PRZEMYSL ISOLATED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2268, 30 September 1914, Page 5

PRZEMYSL ISOLATED

RUSSIAN BLOW AT THE ft : .vAUSTRIANS .

MUSeOVITE TROOPS IN HUNGARY

BATTLE OF THE AISNE

ALLISVIPT REPBtS fIEECE

SEVERE FIGHTING BY THE

BELGIANS

GERMAN LOSSES HEAVY

The general ■ situation _along..the Aisne battle front' in France is still unchanged. The operations of the. troops are hampered by foggy weather. The Germari assault on the Allies';■ left still continues; the line of battle sways backwards and forwards, but always the Allies' left presses forward, inch by inch, forcing back von Kluck's army on 'the German,right. 'The inner history of the retreat : of the Orpwn Prince's Army after the Battle of theMarne throws an interests ing light on what appears to have been a regular rout. In fact, so hurriedly did the Crown Prince's army retire, and to such a distance, that the German armies on either side of him were sertiouely embarrassed. In Belgium the, Germans appear to be a vigorous offensive movement, but the Belgians, by means of various gallant sorties, have effectively-checked the development of the German plans, with great loss of life,to the planners; There is an important concentration of German troops at Bruesels. In-..the East, tho Russians'are continuing their successful attack on the. great Galician ■fortress of Przemysl, which has now been completely isolated. Further to.;the south-west the Russians have entered one .'of the Carpathian Passes, and the Tsar's troops .may, even now be in Hungarian territory in considerable'numbers. . In the Far. Bast; the Japanese have 60 invested Tsing-chaii that the Germans are now fighting -within a reetricted area, of fivei milesi from the centre' pf their b^ee.'

