VIOLENT ARTILLERY DUEL IN PROGRESS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2381, 10 February 1915, Page 5

VIOLENT ARTILLERY DUEL IN PROGRESS

ALLIES' POSITIONS MAINTAINED SEVERE INFANTRY FIGHTING IN THE AEGONNE Paris, February 8. 'A communique states: —There is a' violent artillery duel at Guinchy. We captured a trench west of Carcncby by a coup de main. Wo repulsed attacks at Massiges and Fontaino Madamo. A violont iufantry action is progressing at Bagatello. Wo have maintained our positions! The Prime Minister bus rccoived the following from tho High Commissioner (dated London, February 8, 4.40 p.m.) "Paris reports that south-west of Oarenchev the Allies successfully attacked a trench which had previously been, mined. The defenders wore all killed or captured. In the Argonne, the enemy made attacks towards Fontaine Mn'JaiHe. bin. won cfputearl. Air pspulle «. vMnltmt ttfunwy niiifoH > •ceaitag, iU-Utest flaws is thai all the Allias' gositiaiig wett) mteiaWSfla J .

London, February 9. "Paris reports that in tho 'Argonno the infaiitry action at Bagatello lasted all night on Sunday and Monday. The Germans aro occupying only a few points on tho Allied line, round the most advanced of which the fighting continued all (lay." ATTACK AT LABOISSELLE REPULSED. (H«o. February 9, 11.5 p.m.) . " Paris, February 9. Official.—"Tho enemy oxplodod mines outside our positions at Laboisselle, and sent two nml o. half companies to tho assault. Tbe.v were repulsed, leaving two hundred dead." GERMAN NAVY TAKING NO RISKS. (Rec. February 9, 8.5 p.m.) > , London, Fobruary 9. High-Admiral von Koester, addressing a meeting at Kiel, said: "Wo have every confidenco in our fleet, but wo must not allow ourselves to bo drawn into an action in which wo might succumb, nor must wo risk a combat unless .we can count on success." ' "FIGHTING IN THE ARGONNE " MILITARY VALUE OF THE GREAT 'FRENCH FORESTS. ' "There has been violent fighting in tho Argoiuie," frequently appears in tho cablegrams from tho Western theatre. The great, forests of Franco are playing an important part in the war. It was tho saino forest of Argonno which enabled the French to repulse tho Prussian attack of 1792, and which ui 1870 concealed the manoeuvres of the' Germans before their crushing defeat of the French at Sedan. Tho forest of Orleans afforded the French a rallying point for their final stand in 1871, while tho forest of Soignes, by sheltering Wellington's forces, contributed to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. The forests of C'ompiegne, thoso in the Ardennos, the Vosges, and elsewhere in regions adjacent to tho Western border of Franco, have all played their part in French military operations past and present. That the French Government recognises tho military value of the forests is shown t>y tho Code Forestior, adopted in 1829, wltich prevents privato owners from clearing frontier forcßts where these are deemed necessary for purposes of defence. The decided advantage offered to an army by tho possession of lorest territory aro unquestioned. In tho first place, they offer a serious obstacle to the enemy's advance. Troops and artillery can move with difficulty through thom, particularly when tho roads hawe been barricaded. • "In Alsace," says Samuel P. Daua, who writes on "French Forests in tho War Zone" in the November issue of the "American Forestry," "so I was informed by an eye-witness, the first stop taken by the Germans after the declaration of war was to barricade every road as effectively as possible in this way." _ The forest forms an excellent shelter from which to fire on an approaching enemy. Cavalry and infantry, advancing across an open plain, have repeatedly in the present war been repnlsed with great loss by opponents entrenched on the edge of a forest. The masking of fortifications by woods is another strategic use of forest growth. The fortifications about Me'tz, unlike those at Liege, aro said to be so skilfully concealed by the woods as to blend Iftost successfully with the surrounding landscape. Batteries aro often placed on river banks and hidden behind a screen of thickly branching trees, their muzzles pointing through tho openings in the leafy roof above. Thus protected from view, they have in many cases dome effectivo work for several days before being discovered by the enemy. In the Argonno tho heavy forest cover, tho roughness of the country, and the necessity of crossing instead of following up the streams, all conspiro to render difficult tho advance of an army. It was here that Dumouriez in 1792 held the Duke of Brunswick in check, by giving the' French forces times to rally, made possible the subsequent defeat of the latter at Valmy. In the present war history seems to be repeating itself, and the forest of Argonne has evidently been largely instrumental in helping to prevent the adavnee of the Germans in that region.