The Press. Tuesday, March 19, 1918. The Much-Advertised "Offensive."

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16164, 19 March 1918, Page 6

The Press. Tuesday, March 19, 1918. The Much-Advertised "Offensive."

Nothing is more trying to ordinary temperaments than suspense, and it'is no matter for surprise, therefore, that all the present talk of a great offensive impending, and the uncertainty as to where it is likely to fall, should be getting on the nerves of some of the civilian public. Our men at the front, we may take it for granted, are accepting the position far more philosophically. In the first place, they know that the> surprises by which great victories were achieved in former times are practically unknown in modern warfare. It is impossible to conceal from the adversary the presence of largo bodies of troops. At this moment Sir Douglas Haig knows exactly how many divisions the Germans have in the fighting-line on the Western front, and how many in reserve. Ho may not know exactly how the reserves of manpauvre are likely to be used, but he will have a very shrewd idea, and by means of spies or aeroplanes, or both, he will know /as soon as they are set in motion. According to all accounts, our defences have been strengthened enormously, and even if a tactical success was achieved at the first point of onfall, there is no doubtHhe enemy would soon bo met with a most formidable oQunter-stpobe. v Our troops know this. They know, too,, that when it comes to fighting they are, man for man, far more than a match for tho Germans. They were too good for them in the beginning of the war, when the Huns had all the advantage of numbers, of arms, and of transport facilities; when, too, they were full of arrogance untamed by defeat. Our armias being now at least equal to the Gormaps in the matter of artillery, aircraft, munitions, and •with "moral" unimpaired, are able to await the threatened offensive not only with equanimity, but with a positive for the enemy to begin.,

Colone] Repington, in one of tlio last articles he wrote for "The Times," if not absolutely the last, before he joined the staff of the ''Morning Post," soemod to contemplate the possibility of tho Germans sending from 30' to 40 divisions more from' the East to tho West front, and olecting to throw for big etako before the arrival on a forgo, scale of the American reinforce«acnta. In that case, he indicated, %ro might tea*sorarily adopt a dofenttvo attitudij, dig in and wire ourif VO3 n Pt "not from timidity, but because -we may decide that the deliborate adjournment of the decisive act is m consonance with a commonsense view of the . general situation " For two years, annics have been on the offensive, and conquered, much new but, when;' Colonel Repington wrote, pick and spade wore busy all along the TTranco-Brituh f lo nt, and bathed wiro was being extensively em- ( ployed. Barbed wire in many parallel

rows is cf the first importance, and it was tho rule in one 1' rencli Armj which Colonel Repington visited, that troops holding a line should add tv\o yards a v,e:k to the breadth of the barbed wire obstacles covering them.

"With all these defensive preparations, it will be seen how hopeless it is for the Germans, even if they bring divisions enough frcm the Eastern front to outnumber us 021 tho West, to gain any decisive advantage. They may l.ircai: in here and there, and gain a tactical advantage, but our reserves can then be brought up. and it will be found difficult to drive thom out again. Gf course, presuming it is decided tnat we are to act on the defensive for the present, it is very clearly understood that, as soon as the advent of tho

American troops bas given us the required preponderance, we shall unee more attune the offensive ourselves, and., as we hope and believe, Ave shall then be in a po:=it:cn to press it to a decision Colonel Repington, in tho remarks from which wo havo quoted, appeared to think that the Germans were preparing for a strong offensive by sea, as we'd an by land, since the Russian collapse gave the Baltic to Germany, and set free the whole of the German I'leet for the North Sea. "Wo imagine that tho British Navy would ask for nothing better. It is a subject on which it would be rash to dogmatise. Wo cannot help thinking, however, that the German offensive on tho West would not have been quite so wel'-advortised had it been seriously intended. It is at that it is largely bluff, intended, following on the Russian collapse, to create a favourable atmosphere for the groat " peace offensive" which Germany is sotting on foot. And wo verily beliovo the "poace offensive"'is more dangerous than any military offensive which Germany is able to launch on our "Wostcrn front.