PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2734, 31 March 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Very heavy' and desperate fight ing is reported or tho Verdun front, or, to be exact, in the vicinity of Malancourt, where- the French, Argonne, and Verdun armies join hands. The enemy, in the latest reported developments of tho conllict. has. not gone altogether unrewarded for his exertions. An advanced position north of Malancourt has passed into his hands, and he lifts' also entered two houses of the village. Tho_ German assertion that these positions were stormed with little Joss may safely be set down as untrue. Though they have lost ground at Malancourt itself, and aro possibly critically placed there, the French also arc able to record a success. Taking the offensive immediately west of Malancourt, where the front clips sharply south and west, thev have ejected the Germans from a strong redoubt and also from portion of Avocourt wood. In these positions, according to tho latest reports in hand, they have beaten off 'enemy counter-attacks with slaughter, and are firmly established. Losing some ground at Malancourt laud striking forward to the south-

vest, the French have. tended In HLiiiij"liloii their iiin.'. il. h possible tliuy fought wUh Ibis object in view, bill detailed knowledge of tho local topography would be necessary to enable tt confident opiiliou oil tbo liubjecl lu bo formed.

A iiaiw statement Unit tbo Russian Win 1 Mini'sM' (Gr.NWtAi, I'ouvanoit) liiir resigned, "lit hisi own i't;i|tiest," c.'iuiiiil.. be culled guild news. It in OpOU 1.11 Mil illfl'l'l'llCL' tll.'ll IlllSsiu is iml, ,vct ill; mi end of the- process id internal reform which, in her wise, as in lliiit of some other Allied coiintrieH, lifth accompanied the prosecution of thi! war. Rightly or wrongly, the resignation of the War Minister, Unless it is saMsl'iietui'il.y aecuilill-ud for on other grounds, will raise a slmpicion that some defect for wbluh be, is held responsible bus been discovered in the .Russian war organisation. At a time when so much is likely to depend upon the vigorous and mitrammelled use. by the Allies of the resources they have luiifj; been building up, this not an auspicious turn of events, but it is possible that Gijnkiiai, Poi,ivANOi ; r's resignation is due tu causes giving less ground for uneasiness. B n * » Nothing but good news iB given of the Russian campaigns. Further German positions have, been captured in the Baltic J.'rovinucs, despite weather conditions which hamper operations on an important scale. _ The (act that thaws and floods aro limiting operations in Russia has,_ of course, a bearing on ml' campaigns. For the time, being powerful concertled, action in all theatres is impos'sible, but this state of affah'H, conferring some temporary advantage upon the enemy, will not last long. There is some further talk of a contemplated offensive by the enemy in the northern Russian front, and it is again stated that the Gorman fleet will second and assist the forces on land. It is difficult to see what the Germans would gain, however, by abandoning their Western offensive, and concentrating on the other main front, while it is quite certain that such a policy would bo attended by heavy risks. •

Asy move by the Allies in Greece at the present time is liable to have some more important meaning than appears on the surface, but as far as can be judged at present the naval demonstrations *nd landings at the island of Crete, and at various other points in Greek territory, are simply a hunt upon a comprehensive scale for enemy submarine-de-pots. It has long been known that enemy submarines have obtained supplies from Greece, through the connivance of individual Greek shipmasters and otherwise. Very convincing proof. is afforded in the present operations of the Allies that these practices are still in vogue, while the particulars given of tho' naval and military forces employed suggest strongly that the Allies are now determined to protect themselves against such treachery in future. Reports in hand are sufficiently detailed to show that the raids covered a wide range. Apart from the descent on Crete, landings were made at Patras, in a gulf on the western coast of the Greek mainland, and at the port of Chalkis, on tho island of Euboea, or Negroponfc, which closely adjoins the opposite coast. References to the German Consul at Canea indicate that tho Allies are making a point of arresting the German agents who have been organising submarine supplies. It would be of little use to destroy depots and leave these persons undisturbed. A certain invasion of Greek sovereignty is no doubt involved in these anti-submarine operations, but the Allies are merely performing for Greece a duty which, as a neutral, she should have performed for herself. Neglecting to so police her coasts as to ensure the exclusion of enemy submarines she is, in fact, taking part in the war against the Allies. Presumably the sequel to the action taken by tho Allies will be a Greek protest and a diplomatic discussion, and it is likely that the Allied case will rest upon the production of evidence that Greek treachery has aided tho enemy submarine- campaign. * * * »

