PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2708, 1 March 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A time of great events in the war is apt also to be a time of many rumours, and some very confidenf statements embodied in the news toclay can only be received tentative!} they arc received at all. It is noi likely that anyone outside the innei circle of the enemy and Allied higl commands is in possession of reallj definite information concerning some of the matters upon which corres pondents and others seek _ to enlighten the public. For instance. Colonel Hepington makes an explicit statement that more than one fifth of the whole available Germar strength on the Western front (2; divisions out of 118) is employed ir the Verdun offensive, and he. is oi opinion that, the main French re serves have probably not yet beer moved—that General Jom-re is rely ing as yet upon his local reserves t.i keep his line intact. If these state monts are based upon definite infor liiation, they go far to establish ant justify an opinion that the coup-de main attempted by the Germans 01 the Western front is already doomec to failure. Quite possibly this is th< actual position, but if Colonel Hep ington's statements are based upoi definite information it is informa tion which is not yet available to tin public. • * • » Meantime the official communique leave the position comparatively open and contain nothing that car he regarded as an indication of th< stage reached in the development o the German offensive: The broad irn pression conveyed at the moment ii that the first fury of the 'assault or tho northern Verclun front has diec down. .Heavy as it is, the fighting said to be still in progress at Douau mont seems to be of a less desperatt character than the mighty conflic lately witnessed on the same, ground There is at least a suggestion in th< official news that the fighting a' Douaumont is in tho "nature of ; contest for local advantage of posl tion, and it is stated that a diminu tion of activity is observable on thi plateau of VauXj a few miles fur ther cast. On the other hand a ris ing fury of battle is reported or the Woevrc front, east and south east of Verdun, and it is in this area that the heaviest fighting, cov erecLby reports in hand, has taker place. There has been a' tremendoui struggle for the railway station ai Eix, which lies almost due east o: Verdun (five miles from the town practically on the fringe of the su perseded fortifications. Eix is on ; branch line, immediately /south o. the point at which this line departs from the'Verduu-Metz railway. 9 * « . At Eix the French line has beer retired some five miles from its loca tion when tho German assault opened. The retirement in this are; was attributed by the French t( strategic considerations and the ne cessity of conforming to the with drawal further north, and'nottt local enemy pressure. Having with drawn so far the defenders are ap parently determined to go back n< further if they can help it. Eix wa: taken by the enemy, but was recap tureel, and according to reports ir hand is still included in the Frencl line. At Manheulles, seven milei south-east of Eix, and on an inter vening section of the front enemj assaults have been rolled back Though the_ conflict on the Woevri front is evidently on a great scali and carries open possibilities then seems, upon the whole, to bo a dis tinct falling-off in the power anc volume which have hitherto market the German assault on tho Verdur lines, and it is presumably upon thi circumstance that some _ correspond cnts are basing an opinion that thi Germans are about to shift their at tack and_ select a new objective ir continuation of their efforts to shat tor'the Allied line. • * » The Champagne is named as om area in which the Germans may nex put forth a major effort. There i news of fighting in this region, bu not yet of such a character as ii itself to warrant a be)ief that thi enemy will strike the second blow o his grand offensive in the Cham pagne. Near the Navarin farm north of Souain (about 40 miles wes of Verdun), the Germans have storm ed and captured some of the Frencl advanced positions. There at th< moment the Matter rests. Navarii farm is near the centre of tho fron on which the French drove hom their successful offensive in Septem ber last. It stands '■ undoubtedl; upon a critical section of fron which may at any time witness i blaze of battle, but as yet the Al lies seem only to have suffered i local loss in a minor engagement which may be a mere side incidon ■to vastly greater events in progrcs and in train. If it is more thai this the fact will quickly appear, fo the Germans are not likely to giv warning of an impending blow o to develop an assault slowly whei they have once fixed upon an objec tive. • • « « » Apaut from news v there is som highly interesting'speculation as t the nature and scope of the Germai offensive and the aim and purpose o those by whom it has been launched A notable contribution in this eat* gory is made by Mit. J. L. Garvin the editor of the London Observer Agreeing with other commentator that Germany is out to win or los all in a mighty effort for victory . Mn. Garvin finds the underlying mo tive and inspiration of this polic; I in the desperation of the Kaiser am those who stand with him for th autocratic domination of the Germai nation. "We must in tho next thre months," be says, bo piepaied t meet everything that Gcimrvny ca or risk on land, at sea, an

