Palestine and Its Relation to the Suez Canal and Mesopotamia General Allenby's taking of Jerusalem marked the first time since the Crusades that Jerusalem had been in Christian hands. general; but in September, 1918, he began the attack. First of all, he struck in the east along the historic valley of the Jordan; then, while the Turkish forces were thus engaged, he delivered another blow at the seacoast, broke the line and, sending regiments of cavalry through the gap, encircled the Turks and cut off their retreat. Eighty thousand Turks surrendered; the others fled in little disorganized bands. The English pushed on, taking Damascus, routed and the Allied forces moving forward, saw that all was over, and on October 30th followed the example of Bulgaria and surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Germany had but one ally still in the field-Austria. And her collapse was imminent. was imminent. The Austrians, in 1917, as we remember, had forced the Italians back in a terrible retreat to the banks of the Piave. In June, 1918, while the Germans were hammering away at the Streets of St.-Quentin St.-Quentin has been called the shuttlecock of the Western front-buffeted, as it was, from the Germans to the Allies, and from the French to the Germans. The German hare may have covered the ground, but the stolid Allied tortoise had the winning spirit. Marne salient, they again launched an offensive, hoping this time to drive the Italians back upon the plain and thus open up northern Italy and an entrance into France. This offensive was a failure. The reorganized Italian army stood firm against the Austrian attack, and even drove their enemies back across the Piave. For a while there was quiet on the Italian front; then Foch, following up his plan of continually striking at different points on all fronts, as well as up and down the lines in France, started an Italian offensive. This attack began October 24th; before its onslaught the Austrian army and the Austrian defenses crumbled to pieces. In the space of a few days the Italians, sweeping all before them, captured thousands of prisoners and regained miles of territory. The advance of General Diaz cut the Austrian army along the Piave from the Austrian army in the mountains; and on November 4th, Austria bowed to fate and surrendered to the Allies. Germany's last ally was gone. She herself and her own armies were in a perilous position on the Western front. "WE STILL CONTINUE TO PURSUE THE ENEMY IMPLACABLY" Thus reported Marshal Foch. Having forced the Germans from the gains of their offensive, having penetrated the Hindenburg line to the north and destroyed the St.-Mihiel salient in the south, Foch kept on delivering his telling blows and following out his strategic plan. Let us look at the situation in the middle of September. In the north, the British armies were closing in on Douai and Lille. To the south of them, the French and Americans were developing an encircling movement on the St.Gobain Massif and from it toward Laon and La Fère, one force advancing west of Soissons and the other force from the north. In a Then, on September 18th, Foch struck at the center of the German line. bloody battle, lasting for days, the Allies drove on toward Cambrai and October 9th took the city, thus breaking the Hindenburg line at another spot. At about the same time, St.-Quentin fell, and further south, the French penetrated the St.-Gobain Massif and captured the Chemin des Dames and Laon and La Fère, three strongholds of the German line. While in the north along the coast, the Belgian army, combined with the British, on September 28th began an attack and drove the enemy from their submarine bases, Ostend and Zeebrugge and the English Channel, back across Belgium. The impregnable Hindenburg line lay well in the rear of the advancing Allies. The Germans were in full retreat toward Germany. But the way to Germany was not yet open. The railroad through Belgium was in a dangerous position, due to the Allies' advances. On the north, the Belgians and British were pushing one extremity of the huge salient, formed by the German lines in France and Belgium; and in the south, General Pershing, advancing through the Argonne Forest, was pressing fast on the other extremity and menacing the other railroad of retreat. The battle of the Argonne was the great achievement of the American army. The defenses of the Germans north of Verdun were the strongest they had: a network of trenches and barbed wire, steel forts, deep dugouts, and machine-gun nests hidden away in the foliage of the forest. On September 26th, the American attack began on a twenty-mile front; our troops threw themselves against the Hindenburg line and carried it. But behind this line. were still further defenses. In furious fighting against crack German regi German Guns Concealed in the Argonne A battery of 77-mm. guns well protected from observation. The Germans were nestled in the woods, but the Americans kept right on, and finally the Argonne Forest was cleared of the enemy. was difficult and the fighting bitter. But still the Americans kept on. The enemy launched heavy counter-attacks but our army held its ground. Many stories are told of their gallant deeds, such as that of the Lost Battalion. At last, by October 10, after three weeks of desperate fighting and continuous advancing, the Argonne Forest was cleared of Germans. and on November 6th reached the western suburb of Sedan and the important railroad running from France to Metz. "The strategical goal which was our highest hope was At highest hope was gained," reported General Pershing. "We had cut the enemy's line of communications and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster." Beyond the Argonne, ahead of the American army, lay the last German line of defense in France, the Kremhilde Stellung. Pershing's job was to break In the north also the Allies were carrying all before them. Foch's strategy was successful. The great salient Courtesy of G. P. Putnam's Sons. From In Flanders Fields and other Poems, by John McCrae. IN FLANDERS FIELDS BY R. W. LILLARD REST ye in peace, ye Flanders dead! The fight that ye so bravely led Where once his own life-blood ran red! Fear not that ye have died for naught; Ten million hands will hold it high, Courtesy of The New York Evening Post. |