London, May 18. PHE general impression gathered from High Command communique and Army reports is that we are amidst a great! free fight and that the battle is hard. The situation is very serious but in no way presents a catastrophic character.
The High Command maintains perfect mastery in its decisions, and we can only, wait for the result with confidence in commanders and the Army," declared a spokesman of the French War Ministry today.
He said) the withdrawal of British and Belgian Armies to positions west of Brussels was voluntary and carried out for purely strategic It was accomplished without material hindrance from the enemy, The great armoured onslaught yesterday between the Sambre and Rethel involved at least half, probably more, of all of Germany's armoured units.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 tanks struck in two directions: one north, in the direction of Avesnes, and the other south, towards Vervins. The battle was extremely hard at} both points and round Hirson.
"We have lost a certain amount} of territory, but our troops are becoming accustomed to onslaughts by tanks, On several occasions, our troops launched successful counter-attacks, There is no question of this being a losing battle," he declared.
"partlier south, near Vervins, the enemy made even a stronger bushy the battle ending on a position chosen earlier by the High Command, where German" armoured vehicles met French ones, The French units with-Grew in perfect order," he continued.
The French and British Air Forces made a formidable contribution. At fall points where the Germans must rosy the Meuse, they were heavily bombed, German columns, and especially concentrations of" armoured cars, were targets of massive bombings."
Namur Forts Intact It was learned in authoritative quarters this afternoon that the Beleaguered fortresses of Liege and Namur are still intact. The Belgian witeless this afternoon broadcast message from King Leopold to the garrison, of Namur, "Resist to the tutinest for ihe sake of the Father-and, I am proud of you"
"he morale of the Belgian Army remains good, and soldiers, show no Sign of being discouraged. They express themselves in courageous terms When interviewed, Patriotic feeling among the population remains high, and civilians are showing heroic courage, despite alr raids.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.