NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2236, 24 August 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

It is becoming' increasingly clear that the' German advance in Northern Belgium was not contested by tho Allies in any force. At tho outset of tho war it was generally recognised that the most that could be hoped for from Belgium was that tho Belgian troops would , cause tho invading German battalions, a temporary check, (i-nd that the dekj would enable the French to mobilise their armies along the' Franco-Bel-gian frontier, As day > after day passed, and the little array of Belgians blocked the passage of .tho Meuse and inflicted heavy losses on tho Germans, the hope arose that tho French and British troops might bs brought forward into Belgium and offer battle thero. For spectacular effect this would have been highly pleasing, and it would also have been gratifying' to have boon able to prevent tho over-running of Belgium by the despoiling army of the Kaiser. War, however, cannot.be carried on for'spectacular effect, nor can sentimental considerations be allowed to affect tho strategy and plans of Generals engaged in a life-and-deatli struggle such as that now proceeding in Europe. The plans of tho .French Army leaders have been prepared for years past on the., assumption that Germany would attempt the invasion of France, and that the invading armies would havo to be met at or near the French frontier. It is here, no doubt, that the real test will come, and the fact that the German advance has been so sturdily contested and delayed ehould havo enabled the French to complete to the minutest detail their plans to overthrow tho invaders. A significant item of news to-day is the announcement that the French railways have now resumed their normal functions, and are engaged in the carriage of goods and merchandise as in ordinary times. This means that tho transport of troops and munitions of war has been completed.

So far as can be learned from the cable news, the Belgians alone opposed the German advance around and to the north of Brussels. French troops to have assisted the local forces in South Belgium, but in the north the Belgians appear to have borne the brunt of the fighting alone. They have done splendidly, but could not hope to check the forward movement of the Germans for any great length of .time. Now that they have been forced to retreat northwards towards Antwerp, the Germans have pressed onwards practically without opposition to Ghent, 30 miles to the north-west of Brussels, and later are reported to have reached Ostend on the sea. coast 40 miles further on. According to the London Times military correspondent,' 34,000 Gcr-. man troops passed through Brussels on their way to Client and Ostend." and he estimates that there arc altogether 150,000. troops supporting the German advance in this direction. Nothing hns yet been heMd of. the whereabouts of .-.the British ftspedi-j

tionary Force, but it is not at all unlikely that it would be located somewhere in the direction' towards which this force of Germans is now moving: that is to say, on the left Hank of the Allies., In Southern Belgium the movements of the opposing_ forces are loft in obscurity. It is plain that the Germans are showing; increasod activity there, and we are told that Namur, the strongly fortified town on the Meuse, nas , now been invested, while Gevman troops arc moving on westward along both banks of the river towards tho French frontier. This would seem to indicate that the Allies have retired here as well as in tho north. The only information on the point is to the effect that the Belgians have taken up a position at Waterloo.

heavy fighting has taken place in the far south, where the French are invading Alsace. So far as oan be gathered, as the result of four _ days' constant fighting with varying fortune the French troopa now hold an advantage, and have the German forces penned in an awkward position. At this point the River Ithino runs nearly parallel with the French frontier, and about 20 miles distant therefrom. On the southern side is Switzerland. The French, for a distance of some 27 miles—from Huningen to Ncu Broisach—seem to have the Germans penned in with the river at their backs, the French in .front, no room to move south, and a risky lino of retreat to the north. Mulhauscn, which the French have once more recaptured, lies about midway between Huningen in the south and Neu Breisach in the north. Presumably the French are in sufficient force to make tho positions of the Germans desperate. Baedeker's Guide shows two railway bridges over the Ehine between Huningen and Neu Breisach, but possibly the French may be in a .position to inflict heavy losses should an attempt be maCjO to retreat by means of these. Moreover, the departure - of the German and Austrian -•froops across tho river at this point would leave the French in complete possession of Southern Alsace. Further north, in Lorraine, the Germans appear to be in greater force, and it is here that tho real attempt to invade. Central _ Franco . seems likely.tobe made. ; Fighting has been taking place at various points, from five to 20 miles within the German side of tho frontier, but tho French apparently deem it inadvisable to attempt to- hold the ground gained in Lorraine, and wjll probably fall back on their line of fortifications. This suggests that the' Germans are moving on France at three points: 0) In the north by way of Belgium: (2) in the centre by way of Southern Belgium along the banks of the Meuse'; (3) further south by way of Luxemburg aad Lorraine.

