PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2379, 8 February 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Bbports from Egypt pay tribute to the courago and enterprise of tho Turks concerned in the attack on the Suez Canal, but at the same time make it clcar that the invasion has not yet developed serious dimensions. The position to date appears to be that an advance-guard of twelve thousand Turks, more or less detached from the main body, has reached the neighbourhood of the Canal, and, as a result of the fightins KMi'tcd during like last day or

two, has already lost a third of its strength in Killed, wounded, and prisoners without in any _ way advancing tho object which it has in view ,or imposing any Btrain upon the British defending force. Whatever resources may De at tho disposal of the main Turkish Army, it is plain that tho advance guard is very poorly equipped for its task. For ono thing it evidently has no artillery fit to cope with the heavy guns oi tho warships which assisted to defend the Canal, and are still engaged in that service. Such details as are given concerning tho nature and equipment of the Turkish twelve thousand recall the days when a savage- horde, though poorly equipped and indifferently armod, sometimes constituted . a very effective army. Against such, a force as the British Army dofending Egypt, however, a horde of this character cannot hope to accomplish much, and unless the Turkish main body is better equipped than its advanceguard a mere increase in the number of the invaders will make very little difference. The~fact that the casualty roll of the Turks has already reached a total of 2400 proves that they have maintained their reputation for bravery, but all available news of tho .engagements along the Canal indicates that from the Turkish point of view they have amounted simply to a, vain sacrifice of life. » » # *' _ If the fruitless attacks so far delivered served to enforce a concentration of the whole available British force in the Canal zone, the heavy losses of the invaders would not nave been incurred in vain, since the advanco of the main Turkish army would in that case be covered and rendered comparatively easy. There is nothing to suggest, however, that the operations oi the British defending force are necessarily restricted to the Canal zone.' On the contrary, oommand of the sea ensures the possibility of a British force being landed at any time on the coast, in north or south, in a convenient position to cut across the lines of the Turkish advance. British warships command the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula, and others aro stationed in the Gulf of Akabah, on the eastern side of the Peninsula. Akabah, at the head of the gulf, is in- British possession, and troops could be landed there at any time. Whatever line of advance the Turks may adopt they cannot escape the liability to be taken in rear. Akabah is 140 miles east, of Suez, and there should be nothing to prevent British troopß landing as far or further to the east on the Mediterranean coast.

Accounts given to-day of the position and plans of the main Ottoman army are somewhat difficult to reconcile. Aooording to Italian papers, no less than 90,000 Turks and 20,000 Bedouins are marching on Egypt, and it is stated on the same authority that the main body is at "Moyaharah." This may tie Mayhara, a mountain in the central desert_ >of the Sinai Peninsula (which is also the frontier of Egypt), fifty, miles east_ of the Canal at Tusun. . This would"' indicate that the Turks are advancing by inland routes and keeping as far away from the coast as possible. The Morning Post correspondent at Alexandria, on the other hand, states that the Germans controlling the in-' vasion are making tremendous efforts to build a railway to the frontier via Sebaste (Samaria), Lydda, and Gaza. Sebaste is 34 miles north, of Jerusalem, and 52 miles west of the Damascus-Mecca railway. Lydda, standing nine miles inland from the coast of Syria, is 30 miles southwest of Sebaste, and Gaza, is two miles from the coast, '38 miles southwest of Lydda. Gaza is also 20 miles distant from the Sinai frontier and 130 miles.as the crow flies from the Suez Canal. The disadvantages of such a route are obvious. Apart from its great' length, it would be exposed at many points to attacks from the coast, and at and near Gaza could be shelled by warships from the sea. These stories of railway construction are i supplemented by statements that big gangs, of labourers are engaged in tearing up the rails on the Haifa-Damascus and Jaffa-Jerusalem lines to provide material for the new railway, but as a whole the reports are not very convincing. . The Jaffa-Jerusalem railway runs east across the suggested route of the new line, and at its inland terminus (Jerusalem) is more than forty miles east of the Damascus-Mecca _ railway. The Haifa-Damascus line, after* reaching the Damascus-Mecoa railway from the coast, runs parallel with it for about 60 miles, and connects with it at both ends of this sixty-mile stretch.. Construction on the new route would thus not be greatly assisted by any of the existing railways. The general expectation has been that if the Turks did attempt the' construction of a railway in furtherance of their of Egypt, it would be a branch from the Damascus-Mecca railway, which passes the Sinai frontier at a distance of about fifty miles east of Akabah. Even then a line of some two hundred miles would be required to reach the Canal zone. .#* * * That the Turks, even with German aid, are in a position to undertake such an ambitious piece of railwafy construction is at least very doubtful. Meantime reports to hand state that the Turks _ operating in the Canal zone are without efficient means of transport. The main body also is reported to be in difficulties over the carriage of water, and it is said that it has been found impossible to transport Bin. guns, and that only guns of half that calibre are being taken forward.

