PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2366, 23 January 1915, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

Severe fighting continues along the Western front, but as regards many points nothing more definite is reported than that the Allies have repulsed attacks. Tho Germans have encountered a serious oheck 25 miles north-west_ of Soissbns, somo of their batteries south of the Somme and on the Aitme have been silenced, and they suffered still another reverse east of Reims. No new.light, however, is thrown upon the position immediately east of Soissons, where the Germans have occupied the north bank of the Aisne for a mile or two, and this is probably at the moment the most critical point in the whole Western battleline. ' In the Woevre district, north-west of Pont-a-Mousson, the French have suffered a minor reverse, the Germans recapturing twenty yards of the five hundred yards of trenches captured by the French on the previous days. It is Btated that the Allies are solidly holding the entire position. More German trenches have been captured in the same region, in the Forest of Apremont, which lies about, four miles south-west of St. Mihiel.

The expected big battle v in Poland has_ not yet begun, but while the position in Central and Southern ■Poland appears to be unchanged, recent messages show that tho Russians north of the Lower Vistula are pressing forward vigorously towards the East Prussian frontier. The messages of a day or two ago which credited the Russians with having again reached the Masurian Lakes region were apparently incorrect. At all events, they are now described as occupying a line which curves round from Conopki (southoast of Mlawa) to Dobrzyn, on the Vistula. Conopki is 14 miles south of the East Prussian frontier, north of Mlawa. From Conopki the line goes west to Biezun (a dozen miles away from the frontier), and thence curves >west and south to the Vistula, passing, en route, a point beyond Sierpc, which ' place is 24 miles distant from the' frontier. Dobrzyn, where the lino touches the Vistula, is twelve miles west : of Wloclawck,_ 18 miles N ; E. of Plock, and 42 miles from the Prussian fortress of Thorn, which stands on the Vistula, about 10 miles from the frontier. Plock is the place at which the Russians a few weeks ago crossed the Vistula in order to advance upon tho Thorn-Lowicz railway, twenty miles south. Thiß railway touches the Vistula at' Wloclawek, so_ that it is now threatened at two points. It is stated that the last German counter-attack was defeated only ten miles away from Wloclawek, so that the Russians have apparently pushed forward a mile or two beyond Dobrzyn.

* * * * A very interesting message— though it contains little in the wayof actual news—is that in which the Warsaw correspondent of the Daily Telegraph presents a broad survey of' the Russian eastern campaign, and forecasts its impending developments. It would be still more interesting, of course, if the broad outlino supplied were filled in with the names of the localities affected,, but even as it_ stands and accepting it as an outline of probable developments, it has a distinct value. From recent messages it has rather appeared that the Russians along a great part of their line are content to stand fast, awaiting the promised German offensive for which General von Hindenberg was recently reported to have beaten up a million fresh soldiersas reinforcements. The Telegraph correspondent takes an opposite view. _ He declares that the Russians are initiating a great offensive movement in which suddon inroads by the Cossack cavalry will be followed up by heavier masses of troops provided with tho equipment which'will enable them to hold tho country into which the Cossacks have led the way. The problem of defending Warsaw, the correspondent declares,- no longer troubles the Russian Gcnoral Staff.. The Russian defences on the line running south for 80 miles through Poland from the Lower Vistula, and passing west of Warsaw, consist of six-fold lines of- splendidly-constructed trenches, which are considered practically impregnable, and it is the general policy of the Grand' Duke Nicholas (Russian Commander-in-Chief) to continue to hold as many Gorman troops as possible along this great line of defences and bring other Russian armies into the field to deliver offensive strokes in selected regions elsewhere,

