6/9/1918 Allied advance slows as the Germans withdraw to the Hindenburg Line #1918Live

The pace of conflict on the Western Front has temporarily slowed. The Germans are withdrawing to the Hindenburg Line while logistical problems are making it hard for the Allies to pursue them with all necessary vigour as they are now marching further and further from their bases of supply. The blasted landscape Allied troops are moving through was cleared of anything useful by the Germans last year during their previous withdrawal, with even wells poisoned or filled in, making it impossible to live off the land. The Germans are also making prodigious use of poison gas to slow the Allies, shelling broad areas to deny them to the enemy.

The Germans have their own logistic problems. While their men are moving towards their bases, the German army is suffering from an acute shortage of horses, which makes it difficult to move supplies to where they are needed. The German…