- Foch arrives at Chaumont,
Pershing's headquarters,
to discuss this great American offensive
in the St. Mihiel,
with a possibility of going to Metz.
- Pershing has to show
that when American forces are committed,
they'll be successful.
There's also, of course, pressure from Washington
that you've gotta succeed.
- President Wilson is the Commander in Chief.
Now, he's given direction to Pershing
that he wants the United States Army
to fight as an independent force.
It must keep its own autonomy.
And this will ensure that the United States
has a position at the peace table.
- When Pershing meets with Foch,
in less than two weeks before
the launch of the St. Mihiel offensive,
Pershing is expecting to go over final plans.
Instead, the Allied Commander in Chief
drops a bombshell on him.
- Our boys have been working around the clock.
New roads, new railways, new hospitals,
all constructed in record time.
- Foch changes his plans
because of the circumstances on the ground.
The German offensives in the spring and summer
have reduced their ability
to fend off Allied counter attacks.
He wants American divisions to be used
for part of his Hundred Days Offensive
in the Meuse-Argonne sector.
And that means that Pershing is gonna have to
cut his attack short or cancel it altogether.
And in a very tense two hour meeting,
both men make their arguments.
- What if both are possible?
- May I?
If we remove the St. Mihiel salient,
it'll get rid of the German risk in that area.
They won't be able to flank us.
So our offensive in St. Mihiel
will actually strengthen your offensive.
[tense music]
If you agree, I assure you,
my men will handle St. Mihiel
and be ready for your operation in the Meuse-Argonne.
- Oui.
- Good.
- So what he does, is he trades off
the larger objective of Metz.
We will close off the salient
and I will use the time then
to get my troops in position
to support the larger Allied offensive.
- Foch grudgingly allows Pershing
to continue on with the St. Mihiel operation,
but the caveat is he has to be in position
to attack into the Meuse-Argonne
by the 26th of September.
- So now General Pershing is responsible,
not for just running the American offensive,
but running the American offensive
in conjunction with the French and the British offensive.
So St. Mihiel is risky for Pershing
because if it bogs down in any way,
if it is not successful in any way,
it'll throw doubt in all the Allies' minds
that the Americans can pull this off.
[airplane engines roaring]
- The St. Mihiel offensive is different
because there's a rather large air component to it,
led by Billy Mitchell,
who is the honcho of the AEF's fledgling Air Corps.
Billy Mitchell will lead
the largest air armada of the war
in the opening moments of the St. Mihiel
to cause havoc with the enemy positions
and develop intelligence on the enemy forces.
[airplane engine roaring to life]
[plane engines roaring overhead]
The battle of St. Mihiel begins
with an artillery barrage.
[bombs exploding] [heavy breathing]
- The First Division's waiting in their trench.
They're hearing the bombardment on either sides of them.
The way the front was set up
is you had two lines of trenches, German and Allied,
and in between was no man's land,
just this strip of hell
of shell craters, mud,
pieces of corpses that had been human beings
being gnawed by rats.
- Knowing they're going to be asked
to go over the top and go into that no man's land,
which is going to be swept by machine guns
if the artillery preparatory fires aren't sufficient,
how horrific, frankly, that must have been.
[bombs exploding]
- Soldiers, this is your chance to make your country proud.
Hold tight, stay with your unit.
You understand me?
Ellis, I'm counting on you.
- Yes, sir.
- Alright. - Yes, sir.
- [indistinct] You're gonna be fine!
- Here we go.
Got everything?
[indistinct preparatory chatter]
- [Captain] Time to move!
Over the top, men!
[shouting]
- [Captain] Go, go, go!
Move, move! [bombs exploding]
[shouting] [gunfire]
[sounds of battle]
[cannon fire]
- St. Mihiel goes fairly well for the Allies.
They have massive numbers.
They have 550,000 men.
They got 3,700 artillery pieces.
They got 300-plus tanks.
They have nearly 1500 aircraft.
- In the first four hours,
3000 American guns fire a million shells,
basically obliterating the German and Austrian trenches.
And Billy Mitchell is able to orchestrate
total air superiority over the St. Mihiel salient,
giving them really good visibility
on what the Germans are doing,
tracking the German movements inside the salient,
and then the waves of infantry advance quickly.
The Americans inflict casualties
and they themselves suffer massive casualties,
but the Germans are retreating out of the salient.
[distant gunfire]
[heavy breathing]
- Sergeant Michael Ellis is perhaps
in the most skilled division
in the American Expeditionary Force,
the First Infantry Division.
And they get the tough missions.
And one of the tough missions is mopping up,
getting the last of those German soldiers
that are still in fighting positions.
You have to be thinking on your feet
and understand who's the guy who's really surrendering
and who's the guy who's surrendering
and other Germans are gonna come and kill you.
[heavy breathing]
- Stop!
[explosion blasting, screaming]
[high-pitched whining] [indistinct shouting]
[gunshots]
- [Ellis] Return fire!
Return fire, private!
[gunshots]
[grunting]
Cease fire, cease fire!
Cease fire, Jones!
Cease fire!
- Jones, Jones! - Damn bastards!
[indistinct shouting]
- Jones, calm down. Calm down.
Jones, Jones, Jones, Jones, Jones!
Jones, calm down.
Let's go.
- [Soldier] Stand down, let's go.
Come on, move!
[tense music]
- At St. Mihiel,
the Americans met much less resistance
than they anticipated.
And the battle is effectively over after two days.