"THE GREATEST BATTLE IN HISTORY"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2256, 16 September 1914, Page 5

"THE GREATEST BATTLE IN HISTORY"

IRREPARABLE BLOW TO GERMANY PROFOUND DESPAIfUN THE FATHERLAND. Mr , m ' „:.■••'■ ... ~ , . . - London, September 14. _ ine limes, in a,leading article reviewing the operations in tho Marne district, says: 'The time has come when we can safely say that the "reatest battle in history has been fought and won. The Germans everywhere are retreating. Tne long unbroken*prestige of the German arms has received an irreparable blow. ... The "Times" military correspondent lays stress on the fact that a new : army cannot be ready for many months. Ho adds that Germany on the defensive, will require all the efforts of the,AUies'to bring her to terms. There is need to prepare for a long war'. ' , • ' EsPWts admit that notwithstanding the perfection of the German orcanisation, the problem ot feeding a great airmy at the front had not been solved. DESPAIR AND STUPEFACTION IN GERMANY. T. ' ..' ■■■■.• ...••' - Coneva, September 14. .Despite every German precaution, news of the German defeat traversed Switzerland northwards, causing profound despair. . The German people were' paralysed, after so many announcements of victories. ,Mobs gathered in the diirerent towns, demanding to know the truth. . , , " ■ London, September 14. i, A™ 8 7l F advices confirm the anxioty in Berlin. The casualty lists aro nil-behindhand. It is stated that the male members of some distinguished families have been wiped out. , , PRESENT LINE OF THE GERMAN RETREAT. (Reo. September 15, 9.20 p.m.) ,_, ~ , , ' London September 14, evening. A Bordeaux official message states that tho Germans have been forced to abandon the defence which they had prepared between Compiegne and Soissons. The German centre has abandoned a similar position behind Amiens (PReims)' The detachments which 'Were posted at Amiens have retired to Peronne and St. Quentin, 45 miles to the east. The Germans in tho Argonne district have retreated northwards below the Forest of Belnoue and Triaucort, 20 miles north of Revigny, and have totally evacuated the rogion round Nancy and Vosges. * , RETREATING ARMY RAKED BY SHELL FIRE. (Rec. September 16, 0.35: a.m.) \ Vt /'i , „ • • : ~ ,' ' Paris, September 15. \ (correspondents following in the Wake of the advancing British and French /troops state that half a million Germans are retreating, and are already'halfway up the Aisne Valley. The French 7.5 gun batteries, with their wonderful mobility, are giving the Germans no rest. In three days they have been driven over three rivers and a dozen railway lines. The roads are littered with ammunition carts and convoys. The Germans in> Northern Franco have not destroyed the towns for mere lust and cruelty, but many of the villages' are only charred and broken walls. Farms and cottages aro in shapeless ruins, owing to shell-fire. / ■ ■ GRAPHIC STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD. (Rec. September 16, 0.50 a.m.) _, _~.. „.,, „ London, September 15, morning. Mr. fllllip Glbbs, after a tour of the battlefields and many interviews with the,prisoners, states the chief caiise of the failure of the Germans is the Gorman private, who now realises that his officers show an utter indifference to the lives of their men. He heard brutal orders to "spill blood like water so long as those who follow may wade to the destined goal." This policy has recoiled upon tho authors. Even when captured the officers display an amazing lack of comatdadarie, and protest violently against. sitting in the samo wagon with the men. They refuso to eat with them, and still endeavour to • bully them. Gorman privates ofton surrendered ffladlv in order to eflcaDe thair

intolerable sufferings. Li some oases the Uhlans' haversacks were filled with grass,, which was their only food. When they surrendered they begged pitiously for food. Cerman Plans Completely Mlsoarrled. The failure to reach Paris was a demoralising blow and proof that the plans of the Headquarters Staff fed completely miscarried. All these things put panic and fear into the hearts of the Germans who were unable to withstand the .bayonet charges, and made a miserable resistance against' the Zouaves in such villages, as Bragy and Penchard, unless protected by the mitrailleuses. At Samtremy and Vierton, ono French regiment bayoneted and routed four regiments with terrible slaughter. The Germans lost their nerve and fled from the trenches sereamiug. The majority were stabbed in the back as they fled. The whole retreat was more terrible than the Turkish rotreat from Lule Burgas in the first Balkan war. Long continued artillery duels paved the way for the charges. At night during the first days of the battle, the French invariably retired slightly from their advanced position, and when the Germans reoccupied them, the French gunners dislodged thorn in the morning, as they knew the exact range for the 6hells.' Demoralising Work of the French Bayonet. The French infantry often rebelled against the weary waiting in- the trenches, and when the order to advance was given there was no attempt to move steadily, frequently charging the line, and being severely torn by mitrailleuse ire. The effect of the bayonet charges was overpowering. The long, sharp-pointed French bayonets were fearful weapons in German eyes, compared with which the Gorman knife bayonets were toys. The German casualties reached an enormous figure, but the French losses were very heavy. Since the Germans retreated, seven thousand French wounded have passed daily through Orleans alone. Paris is one vast hospital, and there are hospitals in every town in Central and Southern France, overcrowded with maimed and crippled men. ■ ' GERMAN WAR STAFF'S VIEW OF\ THE RETREAT. (Rec. September 16, 1.10 a.m.) Rotterdam, September 15. The General War Staff in Berlin claims that the Barest battle so far is favourable, as the French failed to break the centre, i It explains the success of the Allies' left as the falling back of the weak-German right, consisting of three army corps, and that the French have been thrown back upon Verdun, of which the outworks have been capturefl.