THE CHINA MAIL, OCTOBER 17, 1939
German Tanks Rumble A Warning Of Big
ATTACK LIKELY
TO COME ALL
ALONG FRONT
Paris, To-day.
GERMAN WESTERN FRONT artillery has been silent as if afraid to reveal itself and draw counter-fire.
The constant rumbling of engines suggests tanks
massing for an attack.
The bulk of the preparations are on a front of 65 to 75 miles between the Moselle and the Forest of Haardt.
It is felt here that Hitler may stake all Germany's might in an effort to break through the Maginot Line regardless of the cost in lives:
Judging from previous tactics
it
is estimated that attacks will come all along the Rhine-Moselle Front, being most heavily pressed at two or three points..
along the level ground by masses of tanks supported by Intense action by planes flying low and ma- chine gunning in order to prevent anti-aircraft action against the bom- bers who follow them.
ALL PREPARATIONS
The French have made all prepara- tions for these eventualities.
The German tanks must pass mine- felds and areas swept by fire while German planes will be faced with a barrage of bullets and shells.
*
BRITISH IN LINE
The British troops, according to "Excelsior" are also manning part of
The Germans have now massed about 750,000 troops in the Rhine- land. This may be the herald to an offensive along the banks of the Baar River.
At any time, an attack on the Maginot Line would involve a battle with tremendous losses. But to-day, the Germans would first have to fight against concentrated advance defences which the French have set up in Ger- man territory.
They would.then have to face a strong and determined counter- attack by Allied mechanised forces. All' this would come be- fore they could even dream of attacking the Maginot Line itself.”
Reuter.
WINTER OFFENSIVE!
London, To-day. In the view of some circles, the Ger..
pelled" to launch a winter offensive.
Reports from Paris state that there is great activity behind the German
the Maginot Line on the Rhine Frontman High Command may be "com. and the Germans, if they attack in that sector will be up against 30,000 men of the British army highly train ed in the use of modern weapons and now trained in manning the com- plicated mechanism of the Maginot Line'which can face an adversary with a rain of fire and death through which neither man nor machine can pass.
These 30,000 troops are regarded here as the forerunners of what the Germans have to face.
Before long 32 British will be in France. Reuter.
divisions
GERMANS ATTACK ON 4-MILE FRONT
Paris, To-day.
Yesterday morning, on a front about
four miles long, the Germans attack- ed at a point immediately east of the
lines between the Moselle and the Saar. There was every sign on Sun- day night that reinforcements were tanks and armoured cars. being brought up, including
many
JERCK
Offensive
Trier (TREVES)
MERZIG
BELGI
FRANCEN
aris:
FRI
HOMB
NEUNKIRCHEN SAARLOUIS, STINGE
Saarbruecken
MAGI
FOREST OF WARNDT
ZONE
GERMAN AND SOVIET RIVALRY
ONTIER
LIN
London, To-day. Germany and Soviet Russla will soon fight each other, in the opinion of Maurice Hindus, well- 'known American writer.
Russian.moves in the Baltic, he says, are Russia's attempts to for- tify herself thoroughly against Germany.
Russia and Finland, he be iloves, will reach a peaceful set- `tlement.-Reuter.
SERSLAUTERN
NEUSTADI
LINE
WISSEMBOURS
LAUTERBOUR
HINE
ISLANDS OF RESISTANCE IN POLAND
LONDON, TO-DAY.
THE IT IS REPORTED THAT GERMANS WILL 188UE NO FUR- THER COMMUNIQUES REGARDING THE FIGHTING IN POLAND,
Even now, however, Polish Irregu- lars are still fighting at several points.
The Polish Embassy in Paris states that Poles are still fighting the "Ger- mans near the Lithuanian frontier and the Carpathians and the Russians in the Polish marshes. →→ Reuter.
POLAND'S PART IN ALLIED STRATEGY
London, To-day.
As a result, the French artillery has WHILE THE POLISH ARMY and people were heroically been very active.
If the Germans do launch a major attack, the Allied Command is confl- dent. The German offensive would be a desperate move, which would re- sult in the loss of many German lives and much valuable material difficult to replace.-Reuter.
SINKING OF
Moselle, states last night's communi- FRENCH
que.
The Germans occupied heights
of
Schneebarg, on which light French VESSELS
observation posts had been placed,
supported by land mines.
In the face of the strong, flre of
LONDON, TO-DAY.
resisting the German invasion, British people had little time and little heart carefully to weigh the con- tribution of that gallant fight to the Allied cause--feel- ings of admiration and sympathy crowded out calcula- tions of advantage.
But now Poland is temporarily over- | attack near Lwow on September 16, whelmed, there is a chance calmly to they are reported to have lost over assess the military value of her sacri- 100 tanks. fice which by no means has been in vain.
Freedom throughout the world has every reason för gratitude to the gal- It was, Indeed, always fully under-lant Polish army and people-British
Wireless. stood in competent military
་
circles,
un-
that should Hitler decide to attack Poland nothing could long delay his
that success there, but
retribution would overtake him on the Western the French, the attack came to a FURTHER NEWS ÖF THE SINK- Front
OF THE THREE FRENCH The Poles, therefore, undertook balt and the Germans had to with- [ING draw to the north of Apach, into which SHIPS HAS-NOW BEEN RECEIVED. heroic, and knowingly impossible, re- small village they had penetrated mo- THEY WERE THE BRETAGNE, | sistance, thereby occupying the mentarily.
| 10,000 TONS, THE LOUISIANE, 7,000 | divided attention of 70 German-divi- MINGUET, A sions and the bulk' of the much- This attack came as the culmination TONS, AND THE
vaunted Germen nlr: foroo, of a series of raids by the Germans SMALL CRAFT. in the past week. These raids had -British warships have landed 400 led military observers to speculate on survivors from the Bretagne and been the possibilities of à German offen-Louisiane. Fifteen liver have sive, Reuter
Tosty eight from shell-fire. Some of the survivors had to swim for two hours before being picked up.
-
Both ships were shelled.**.
HUGE FORCE NOW
·MASSED ·
- On the Louisiane; the First Officer amy was killed and a seaman lost an eye. London, To-day. The Bretagne was shelled while the Observers point but that any. Ger- life-boats were being lowered. Women man offensive to-day will mean and children were injured by shell frightful slaughter of many German splinters and several life-boats were troops without any hope of victory.smashed, Bouter,
|
AUSTRALIA A VAST ARMS FACTORY
·London, To-day. TACTICS DISCLOSED
According to a Melbourne press re- Not only did this greatly nonint the port, Mr. Casey, Treasurer of the French mobilisation, which was un- | Commonwealth Government, in a disturbed and the safe tranport of broadcast 'talk' declared' that by the the B.E.F., but it also disclosed to end of the year, "21-' armament the Allied High Command valuable | "annexes" will be operating-in. Aus- Information as to German tactics intraliw;snd_the'.output ~ot"planes will the use of aircrafty tanks and motorla- | soon be great enough to 'équipʻa Gom= od umite.
plete aquadron every three weeks. German losses in material also were **Australia had become an Empire considerable.
Arsenal, practically Independent of outside ourous for arms and muni» tion, and for the raw materiale: for making them. -- British Wireless,
In one attack alone they lost 88 tanks on a narrow front, and in Geri- ‚éral Bosnkowski's successful counter-