:VIGOROUS r OFFENSIVE ON ALLIES' LEFT

ORO6RPvOE;.TM.BATTLE

SITUATION UNCHANGED IN CENTRE AND RIGHT

. . By Telegraph—Press Association—Oonyrielit ' V. ' , -^ ; . •/ •.'■■■•,.;'.■ '.'■•' .Paris, September 28. Eye-witnesses, summing up their impressions. of the'. Aisne . battle-front, say that for two or three days there was brilliant sunshine after a week of mud and water. This proved a godsend to the Allies,, whose great effort to drive : back the German right wing continues with unabated fury. GJeneral yonKluck ■ has been compelled tb retreat inch by inch. Both sides are .apparently determined, to-fight the issue to a definite conclusion in'the ko'rthreast. France is scoring in Alsace and Lorraine for the time being; ' - ' "> ■ Before General von Kluck's recent reinforcements arrived French aviators detected vast quantities of _railway stock concentrated in the eastern Departments. As there was no similar assemblage in the west, thp commanders were assured that the Germans intended to hold the line along the Aishe to the' '• Oise,- ; ','.■' " ' -; ■'■'■,' "■■ ' ; .''-.• ■ '."';.'' "■' , " ■-,- v .It is evident the Germans consider the region of the Allies' left the beet • -. road to Paris, and intend to make another attempt t<T gain it. While continuing to engage the British, they are' throwing greater weight on the French left. :'■' "■ ~ ' ." ■•"..' . • .:'>.' ■ '" ' ' " " ■'• . '" ; ' . ". •■ The 'German pressure caused the French'left to yield slightly. The ground' •.-.:" ivon was hotly, contested. The position since has improved,' the enemy being again- pushed back, with severe looses. \ '■■■ "■'.'.' . .' ' : ■ .; ■■■■■'■■/,■ ; CROWN EEIN.CE^EACTICALLYEQUTED. It now transpires that General von Kluck's misfortunes were due to the defeat of the- Crown Prince, who was badly beaten; 'the main boSy qf his army retiring forty kilometres, (nearly/twenty-five;miles) on tjhenight <jf the 6thnnd ' on the' 7th. -The retirement was/equivalent,' to : 'a ■rout.'" At'the time French official dispatches claimed a, drawn battle, : whereasth/py had actually -smashed the flower of the German r ,railitary power. In the'plan of the' German' operas ..-. turns, the path promising the greatest glory "was' reserved"' for V.the" prown 'Prince. When General yon Kluck's Uhlans were at "Ohan'tilly the Crown ~.v Prince's main body, aj; a distance of 200 kilpmetree (124 miles), was ordered .;• to advance with all speed. .' . :••.'".' .'-" " "" - '•'.-' .'""■'■. ' ' ' .>;;.-/. HEAVY' LOSSES AT YEEDUM. ■ •';■ • ■'■ A battle which was; intended to brush aside 'the French south-west of Verdun began at daybreak-on September 6, and ' continued .with unprecedented, fury .until daybreak' the nest day." .The French guns were served with .' iinaeniable' superiority.';'-. ;.;>' - ':■.'.'■ -c;' - ',' ' '•" ■• ■'■■ The Crpwn'Prince's loeses in advan6ing:'on a forty-mile front are estin>ate.d at 20,000 killed and 80,000; wounded. -•.".-■■■■' ": '. " ' ' . - ;•.'■ There, was a mysterious. German retreiit on thel night of the 6th, which was only _-explainable in two ways: Firstly, it may have; been .due fo a sortie from •• • Vjerduiij which, while the German mam force was heavily engaged, would work ~ havoc'on.any army ;_or, eecofidly, tliDre may have b'e'en 'a breakdoiyn' of 'the . ..< army transport service.. In the second' case, after the. .enormous expepejiture-. of ammunition on the 6th, the Crown Prince's army be pbliged- to i;e- ---.'•-.: treat' or be captufed.-.; The'.'circumstai;ces -of ■ th'e precipitate 'flight support the theory. ~_;.. "• .'.' • '■ ." ' :.■■.' "'.The Crown Prince retreated fighting in order to save the, remnants of his. crippled army from complete l destruction. His withdra\yal coinpeHed General'yon.Kluck and General von Buelpw to execute tlie same "manoeuvre.' Henco the battle on the Oise and the subsequent fjgMing; ;.'.,, TAOTIGS IN THE BATTLE. ■ Tauglit by experience, the French General Staff has forbidden bayonet attacks that are not supported by effective artillery fire. The Germans are not content *ith a.single trench, but cut two and three lines of defences,-each large enough.to coyer the whole force. : The Germans continue to use the mass formation of attack. A' British officer states that the Germans lost four thousand men in a eingle attack last ■ ' week on this account. .' i ENTRENCHED SINGE SEPTEMBER 4. . . .' • London, September 28. After the battle of September 4 both armies dug themselves lines .. of trenches, whicli they still hold. Guerrilla warfare has since beeu conducted with pitiless ferocity, '[lie fighting lias surged between Nancy and the frontier. . The wholo countryside is dotted with so-called "villas mqrtes," which the Germans burnt or destroyed by sliell-fire. The Gprmans at Cerceuil surrounded eight hundred chasseurs under Commandant Do la Cliapelle. The Germans fired volleys. Two hundred and fifty of the chasseurs escaping, retook the position, leaving a thousand German dead. The French recaptured Avricourt without casualties. The commander left a ecreen of troops at the enemy's centre, and four batterjes kept up a fire . wliije the main body carried out a flank attack. The Germans abandoned their ■ position and crossed the frontier. '"• GENERAL SITUATION UNCHANGED. (Rec. September 29, 10.55 p.m.) " . . . Paris, September 28. 'An official communique statos: Tlio generiil satuatiqn is unchanged. There is a comparative calm along tlio front, except between tlio Aisno and the 4-Tgpnne, where further yiplcnt attacks have boon repulsed. ' SITUATION FAVOURABLE ON THE LEFT. (Rec. September 30, 0.5 a.m.) Paris, September 29. An official communique st-oKs: The situation on tli» French left is fav.

oiirable. The troops in the centre have successfully resisted violent attacks and we have progressed slightly on the heights of the Meuse. A dense fog in the Woevro district lias suspended operations. The situation in Lorraine and the, Vosges is unchanged. ; FRENCH ADVANCE HEEE AND THERE. The Prime Minister has received the following message from the High Commissioner :— „ . London, September 28, 6.25 p.m. Official. —Last night tho enemy attacked our lines with even more vigour, but with no more success. There is no change in the situation! The Germans have gained no ground. The FTcnch have advanced here and there.