n the air. It is Germany's war iynasty's last chance." This is a reading o£ the facts which is necessarily theoretical, but seems to deserve more than passing attention. A.n explanation is needed of the policy which hjis set the German western urinies in motion in a forlorn-hope jffort to snatch a victory which in all human likelihood is far beyond their reach, and it is a more probable and convincing explanation _ that dynastic and caste selfishness is responsible for this policy than that it has been inspired by military wisdom. It is tolerably certain that the military overthrow of Germany will be followed in natural course by the collapse of the system of government of which th-3 Kaiser is the pinnacle, and faced by such a prospect as the only alternative to victory, the Kaiser and his junkers are not likely to be deterred by the improbability of success from making a desperate bid for victory. Failing, they individually will be no worse off than they are, and the incidental sacrificc is not demanded of them personally, but is to be paid in the lives of German soldiers and in the bleeding whit-e of a nation the Kaiser is pleased to regard as his footstool. * * * The latest news of the' Vcrclur operations confirms opinions tenta tivcly formed. Except in loca areas as at Douaumont, whore 8 German regiment is surrounded chiefly artillery fighting is reported and it is stated that in the Woeuvre on the east, enemy attacks have cum pl'ctoly failed. A period of relativ< lull has thus been reached, which 1: probably preliminary to anothci terrific outburst of fighting* at Verdun or elsewhere._ For the enemj the only alternative to such a re nowal of th'fc conflict is to openlj admit that he hasincurred a colos sal sacrificc in vain. « # » * , There is' a statement in a repor' from Sir Douglas Haig which is o minor importance -at a surfaci glance, but may prove to be the firs announcement of a very momentou development—a lengthy extonsion o the British front. The statement is "We repulsed a small attack south east of Albert. 1 ' . Hitherto Sij Douglas Haig has reported onl; upon operations on that part of tto front manned by British troops, an< if lie is adhering to his past practic it follows that the British front ha been extended south by considerabl; more than thirty miles since it limits were last definitely mad known. After the September offen give, the junction of the French am British fronts was fixed at a'pom a'little way north of Lens. _ Albcr is about 34 miles south of this point and Sir Douglas Haig speaks of ai action fought still further south There is, 'of course, no ground fo surprise if such an extension ol th British front as is indicated ha taken place. As matters approach i decisive conflict on the 'Westeri front the British army is bound to play an increasingly importan part. This part will not necessaril; be measured by the length of fron occupied, but the obvious explann tion of .an extension of th British front at this _ tim would be that it is anticipate! necessary to afford some relief to th French army in order'to facilitat the concentration of reserves agains German assaults, A stir of i action is reported ii Mesopotamia, and the news wears i certain air of promise. In readini the message published to-day il should be ncjicd that this termi "right bank" and "loft bank" ar< apparently used not from the usua standpoint of looking towards' thi mouth of the river, Dut in the_ op posito sense. 'The enemy positioi which has been bombarded by Gen eral Aylmee was named in the cable gram as "Hannah," and it is sait that the enemy are on the left ban! of the Tigris. The place in ques tion is no doubt Umm el Henna which is on the southern bank (thi right looking down river), II miles, in a direct line, north-east o Kut-el-Amara. The position*'- i: peculiar since a Turkish forcc oi the south bank of the Tigris be tween Kut-el-Amara and tho_ reliev ing column would seem to be in somi danger of losing its line of retreat but the Turks are perhaps confiden of being able to hold the small Kut el-Amara garrison in effective checl until they have withdrawn cheir ad vanced forces up river beyond tha place if such a course should provi necessary. There is, or was, a bridg of boats across the Tigris a fev miles 3>elow Kut-el-Amara in ar ij,rea which is probably now open to the Turks, but it is most unlikel; that the bridge 'was allowed to i'al undamaged into their hands. *■ * # * The position apparently reachei is that the Turks, besides directl; opposing the advance of the relieving column, have a force posted on th opposite side of the river, Thi force is presumably intended as threat to the British,communication in the event of an advance, but i has no very obvious line' of retreat When General Ayljier began hi march up river some weeks ago an other British column advanced fo a distance on the opposite bank, bu as nothing has been heard of thi second column for some time, it i presumably, guarding, communica tions down river from the area ii which General Ayljier is now local eel. The general effect of to-day' news is tnat General Ayljier ha advanced for a distance and bom barded the enemy as if in proparn tion for a more extended advance It is mentioned also, however,- tha another flood is expeote'd, and thi threatens further delays. An enem force, perhaps consisting only o Arab irregulars, is still afoot fa south of Kut-el-Amara, not on th Tigris, but on the Shatt-'el-Hai, ; waterway running south from th Tigris at Kut-el-Amara to_ the Eu phrates. A small action, in wliicl tlio enemy was defeated, is reportei only a few miles north of the poin at which the Shatt-el-Hai enters th Euphrates. * * * * Apparently the locality of thi battle fought in Egypt on Saturday in which a column consisting o South African infantry and Britisl yeomanry defeated a Turkish-lei force, was El Agagieh, on the Nile about 380 miles south of Cairo. Th possibility of raiding attacks in thi region has been recognised, and th Nile, and the railway which follow its course on the eastern bank, ari approached north and south of E Agagieh by caravan routes throng] the Libyafi desert. The British vie tory was decisive. Commanded b; a, brother of Enver Bey, who, wa killed, the enemy left 200 dead an< wounded on the field, and wen broken and pursued in small partic by the yeomanry.