Recent Russian statements that anxiety is no longer felt-for the safety of Warsaw are justified today in reports of a battle which is probably without a parallel in the history of war. It is doubtful whether even the furious onset of the German Western invasion, which all but reached Paris, led to such intense fighting and such a reckless sacrifice of life as the battle along the Bzura and Rawka Rivers last week. Six weeks ago the Germans made desperate efforts to break the Russian hue on the Bzura in a battle that lasted for days, and sacrificed lives with reckless prodigality,- but last week's battle seems to have put even that frightful conflict completely in the shade. * * * rfr . Some of the places mentioned are not shown on availablo maps, but the main lines of the battle are clear enough. The Russians west of Warsaw. hold tho ca-stern banks of the Bzura (which runs north to the Lower Vistula, 30 miles west of AVarsaw) and tho Rawka, a tributary of the Bzura. On this line tfie Russians have been established fpr many weeks, and everything possible ha? been done to make their entrenchments impregnable, The German

operations, as in former battles on I this front, took the form of a direct frontal attack, but on this occasion it was made in unprecedented strength, and appears to have been pressed with the utmost fury. From indications in eailier messages it would appear that Borjimow (mentioned as included in the seven-mile front where the fighting reached its height) lies between Sochaczcw, 30 miles due west of Warsaw, and Bolimoff, twelve miles, south of Sochaozew. On the Borjimov seven-mile front the Germans massed 140,000 infantry and 100 batteries of artillery. They are described as advancing to the attack sixteen deep. _ It was a conflict in which whole divisions were swept away, and it is easy to believe the statement' that the world had never before seen such fighting. * * * * General von Hindenbekg (the German Commander in the East) has, it is stated, abandoned military science and is relying solely upon a reckless expenditure of lives and a hurricane of shells. The triumph' of the Russian arms is on that account all the more notable. Both on the Bzura and on the Rawka, the defending_ armies not only repelled the furious German onslaughts, but having done so took the offensive and captured and occupied positions on the western banks of the rivers. **■ * * This is a war in which the most magnificent victories do not necessarily lead to immediate results, but the victory of the Russians on the Bzura and the Rawka is likely to profoundly affect the progress or the Eastern campaign in the near future. Unlike the Russians defending Warsaw, the Germans cannot afford to continue the struggle in Central Poland indefinitely. Their offensive in Central Poland is intended to oheck the Russian line throughout its length, and unless they can break the tough barrier opposite Warsaw their offensive must fail. The battle now reported goes a long way towards proving "that the Russian defence is unbreakable, , andbrings correspondingly nearer " the time when the German armies must retreat to defend their' own frontiers. Already Russian armies have invaded East Prussia and Hungary, and Silesia is threatened. Some weeks ago it was reported that General von Hindenberg's counterstroke to the Russian advance in north and south would be a renewal of the offensive in Central Poland,■ and it was stated that he was assembling a million reinforcements for that purpose. Now the effort predicted has been made upon an enormous scale, and has signally failed, and the Russians are as free as ever to pursue their advance in north and south. . :

In Southern Poland there has been littie change in the position of the opposing armies for a long time past. Fighting is reported to-day on the River Nida, which enters the Lower Vistula, 40 miles east of Cracow_ and south of the Vistula, in Galioia; A Russian bombardment has compelled the Austrians to evacuate Tarnow, 42 miles east of Cracow. / * * * * It is now beyond doubt that the Russians have penetrated' the Carpathians and- gained a footing on the Hungarian Plains. • Earlier reports have spoken of cavalry incursions into Hungary, but to-day heavier fighting' is reported on the southern side of the. mountains. At Svidnik, 8 or 10 miles south-west of the Dukla Pass, and in the valley of the Laborcz River, which runs south from the Carpathians, eight miles east of Svidnik, the Russians have* advanced, taking two thousand prisoners. Fighting is still proceeding in the Wyskow Pass, a hundred miles south-east of the Dukla Pass, and the Russians admit retiring from three other passes to previously prepared positions.' They appear, however, to nave also penetrated the Uszok Pass (58 miles south-east of the Dukla Pass). The retirement from some of the passes does- not necessarily entail any serious reverse. The position seems to be that the Russians are, content to hold their enemy at some places while penetrating the mountains at those points which offer the best facilities for invasion. The Uszok Pass is traversed by_ a railway connecting with the main Hungarian system, and the Dukla Pass is also m the near neighbourhood of Tailways running south. *** ' *

It is not unlikely that the heavy defeat sustained by the Germans in Central Poland may lead to the recall of the 200,000 men who are reported to have been - dispatched to Hungary, by way of Oracow, to assist the forces which ace trying to raise the siege of Przemyel, On the other hand this report, if it rests upon any 'other basis than that of rumour, may . portend a.' German withdrawal from Central Poland. In that event troops would of course, be massed on, and in advance of, threatened points on the German frontier. Of these points Cracow must be reckoned one, since its fall would be followed by an attack on the fortified line in advance of the frontier of German Silesia: As matters are. shaping the Germans are not likely to " waste men in any, such distant and dubious enterprise as an attempt to raise the siege of Przemysl. Apart from the fact that they have entered Hungary in considerable force there seems to"'bo no doubt that the Russians are firmly established all along the line of the Carpathians from the Dukla Pass eastwards.

There is little news to-day from the Western theatre, and what there is consists almost wholly of a catalogue of minor successes! by the Allies, who do not seem to have anywhere suffered a set-back. They have made some progress at Beausejour, about 30 miles east of Reims, and German attacks have been repulsed at Massigny, in the same neighbourhood, and south of Altkirch, in Alsaoe. Heavy fighting continues in the region ■of Bcthune and La Bassee. * * * * | Ir is announced to-day that the first Canadian contingent (a force 'of 30,000 men) has reached the front. The Canadians have been undergoing a long period of training in England, and their presence at the front increases the probability that a portion at least of Lord Kitchener's new army has already been transported to France—despite German submarines.

This year's meeting of the Neiv Zealand branch; of the British Medical Association will be held in' Christchurch, and the sittings, which begin 011 February 22, will extend over a week. Dr Irving, of Christclnirch, is the president elect. Anions the subjects chosen for discussion are "The Hospital System of New Zealand," and "The "Rearlina of Infant*-' 1