The suggestion that' the Germans .•mayvdebacli a sufficient force to venture on the investment ■ of Antwerp would rather seem to indicate that a largo force of Belgians, apart from the ordinary garrison, has retreated in the direction of tho city in question. Antwerp *is the most strongly fortified town in Belgium, and has been considered by some military authorities be impregnable. It rjwj\lbe' noticed by'referencc'to that Antwerp is near the.mouth of fcho River' Scheldt, but that'the rivdiactually empties into the open sea through Holland. Vessels trading to Antwerp have to pass through. tho West | Scheldt, the mouth of which is flanked on both sides by Dutch territory. For many years the trade of Antwerp: was fettered by the Dutch charging a toll on vessels passing though this stretch of water, but in 1863 Belgium, with the assist anco of the various Powers trading with her (principally with tho aid of Britain), bought up Holland's rights, and the -Scheldt thereupon became free to all trading vessels. Antwerp is not only defended by modern and up-to-date fortifications, but it is protected on. one side by the- River Scheldt, while a. large extent of country near by oan be flooded and made impassable to an enemy. It does not seem likely that the Germans will at present seriously attempt 'to capture the city,' though they may endeavour to do so. It is more probable, however, they will leave near it a sufficiently large force to prevent the Belgian troops collected there sallying out and interfering with the Gierman line of communica■tion further south. A considerable force would be required to keep the Belgians in check, and Antwerp may in- consequence prove a not unimportant factor in the campaign in the north.

The reported demand by Germany of two million pounds, as a war tribute from Liege is taken to mean that the fortress has at last succumbed to_ the attacks of the enemy. Should this prove to be correct it is no discredit to the gallant defenders. They hare the part assigned to them with splendid courage, and have cost the Gernans a far heavier price' in men and time than was ever expected. attack on Liege began apparently on August 4, and was carried on with desperate ardour by a_ large body of Gorman troops. Again and again they rushed to the assault in overwhelming numbers, reaching, at times right to the walls of the forts, only to be driven back by the splendid gunnery of the determined defonders. The ground in front of the forts is stated to havo been piled with the dead. Liege- is the key to tho passage of the Mouse at the spot chosen by the Ger* mans for tho main advance on France. Could the Kaiser's troops have succeeded in breaking through at this point, at the out-set they would have quickly overrun northern Belgium, and been well in touch with the French frontier long ere this. Tho forts at Liege, played their part splendidly; but it was not expected that they would be able to hold out against heavy siege guns. It may be that they have not even yet fallen, and that the Germans-are claiming tribute on account of the town of Liege, which fell into their hands a few days after the attack on the forts. There is no definite news on the point at the time of writing; but in any case the people of Belgium can well bo proud of the manner in which the Liege garrison held the great army of Germany in check.

A very interesting part of the battleground of the Franco-Prus-sian War of 1870 is in the vicinity of_ Mars-la-Tour, which is reported this morning as having been shelled by the Germans. Mars-la-Tour is a village in Lorraine, between Metz and the French frontier, at which a. desperate battle was fought' between the French end Germans on August IG, 1870. Both sides on that occasion claimed a' victory. In his report, Bazaine, the French General, eta-ted:. ''The enemy left us masters of the battlefield.". This was quite true, for he maintained the position ho bad taken up, and rcpulted tho,

enemy's attacks. , The Germans, < on the other hand, contended that they had succeeded, inasmuch as they had attained, their object—the arrest of the French retreat. "Our troops, worn out by a twelve-hours' struggle," wrote you Moltke, "encamped on tho victorious but bloody field immediately opposite the Fronch lines."It was probably the hardest-fought battle of tho war. About 7 p.m., after a great cavalry duel, Prince Frederick Charles determined to make a final effort. Bud it was almost dark, and the troops lost direction in the smoke. Great confusion, resulted, and utter exhaustion compelled the Prussians to abandon the attack. The troops lay down and slept where they were. One of the features of the fighting was the terrible effectiveness of tho Prussian artillery. ' The French batteries arrived singly on the field, and were silenced in a few minutes, the result being that the splendid gallantry of the French infantry was all in vain. They chased the German infantry before them, hut tho Prussian guns prevented them from pressing home their attack. The battle is sometimes called Vionville, and is also known as Rezonville. The villagers, were celebrating the anniversary of the engagement when the Germans shelled the place on the present occasion.