BRITISH OPERATIONS DESCRIBED

GERMAN CATASTROPHE IN THE DARK . ENEMY'S EXTENSIVE SPY SYSTEM *i S-, fo telegram has been received by the Prime Minister from taeiligh Commissioner, dated London, September 28:— ' Official.—The following descriptive account, dated Sept-ember 25, has been communicated by, an eye-witness at present with General Headquarters, and continues and supplements the narrative published on September 24 of movements of the Brjtish Force and the French armies in immediato touch with it:— For four days there has been a comparative lull all alon<* our front. This ! lias been accompanied by a spell of fine weather, and advantage haa been taken of the arrival of reinforcements to relieve by fresh troops men who have been in the firing line for some time. Several units have received their baptism of fire during the week. _ Since the lest letter left General Headquarters, evidence has been received which points to the fact that during counter-attacks on the night of the 20th, the Gorman infantry fired into each other—the result of the attempt to.,carry.ont the dangerous experiment of converging the advenes in the dark. Opposite one portion of our position a considerable massing of hostile -forces was observed before dark. .Some, hours later a furious fussilade was heard in front of our line, though no bullots came over our trenches. •' , ~ °ff the 21st there was a little rain, and the weather took a turn for the better, which hasbcen maintained. Tho action has been practically confined to the artillory; our guns at one point shelling and driving ' away the enemy who were endeavouring to construct a rtdoubt. Tho Germans expended a large number of heavy shells in a long-rango bombardment of the village of Reconnoitring parties sent out during the nights of the 21st and the 22nd discovered some deserted trenches in the woods. Over on© hundred dead and wounded were picked up, also a number of rifles and amrmiitition and equipment. There were various other signs that portions of the onemy's forces had "withdrawn for some distance. ; . " On the 22nd the weather was also fine,, with less wind. It was one of tho most uneventful days for the British since we reached the Aisne. There was less artillery work on the other side, the Germans nevertheless giving the village of Paissy a taste of "Jack Johnson's." The spot thus honoured is not. far from the ndgo where most of the most severe close fWiting in which we have taken part has occurred. All over this "no man's land," between the .lines, bodies of Gernian infantry were still lying in heaps where they fell at different tunes. .' '■' • • ARMY OF GERMAN SPIES. Espionage plays so large a part in the conduct of .the war by Germans that it is difficult to avoid further reference to tho subject. Apart from the , more elaborate arrangements made in peace time for obtaining information by paid agents, some of the methods employed for the collection or conveyance of intelligence aro as follows:— . ' ' _ Men in plain clothes signal to tho German line from points in the hands of the enemy by means of, coloured lights at night and puffs of smoke from chimneys by day.. Pseudo-labourers working in-fields between armies have been detected conveying information. Persons in plain clothes have acted as advance scouts to German cavalry when advancing. German officers and soldiers in plain clothes or, French or British uniforms have remained ui localities evacuated by the Germans in order to furnish them with intelligence. • ■'■' One spy of this kind was found by our troops hidden "in a church tower. His presence was only discovered through the erratic movements of the hands of the church clock, which he was using to signal to friends by means pf improvised semaphore code. Had this man not been seized it is probable" that ho would have signalled tho German artillery the time of arrival and exact location of the headquarters of the force. A big explosive shell would then have mysteriously dropped on the building. Women spies have been paught. Secret agents have been found, at railheads entrainments and detrainments. It is a simple matter for spies to mix with numbers of refugees moving about to and.from their homes, and it is difficult for our troops who speak neither French nor German to-detect them. The French'have found it necessary to search the villages and casual wayfarers on roads for carrier pigeons. Rigorous precautions have been taken by us to guard against spyThe following extract from a German Order of August 2 is evidence of the mystification of the enemy, and is a tribute to tho value of secrecy so well and loyally maintained in England :—"lt is reported that the English Army has disembarked at Calais and Boulogne en route for Brussels."

ENEMY HARASSED IN BELGIUM

MORE TOWNS BOMBARDED

.j, , , „ ~ : ■■■. ■ Antwerp, September 28, A detachment of' cyclists marched to the enemy's line at Braine Iβ Cbmte,' ana destroyed railway communication between lions and Brussels. " " " m' ■■ -T ,'.„ ,■■■■" Amsterdam, September'2B. : Ten civilians were killed and many wounded V the-'bombardment of Ma, lines. On Sunday several were killed while returning from church. ,^ e -railway,station, barrack*, and many other buildings were ignited, and the cathedral was almost destroyed. ... •■.•*> .."i • (Rec. September 29, 10.55 p.m.) • The Germans bombarded Alost and did considerable' dainage! ** ' ™ -, • , , , ,„,. Amsterdam, September 28. Germans bombarded Malines and* attacked (jrimbergen, a few miles north; of Brussels, where they were repulsed. .-•■•• -um.^