What these selected' regions are the correspondent does not say. At the moment the fighting line in Western Galicia seems to be practically stationary thirty miles east of Cracow, as it has been for some weeks past. In Northern Poland, on tho other hand, there arc indications of brisk activity, and the Russians are apparently operating opposite or along the East Prussian frontier for a distance of something like 150 miles. In all likelihood, however, if a big Russian offensive is really in contemplation, there will shortly be a renewal of activity in Southern Poland and Galicia. Entering East Prussia, the invaders will have to traverse an extremely difficult country of lakes, 'forests, and marshes, defonded by forts at all points of strategic importance, Tho frontier of Silesia, in the south, on fcU othoi^

hand, is weak alike in its natural features and in the absence of regular fortifications. Something has Been done to remedy this weakness by constructing a fortified line in Poland in advance of the Silesian frontier, but even so, Silesia lies much more open to attack than East Prussia. * # .# * The form of attack, which the Telegraph correspondent forecasts will, of course, enable the Russians to reap the greatest possible advantage from their numerical superiority. The Germans benefit to an enormous extent from the fact that they are fighting in advance of one of the finest systems of strategic railways in the world, while the Russians are hampered by an insufficiency of railways and a lack of good*roads. This is sufficient explanation of the somewhat slow movements of the main Russian armies up to the present time. The form of attack now planned .should to an extent at leastovercome the disabilities under which the Russians .have hitherto laboured 1 . Evidently the Oossacks have solved the problem of keeping their horses in good condition through a hard winter in a war-swept country, and the transport difficulty has been overcome in part by the use of light carts, which can go, it is olaimed, wherever a horseman can go. Freely employing such troops and transport, the Russians should be able to multiply the points of attack and so minimise the advantage enjoyed by the Germans in being able to rapidly transport troops over their railwaysto any threatened point. Recent reports from North Poland suggest that in the extended approach to East Prussia the tactics indicated by the Telegraph correspondent have already been applied.

Cabled excerpts from ' American newspapers show that public opinion in the United States baa been deeply stirred by the Zeppelin raid on' Norfolk. The New York World speaks of it as "a slaughter of. the innocents," and points to the effect that German enterprises of this character must have in neutral countries. Germany, however, has bo many crimes against international law upon her conscience that she is not likely to be much affected by this consideration. It is much more satisfactory news, that the raid has already resulted in a large increase in recruiting in London. No doubt it will have the same effect thoughout Great Britain and in other parts of the Empire.

* * * * Some exaggerated reports have been circulated regarding • the strength of the . German Zeppelin fleet, Dut the actual number of these vessels at the disposal for raiding purposes is probably comparatively, small. A correspondent of the London Times, dealing with the subject recently, estimated that at the beginning of tho war Germany had only about a dozen Zeppelinsofit for service, of which it seems likely that at least three, or possibly six, have since been destroyed. The construction of additional airships has been .pushed ahead as rapidly as possible, but each ship occupies about four months in construction, and probably the total nifmber that can be constructed simultaneously is not very great. A Zeppelin, though of light and fragile construction, is as bulky as a Dreadnought, and each one has to be provided with a shed which, to attain the maximum of efficiency, must be of revolving typo, so that the .airship may.. always emerge end-on to the wind. Some of the German Zeppelins are stationed on the Eastern frontier, and are unlikely to bo spared from that service, and others are set aside as naval airships to co-operato'. with the. fleet. Taking everything into account, the correspondent thinks it unlikely that Germany will be able to utilise more than a dozen Zeppelins in any raid upon England in the near future. ' These, however, might be supplemented by a number of rigid and non-rigid airships smaller.than the Zeppelins, but these craft, being_ inferior to the Zeppelins in carrying capacity, are correspondingly inferior in striking power. / # * * • Although an early incident in their invasion of Persia was the annihilation of a small'.Persian force; the Turks have apparently been trying] to make it appear that the invasion was undertaken with Persian co-operation. 'This ludicrous attempt to deceive has been foiled at the outset' by the Persian Minister at' Petrdgrad, who has informed tho Russian authorities that Persia is loyal to Britain and Russia,, but is powerless to resist the Ottoman invasion. No doubt, oven the Turks are able to see now that they blundered badly in wantonly invading a neutral Mohammedan country, and the fact that instead of being the pioneers of a "Holy War," they are prepared even to make war upon _ unoffending co-religionists, at the bidding of Germany.

A late Petrograd message contains the somewhat surprising statement that there is no doubt that Persia is secretly supporting Turkey, but no supporting details are given. Such details as are given point to the existence of terrible conditions in North Persia, and tell of the flight of a panic-stricken population aorosa the irontier into Eussian territory. .