A dispatch from Mr. Ward Price shows that recent reports regarding operations along the Greek frontier, though exaggerated, were, after all, not so very far ahead of the fact's. The general engagement which was said to bo likely to open at * any' time has not begun, but there has been some fighting and a state of tension obtains which may easily tie the precursor of battle. Mr. Ward Price is an official representative of the British Press, and his account of the position reached may bd received with confidence. Points of interest brought out in his dispatch arc that it was German troops who recently crossed the Greek frontier and have since retreated into Serbian Macedonia, and that it is Germans who are _ now busily strengthening defensive positions outside the Greok frontier. _ Mr. Ward Price makes no mention of Bulgarian or any other troops than German, and this is doubly important and significant in view of his statement that the French and German outposts are so close together that any little movement may lead to fighting. We were told some time ago that German guards had been substituted for Bulgarians along the Bulgar and Serbian frontiers where these inarch with Greece. The reported motive of the substitution was a desire to prevent the escape of Bulgarian deserters into Greece. From Mr. Ward Price's report it is evident that the German force in Macedonia is much more than a few icglments of frontier guards. The report goes far to warrant a conclusion that the Germans have undertaken the responsibility of holding the Vardar Valley against an Allied advance, in which case, _ of course, they must_ be garrisoning Macedonia in considerable Strength. Had the force facing the Allies on the Vardar been of mixed composition it is tolerably certain that tho fact would have become known to the Allies and would have been mentioned by Mr. Ward Price. Though the Vardar is not the only military avenue into the Balkans from the south it is the most important and oven though tho Bulgars were themselves defending tho approaches to Monahtir on the west, and to the. Struma Valley on the cast, proof that a purely' German force was defending the Vardar Valley would 'mean that the Germans were shouldering the main burden of defence against an attack from the south. The Allies would hardly venture i.o advance into tho Balkans by any other route until they had definitely disposed of the possibility of a counter-invasion by way of tho /Vardar. a * * » Assuming for the time-being that (she Germans have : undertakim to hold the Vfrdar against an Allied offensive, tha ciucettans raised are 1 particularly interesting. The. fact

which obtrudes is the absence of Bulgarian troops from the main avenue by which Horbia and liulgaria are open tu invasion from tho iiotith, mill it is a fact which calls for explanation. An optiiuiMie coiic|u.'!io;i would be that the Genuine have undertaken a tusk Lbey_ arc, (>.l'rn.iil to trust to tli'! liulgitri/iiin, but it would be rash to annuiio _ without some more definite information tl/nn in yet available, Hint relations lie twe'en the Germans fi/iff linlga/rt flr<t ttlrewly strained to l.bii! CKl''iil,, It is perhaps much mure likely tlmt fiiil gariii ban demuud"d and received such aid as will enable \m to Luke |ireeimtioii:-; against an iiUu,<;k by Rumania. Kvon. in this IV' l ''"' M''' filiation hi not Inciting in c\<-muk of promise from the flt/mdpoird, of the Allien. It is qui!'', certain that Germany would have inicli p/efe/ied to retain the troops now foeaf/'d in Macedonia for hit vie; in one nr other of the main tliwilf/'s, und though, by powerfully (tiding 11/'< Bulgarian!!, she may delay An Allied eont|iiest ol the .Halkiifm, the diversion of trooos involved iff likely to weigh upon her more and more heavily as time gnce. on. « « ♦ *

Abbißii policy in tho 11/ilbrm a« «ventu live now iihapi///! bi likely to ho influenced in some, possibly mi Important, degree, by the decision of Rumania. If Rumania joini! the tinlciik. then all the aid that jkrmatiy can lend 'Bulgaria i/i not likely to prevent an Allied offensive sweeping north through the, lialb.nK, in sympathy with developments in the northern part of the Peninsula, On tho othov hand, if Rumania amtinucs to stand neutral, the Allien may content themselves with a lc:« enterprising ..policy. It would probably suit them bettor in that ca«o to 'light tho Germans on the Greek frontier than to incur heavy sacrifices for the sake of hastening tho reconquest of Serbia, » * » o

Whims Germany liub possibly opposed Homo obstacles to early or immediate progress by the Allies in tlio Balkans, though at the cost of diverting troops which she can probably ill spare from the main theatres, there is no visible indication that she is rendering any effectual aid to her most burdened ally, Turkey. The story of the Armenian campaign is one of slow, but .continued, progress by the Russians. Yesterday the lattei reported that they had occupied a, town, withm thirty miles of Trcbuond, on the Black Sea, and to-day they report beating off desperate counter-attacks, apparently in the same region, with enormous loss to the enemy. The Turks arc now fighting under conditions vastly different from those of the Gallipoli campaign. Operations in Armenia are comparatively open and the Turks art at a. positive and heavy disadvantage in the matter''of communications. The Russians are nofi'only able to make some use of sea transport for the "benefit of their northern armies, but at all points are in closer touch with railways than the enemy. At least one Russian railway runs up to the Caucasian frontier, about a hundred miles behind the present fighting front, while the Turks, are largely dependent upon a railway from Constantinople, which stops short at Angora, some four hundred miles, as the crow flies, west of the fighting front.

An interesting note on Turkish railway communications was published recently by the New York Bveniny Post, which is. presumably well informed on the' subject. Newspaper maps illustrating the Erzeruni campaign, and the general strategic position in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, it remarks, are hundreds of miles ahead of the engineers and the track-layers in the construction of the Bagdad railway. The fact is that of the total projected length of about 1550 miles for the main line and branches, only about one-seventh has been completed, and that from the western terminus at Konia west of the Taurus Mountains. Fi'om Konia the lino extends 200 kilometres, or about 125. miles, to Bulgurlu, at the foot of. the Taurus. The passage of the Cilieian "Gates awaits construction.. Beyond the mountain range the line runs for another hundred miles through Adana to Osmanieh. From there the stretch of 400 miles across country, through the barren region between the upper Euphrates and Mossul on tin Tigris, and the additional. 220 miles of air line down the 'Tigris to Bagdad are still on paper. The fact is that for hundreds of miles west of Erzerum and Diarbekr (further south) the Turks are without rail-' ways of any kind, and it is this circumstance which operates in favour of the Russians, who arc much nearer their own railhead at Sary Kamysh in the Caucasus. The Turkish armies in the Caucasus were mainly dependent on sea transport, and therein consists the importance of a Russian move against Trcbizond.