;. ENEMY GREATLY EMBARRASSED. ■ sione^— Prlme M ' n '-° r - as received tlie Allowing from the High CommisT) r 1,1 wir • T, , • ■ Septenjber 29, 12.45 a.m ■iwliabie—flighting m Belgium is'almost continuous. The Belgian Field Army is causing not only serious losses, but great' tactical embarrassment io the enemy who to meet sorties and attacks at skilfully chosen points, making it difficult for the Germans, to carry out any largo combined movement, ./.riie Germans are maHng np main attack on Antwerp A l! n .e»fP nu , rs «s and-doctors have been ordered-to leave Brussels, and the wounded have been moved from tho city. The .movement of German troops through Brussels during.the last four days has been enormous

RUSSIANS ADVANCING INTO HUNGARY.

CARPATHIAN PASSES TAKEN.

KAISER PERSONALLY COMMANDING IN THE EAST

nir • i mi n ! .rt '• ,i. ' Petr «Srad, September 28. Oflicial. —The German losses at Sopotokim, in Russian Poland, south-east of Suwalki, were heavy. Their retreat towards Su'walk'i is becomiiic teneral . , Tlle German activity pn the banks pf the Memel only covered a front of sixteen miles. This, coupled with the speed of their movements, suggests only a demonstration to cover an action on the more vulnerable Kalisz-Cracow lino Any invasion of Russia in this direction would weaken the Germans in Breslau' lhe Russians at Ujoklnll captured a complete battery and hundreds of prisoners. They are now invading Hungary. - .. . TWENTY-TWO GERMAN CORPS IN THE EAST. . t ,!.„'■ Petrograd, September 28. . ihere are twenty-two German army corps on the Russian frontier. Thev include the majority pf the field corps. Eighteen army corps remain in the l< ranco-Belgian theatre. Of these many are reserve corps. The Kaiser is personally comiuandiiig'the "German armies in East Prussia. RUSSIANS CONCENTRATING AT FIVE POINTS. (Rec. September 30, 0.5 a.m.) .. , . , t> x -, , Rome, September 29. _ Advices from Petrograd state tho Russian Army is concentrated at five points on tho frontier and will march simultaneously. ■ ■ , RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTER HUNGARY. The Prime Minister has received tbe following message from the High Commissioner:— Londoni September 29, 12.45 a.m. The fighting at Soefotskin and Dniskpilie, on the lino of tho River Nionien, which beg.in on Friday, has ended by the ipti-eat of the Gpriuans. .''■'.' Tho Russians in Galicia have occupied Dombitisa '{betwobn" Jaraslav and Cracow).

The Russians destroyed the enemy's detachments in the Carptitliiaii Pass at Uzsok, capturing his artillery and many prisoners. In the course of fui> thor nnreni*. the Bnwlans entered Huucarjj ■

'A large column of the enemy retreating along the road from Przemysl to Sanok, in the south, was played upon From Russian artillery from neighbouring heights, the enemy abandoning guns, munitions, and wagons.

VIGOROUS PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY. (Rec! September 30, 1.20 a.m.) ; . Petrograd, September 29. From station after station on the Budapest line the Russians are pursuing the beaten foe into Hungary. The Russians have secured the railway leading to Hungary through the Dukla Pass, and. have also occupied Debiksa, commanding .another railway over_ the Carpathians. The Austrians, under the impression that they can better co-operate with Germany, are leaving the defence of Hungary to the Honveds (reserves). The latter consist of ninety-four battalions, sixty squadrons, and 102 field guns, totalling 150,000 men. i' The Russians, after crossing the Carpathians, will find their chief obstacle in tlie marshes near tne river Tisza.

DESPAIR IN 'AUSTRIA,

London, Soptembor 28. A Hungarian journalist states that endle6s despair exists in. Austria. The Chief of the General Staff has entirely lest the popularity which he possessed before the war. ■ ' '

CHOLERA AUONG AUSTRIAN WOUNDED.

(Reo. September 29, 6 p.m.)

London, September 28. Government bacteriologists havo definitely established that Asiatic cholera, is prevalent amongst tne seventy thousand wounded in Vienna. It is said that Emperor Francis Joseph is quite well, and is only told of victories and not of reverses. He has not been informed of the fall of Lemberg lest the shock should endanger his life. Hβ works hard signing promotions of officers and attends church, twice daily.—("Times" and Sydney "Sun" Services.) ' "" ,