PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2798, 16 June 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

. Though' the first powerful sweep of tho Russian. offensive has given place to steadier-paced operations its force is evidently very far from being expended. To-day's news is summed up in tho official statement that on tho whole front, from the southern part of the Pripet marshes to tho Rumanian frontier, the enemy is still being pushed back. In this statement,. and in the details with which it is amplified,* remarkable evidence is given of the stayingpower of tho Russian armies as they arc now organised and equipped. In view of the limitations imposed by factors of transport and supply upon the movement of modern armies, it was hardly to be oxpccted when the offensive opened twelve days ago that it would be continued in full power and without interruption to the present date, A halt and. a breathing spell for reorganisation and the accumulation of supplies, would have been quito natural, and certainly would have given no occasion for surprise. But as the details of' this great enterprise are coming into clearer .view it' is. being, demonstrated that the Russian's have not only obtained the artillery, ammunition, and equipment, for lack of which they were so terribly handicapped last year, but have organised a highly efficient transport service -skilfully adapted to the conditions of tho country over which they are fighting. Account must be. taken also of the terrible state of disorganisation into which the. enemy has been thrown along a great part of hia front. From the details given it is evident that the full .magnitude of the disaster to the Austro-Germans has as yet been imperfectly realised. It is mentioned to-day, as a detail; that at one point the enemy abandoned sufficient material for the construction of 40 miles of railway. While the full story is awaited, details of this kind servo to indicate the sweeping power of. the Russian drive, against which the enemy is still vainly endeavouring to make head. ' * - * • # * * : Great events arc astir along tho middle and northern sections of the battle-front, but at the moment interest centres in the converging attack on Czernowitz referred to in a communique to-day as the struggle for the possession of the Czernowitz bridgehead. Much of tho news in hand relating to. this section of tho operations is unofficial, but in its details it is sufficiently consistent with recent official reports; to wear an air of probability. It seems likely that the. Russians are on tho. evo, of a very important success on this southern section of their front. More is at stake than- the fate of Czernowitz, and tho loss or retention by the enemy of his line extending to tho Rumanian frontier. As news stands, it is'evident that the Russians aim at the envelopment of the enemy forces established at Czernowitz and in the adjoining areas. St * ■ *t , In order to follow the operations it is necessary to keep in mind some of the geographical features of the. area in which they are being conducted. The River Pruth runs across tho northern part of Bukowiiia, trending slightly to the south as it approaches the Rumanian frontier. Czernowitz stands on this river, ten miles from the Rumanian frontier. The Dniester, in its extremely winding course, runs generally parallel to the Pruth at a distanco of twenty miles to the north. It is in tho area between the Dniester and the Pruth that the Russians are most formidably threatening Czernowitz. They arc advancing south from the Dniester towards the Pruth, and a railway, following the courso of this latter river, which constitutes the enemy's main, and only good, lino of supply to Czernowitz and tho adjoining front. How far the movement south from tho Dniester has progressed we do not know with certainty at timo of writing. According to one report, the Russians have captured Sniatyn, a town' on the Pruth twenty miles west of Czernowitz. The river is at this point about a mile north of the enemy's vital railway, and if tho Russians are in Sniatyn tho fato of Czernowitz, with, all that depends upon it, is not likely to remain long in doubt. Possibly this report runs somewhat ahead of facts—though it receives some support from another stating that Russian cavalry are operating 19 miles beyond Czernowitz—but it is established in any caso that the Russians are striking south from the Dniester well to the west ol the enemy's main stronghold in this region. They are engaged also in a, turning movement against Czernowitz from the south wnich is said to have achieved some preliminary success. It was in connection with this movement that

