By September 13th the Americans had taken forty-seven towns and villages, reduced the German front from forty miles to twenty, captured the railway that connects Verdun with Commercy, opened the cities of Nancy and Toul to the allies, and with the French and British on the east, created a new battle front on a line running from Hattonville on the west to Pagny on the east—Pagny being a town on the Moselle river, at the German border.
The importance of this victory could hardly be overestimated. It opened the way to and was followed up by the demolition of the whole German line from the Swiss border to the North Sea, and hastened the great German retreat. In the action itself, September 11 to 13, about 15, Germans were taken prisoner by the Americans.
STORIES TO THE FOLKS BACK HOME
Sidelight stories of what happened in the St. Mihiel fight, mostly in letters written home by men who were in it, go far toward showing how completely the Germans were taken off their guard. Corp. Ray Fick of the 103d Infantry wrote home in this wise:
"We got into the woods and then kept on going until we reached a big city where there was a brewery, but they had set fire to the whole city before they left. We got some beer and wine just the same. It was a little stale, but it was fine. The Huns' warehouses were all fixed for the winter and the boys got cigars and cigarettes, but I was a little too late to get in on it.
"The whole thing was very interesting all the way through. The Huns sure did make themselves scarce in a hurry, but they kept many prisoners, a troop train and an ammunition train.
"Cigarettes are scarce and we look for smokes all the time. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are the ones who look to our comforts. If any one wants to give, tell them the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are the ones to get it."
HUNS CARRY OFF CAPTIVE WOMEN
But Corporal Fick uncovers another Hun procedure that has no fun in it. While the Huns lost no time in getting away from there, they took care to carry off their captured women slaves.
"The women they have held captives for the last four years," he writes, "were driven ahead of them, but they were brought back by the Americans. Truckload after truckload passed us on the way, and they sure were happy to be free again."