The hardest fighting has taken place in the Sella Valley,
north and south of Le Coteau, where ow Third and. Fourth Armies, with some American divisions, have continued the offensive in co-oper- ation with the French First Army on their right. South of Le Cateau General Rawlinson's Fourth Army, in the three days ending with Saturday last, captured all the high ground east of the Selle, with five thousand prisoners and many guns, while the French advanced in line with our men north of the-Oise and took three thousand prisoners and no fewer than eighty-one guns. Last Sunday. General Byng's Third Army attacked to the north of Le Gateau, took Solesmes, and crossed the Selle on a wide front, capturing three thousand prisoners. Both the Armies resumed the offensive on Wednesday, attacking on a. twenty-mile front south of Valenciennes, between the Schelde and the Sambre, and advancing at least three miles in the face of most strenuous opposition. At the close of the day our troops were approaching the Forest of Normal, between Le Quesnoy and Landrecies, which covers Maubeuge and the road down the Sambre to Namur. The attack 'Was continued it Thurs- day. This resolute advance from Le Cateau renders vain the enemy's attempt to hold the Schelde line to the north, and imperils the retreat of his armies to the south between the Oise and the Aisne.
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