HEAVY FIGHTING.

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 2447, 15 September 1914, Page 3

HEAVY FIGHTING.

GREAT VICTORY FOR THE ALLIH/b. i-ark>, September l'<i. General Juiiiti uas to ■M. iviineriuiu, jjAULidwr ot «uv: "Uiu victory is uuiuuincd as more uud more couipieto everywnore. '-I'iie enemy is relocating uverywnorw, auanuoning wuuuueu and inutoruus ol war. Alter a loruiiuauie struggle, lasting iroin tne otn to tne an our aims are nuaneu oy success, n c are executing a pursuit wnicn is unexampled ior rw and it will be continued wwx ail our energy." General donre issued the following Army uruer: "iiie battle ot nve dajs lias ciosod as an incontestable victory. Tne retreat 01 thu i< nst, becond, and 'mird German armies is becoming more and nioro pronounced on our ieit and centre, ana the enemy's Fourth Army is beginning in turn to lali back northwards 01 Vitry and bermaise. As we gain giound our troops und traces or tne intensity pi the struggle and the magnitude oi the means employed by tne Germans in their endeavour to resist. Our elan and vigorous resumption of the otiensive determined our success. You and all officers and men answered my call and you all deserve well of your country. , ' A communique says: On our lei't wing the enemy, continuing the retreat, evacuated Amiens, falling back eastward between Poissons ana Rheims, and retired north of Vesie ,'fiver. They did not defend the Marne southward of Rheims in the centre. The enemy's forces recently on the Meurthe are retreating beyond St. -Die and Luneville. AYe re-occupied Raon le Tape, Baccarat, Nomeny., and Pont a Mousson. In Belgium the Belgians have pushed their vigorous offensive south of Lierre. The Allies' left wing has crossed the Aisne.

A further communique states that the Allies' advance continues on the whole iront, and contact with the enemy is maintained.

Bordeaux, September 13. A message received by the Government states that the Allied troops are bearing lightly the enormous fatigue of the week's titanic struggles. The importance of their victory cannot be exaggerated. It marks the collapse of the wonderful German war machine, fc

London, September 13. The Bordeaux correspondent of the Times says the retreat is becoming a complete rout. In the Argonne, a heavily-wooded and mountainous district,, a serious problem confronts tlie enemy. There are no roads through the Argonne forest running north and south, and the Germans must choose between east and west. If they choose The east '%ey will inevitably come under tho fire of the Verdun guns. If the west is chosen they will join the other- retreating masses endeavouring to return as it were, through the neck of a hottle. If the Belgians can manage to clear Brabant (the district surrounding Brussels), the Germans will have to change their lines of communication from Liege and Namur to Luxemburg. This will entail converging the retreat upon narrowed and changing front. At the battle of the Marne the enemy advanced in considerable force and were obviously unaware of the strength of the Allies. They attempted to cross the river unsupported by artillery and were swept off with considerable loss.

/u£V° C^ r relates: "Early on the. oth the Germans approached again with the intention of outflanking us an dpoured forward on our extreme lert. How they swarmed! Wave alter wave approached and was thinned slowed down and fell away before the hurricane of lead. God ! but they were brave! We cannot deny that, but their artillery did not seem so effective as usual, and their rifle fare was strangely erratic. It ie estimated that 46 'Army corps were engaged in the Marne battle. . Latest reports state that the rout w deepening into a complete disaster, ihe invaders are turning homewards, via St. Queutin and Mezieres. 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 cut up, refusing to surrender.

During four hottra, eleven trains of wounded passed Paris-wards from the battlefield. The French Army Service Corps gather the wounded with extraordinary rapidity, and they are organised so excellently- that a soldier seldom waits long for first aid.