. If they choose the east they will inevitably _ come under the fire of the Verdan forts; if they go to the west they will join the other retreating masses which are endeavouring to return, as it were, through the neck of a, bottle. • ■ ■. ■ If the Belgians can manage to clear Brabant, the Germans will have to change their lines of communication fiom Liege and Namur to Luxemburg. This will entail converging the retreat upon a narrowed changing front. Bordeaux messages state that the allied troops are bearing'lightly the enormous fatigue of weeks of titanic struggles. ■ The importance of their victory cannot be exaggerated. It marks the collapse of the wonderful German war-machine. . . ... ;,-,' GERMAN PROVISION BASE OUT OFF. " . . ' Paris, September 13. It is reported that General. Von Kluck's provisioning base has been cut off. The retreating Germans are experiencing great difficulty in the matter of mevietualling. French troops, it is. reported, sunk in th» Oise 150 bargee full of German ammunition. FBOM A ROUT TO COMPLETE DISASTER. (Rec. September 14, 9.50 p.m.) ' London, September 14, morning. The latest report states that the rout of the Germane is deepening into a complete disaeter. The invaders are turning homewards via St. Quentin, 30 miles due east of Amiens, and Mezieres, about 33 miles north-east of Reims. ..■■". v Paris, September 14. , The Germane now appear to be anxious to return to the frontier by the quiokeet route, their direction tending to become east of north. Two thousand Germans are reported to have surrendered to-day without firing a shot, through lack of ammunition. ■ ■ •> .'■'■■ HOW THE GERMANS BROKE AT MARNE. (Rec. September 14,11.40 p.m.) London, September 14, morning. The French troops on the outer left of the Allies are driving a great solid wedge into the enemy's positions south-east, of Soissons, where the British have also steadily advanced. All the reports from the field speak of terrible German losses.. Again ;and again they rally to fight stubbornly, only to bo overthrown b> the Allies' dash. The fight on the line of the Grand Morin was kept up to the laet possible moment by the leonine courage of the Germans. At Esternay, a few miles west of Sezanne,- their losses were estimated at 8000 dead alone. On Wednesday the country on the banks of the Little Morin., which afforded a less favourable defence, was completely carried, and the retreat, followed up in force, began to assume eigiis of a precipitate rout. Officers from the front believe, that the Germans, being unable tb retreat along the lines of'their advance, will be forced to go by way of Luxemburg. The fight from La Ferte Champenoise to Vitry was stubborn, on Tuesday and. Wednesday. On. Wednesday two battalions of the enemy were surrounded one after the other, and were'cut up on refusing to surrender. During four hours, eleven'trains, loaded with wounded, passed on to Paris from the battlefield. The French Army Service Corps gather the wounded with extiaordinary rapidity, and the organisation is so excellent that; ■ a soldier seldom has long to wait for first aid. It ia estimated that forty-six Army Corps were engaged in the Marne battle. (Rec. September 14, 11.30 p.m.) Paris, September 14, morning. , An official communique states that the Allies' left wing has crossed the River Aisne.' LATEST NEWS: ALLIES MARCHING ONWARD. (Rec. September 15, 0.55 a.m.) _ ■ ' • Paris, September 14, morning. ■A' communique states that the Allies' advance continues along the whole front, and contact with "the enemy ia being maintained.