PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2781, 27 May 1916, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

It would be decidedly interesting to know what is actually meant by the official . message from Petrograd to-day, stating that the Russians at Kermansha-h have functioned with the British below Kutel-Amara. The two points mentionsd are about 200 miles apart, Kcrinanshah, being • on the Persian side of the frontier- to the north-east of Bagdad. More may be suggested by tho message than has actually occurred. : ' It is quite likely that the functioning' of'forces referred to relates .to the-arrival of tho force of Russian cavalry at thb advanced joosts of tho British in Mesopotamia recorded earlier in the week. The traversing of 200 miles of hostile country by this force was a remarkable achievement, and in addition to establishing a closer cooperation between the Russian and British forces' will mean a valuable accession of strength to General Lake S troops. Tile Russian cavalry has proved a most useful:braneh of the military service in wide stretches of open country such asi that in which the Allied forces will bo.called on to operate. These fine horsemen can be relied on' to' hai'.-iss th? Turkish, outposts and lines of communication, and in the,- event of tho Turks being forced to retreat should make matters very hot for 'their rearguard. The latest news from General Lake goes. to. show that the British are still held; up by the powerful Turkish dcferices at'Sanna-l-Yat; but that the Turks are being heavily bombarded. The position, is a difficult one to overcome owing" to the swampy-'marshes on 'the Hanks which necessitate a frontal attackor a wide detour from the river which is the chief medium on which the British force is compelled to rely for its supplies.. The frontal attack in consequence is necessary and the bombardment now proceeding is no doubt preliminary to an attempt to carry the Turkish trenches by storm.

A message from Pctrograd yesterday stated that the TsAß'had review-

Ed troops in Bessarabia which were proceeding to Odessa. W« may tako it for,, granted that , this event happened some time ago. It is not customary to inform the world of tho movement or tho destination of troops until some time after tho enemy must have been made aware of,the fact by their, arrival at their new quarters. - Assuming, therefore, that the troops were hound for Odessa and that this happened some time ago, there is every probability that they are ere this with the Granh Duke's forces in the Caucasus, in which case his strength must havo been materially increased.'. This is a matter of lwuch importance. It must be evident that at the outset tho forces at the Gkand Duke's disposal could not have been large when judged by tho task ahead.. He wonhis earlier victories by the military skill he displayed in handling his troops and in inducing them to accomplish the_ seemingly impossible task of striking through the mountain ranges iri winter. " The-'enemy was caught unprepared and was overwhelmed. But in' the months that have since passed the Turks havo gathered reinforcements and aro now making a stand in force against the centre of Russian advance. The Grand Duke in consequence will want all the- men that' can be spared from the Eastern front to drive home his victory. Wo may therefore view with satisfaction the probability hold out .by the dispatch of troops to_ Odessa! that he has been strongly reinforced. There is of course an alternative—the troops sent to Odessa may have been destined' to strike a blow at the Turks ,in another direction. With the inasterv of the Black Sea at her command llussia is in a position to land troops- at "other, points on the Turkish coast or in Bulgaria. There are possibilities, but the probability is that the troops have gone to swell the forces of the Grand Duke and to hasten on the great offensive which is striking at the heart of the eastern portion' of' the Turkish Empire. We can look for importa-nt happ.enipgs. in this region any, day, and thei'r influence will be felt -i a a wider field than Asia Minor, The average man's capacity for as-, tonishment must have been well nigh exhausted by the happenings at Verdunduringthe past few months, but amazing, happenings -still continue there. .. Months. ago. now. the great .Gorman offensive, the mightiest of the war, began, reached its maximum alid"fell back shattered before the fierce defiance of the unconquerable French line. The Germans gained ground, but at.,a fearful cost, and the main, French "positions remained firinly held after'weeks of the most terrific fighting ever witnessed. The world was amazed at the intensity of the struggle and the terrible, disregard for tho lives of their men shown by the German High Command. Tho offensive ,we were- -told l .had been broken and Verdun was' safe.' : Again and again the German offensive has been renewed, and again and again it, has failed at all main points. The slight gains made have ; been terribly' disproportionate to the cost in lives sacrificed. But in spite of this—in spite of the seeming- hopelessness of the effort, the enemy has hurled fresh troops at tho French positions until three days ago, in the face of the opinions of all the -military writersand semi-official news 'services, an attack'was begun which for reckless ;fury and intensity exceeded even the first tremendous effort. And again it .failed, ol.its purpose. It is .'quite, hopeless, in face of what has already .transgi : r : ed, : ,-.to r att»mp.trto..:anticipato : develo^ments,vin -,this'- quarter:. The" •struggle still goes'on.

' .'ThS' events' ''recorded to-day'are but a 'repetition' of those of many days pastn-tho only, .difference . is. the rise and fall in'the intensity of the effort. A message of yesterday, may perhaps throw some light on the future. It describcd : 'Mho,. situation' at ": -Mort Homme. "Streets of fire," the message ran, "have swept over it day and night; .shelter, .trenches dp.not exis.t and directly .'new trenches . 'are dug tons of .shells-'from 240..guns wipe them out. 1 ' There is only one conclusion'to be drawn from', this picture of" Mort Homme.'lt is becoming'a No-Man's Land—no man can stay there and live. So long as- the French can hold it and reap a sufficicntV.'toll of German lives to' outweigh their own losses, they' will cling to it. Whfc'ri' it docs'not "pay to cTq so, they will fall back, or if .that is not possible...the greater coun-tcr-offensive will begin. The Germans are striving to make Verdun the master key to the whole strategy of' th'e w;ai\ At least'that is the only inference that can be drawn from what otherwise would seem a policy of madness. The conviction becomes increasingly strong'with the development.of events that the main purpose :of tho enemy,.is'to force,the Allies to' a premature offensive. And the Allies must be almost, if not quite, ready to strike.

The most unsatisfactory featuro of the general situation continues to be found in" the Trontino...The course of events tliero docs not'raise any great hopes that'our Allies have yet mastered the •• situation. The most reassuring news is that the. Austrian advance hag been temporarily chccked..aii'a guns. ,aro reaching the Italian front. The. fact.' that. the main defensive frontier lines of our Allies have not'yet .been seriously attacked is also to be noted... On the other hand, we are faced with the fact that our Allies are placed at a disadvantage and forccd to assemblo a great body of troops on this frontier at a time when they were likely to prove of special value in the general scheme'.of operations elsewhere. To'that' ex,teht'tho enemy can claim a . distinct score. It is not likely to materially affect the coursc-of events in the Allied plans,'and it has cost the enemy a substantial price.