12/9/1918 St. Mihiel: US troops smash the Germans

Pershing has been pushing for his American troops to be given their own sector of the front where they can prove their mettle. Now he has his chance, with US troops deployed to attack the St. Mihiel salient to the east of the old Verdun battlefield. The Americans are not operating completely on their own, as French units are also taking part, while the French have also deployed tanks and aircraft (and supplied tanks to be crewed by the Americans themselves), but this is nevertheless an American battle taking place under the direction of Pershing and his officers.

After a heavy artillery bombardment the US infantrymen attack today in wet weather. The German troops defending the salient are heavily outnumbered. Forewarned of the Allied attack, they had begun a withdrawal to a shorter line, but the attack today catches them on the hop. If the Germans had hoped that the…