some Russian troops unwittingly entered Rumanian territory. Tho enemy is set a much more difficult problem than if he were called upon only to deal with a frontal attack. It scenis likely that ho may have to choose presently between a hasty retreat on seeing his main communications severed and a scction of his forces enveloped. ft * # While the progress of the Russians on their southern front holds attention as promising early results, even more impressive testimony to the scope and power of their offensive is afforded in the progress made further north. Fighting their way westward from Lusk, the Russians have now reachd the village of Zaturtsky, which is 22 miles west of Lusk. In this advance they are now, therefore, just about 45 miles west of the line on which their offensive opened. -Looking at the map this great forward thrust seems not unattended by'risk, since the enemy has railways at command which should enable him to bring heavy pressure to bear upon the Russians both from north and south as well as. on the front no is defending, but his state of disorganisation, and perhaps a lack of resources, apparently prevent him from profiting by liis opportunities. Assuming that they can maintain the pressure and continue their advance, the Russians are breaking into the opposing line.in a fashion which may compel a general enemy retreat_ both along the front to the north, in the direction of the Pripct marshes, and to the south, in Galicia. Zaturtsky, which the Russians have now reached, is almost due south of Kovel, and as matters are going, -the Austro-Germans stand in somo danger of being outflanked on the railways on which that junction is situated, as well as in the operations which are enveloping with so much . promise further south. ' In the most sanguine view, before the Russians opened their offensive, it would hardly have been expected that they would be enabled to proceed so far and so fast without meeting moro powerful resistance than the enemy has yet been able to offer. The only feasible explanation of tho state of affairs disclosed seems to be that the enemy is seriously at a loss. His losses both in men and material have been enormous, and it is very possible that ,tho reinforcements ne so badly needs are simply not obtainable. Military authorities in Petrograd, according to one message to-day, are of opinion that the Germans will not ven* ture to transfer large reinforcements to Galicia' because it requires too much time, besides conferring a distinct advantage upon the Allies in other Tho second of these reasons is decidedly the most convincing. It is no extravagant assumption that at this stage of the war the enemy. Powers arc nard put to it to. find soldiers of the class which alone would be of any service in tfuch operations as are now afoot ,in the Eastern theatre —that is to say, able-bodied.men of a high physical standard, inured to hardship— and that they arc ill able to transfer such troops to Russia from other theatres. * * '» » This matter is interestingly touched upon by a recent contributor to the h'ortiiiijMUj Review,- an officer who has seen service on the Western front. It is clcar at last, he says, that Germany is coming to the end of her first line troqps, men who arc competent to go anywhero and do anything that efficient soldiers are expected to do. "In tho course of the last five months nothing but her interior lines of railway havo enabled her to place her effectives now on one front and -now on the other.' Before the Polish campaign began the German infantry opposed to us in the West were extremely awkward customers, but as that campaign developed the Western line was filled up by infantry who, in the main, seemed to have no idea but to dig themselves in and keep as quiet as possible. Similarly it was . not until that campaign had been brought to a standstill that the Balkan adventure could be begun, because for the active, as opposed to the passive, defence, German armies had to he moved to the now field, of operations. The counterattacks at Loos tell the same story. They could not be undertaken until special troops had been brought up, while the Serbian adventure had to be abandoned to meet tho attack from Bessarabia. Now the objection to the manipulation of a stage army is obviously that the heaviest casualties are continually falling on the best troops. The attack on Verdun has taken its full "toll. There must come a 'period when the spearhead of the German armies is blunted or destroyed, and an insufficient number of mobile soldiery exist for any'given front." ft # _ ft # These observations very probably assist a true understanding of tho position now reached in the Eastern theatre. What is to be said of the progressive exhaustion of good firstline troops in the German Army applies broadly to the Austrian Army as well, and, moreover, all the most formidable attacks the Russians have had to meet have been largely backed by German force as well as 'directed by Gorman leadership. With the strength of her mobile formations reduced to a minimum, and in the reigning state of affairs in the Western theatre, Germany is certainly not favourably placed to transfer efficient troops from West io East. This does not mean that the Russians are likely to sweep easily forward to a recovery of the Vistula line and an ultimate invasion of German territory, opposed ,onlv by inefficient armies of old men and boys, but it may easily mean, for the time being, that the AustroGermans are under the necessity of conceding a groat deal of the territory they now occupy in the Eastern 'theatre before attempting to definitely hold the Russians on defensive lines. , . •St! V 4 At time of writing no remarkable development is reported at Verdun or elsewhere in the Western theatre. 'On the British front thei'is has been a heavy reciprocal bombardment at various points, but no infantry fighting is reported at the moment. fr £ <= According to a Copenhagen messave a naval action has been fought in the Baltic, in which a German squadron and convoy were overtaken by disaster. The composition ofthji German squadron, a cruiser, two destroyers, and eight armed trawlers, suggests that it was intended to protect tho convoy of fourteen merchant ships under its care against submarines, and that it was not anticipated that other enemioK would be met. The Germans, at all events, seem to have nude a poor showing against the half-dozen. Russian destroyers, with some submarines co-operating, which suddonly attacked and rapidly disposed of the enemy cruiser, one of tho

destroyers, and the whole of the merchant convoy. Tho fate of the trawlers is uncertain. It is mentioned that two reached port much damaged, but what became of tho others is not stated. The cruiser, named. as the Koenig von Sachsen,. is not 'recorded in available* reference books, so she was presumably a recent addition to tho German Navy. The scene .of the action was off tho Swedish coast, north-west of the island of Gothland, a locality in which tho Germans perhaps thought they were fairly secure from attack. Their disillusionment on this point will hardly encourage them to attempt to maintain sea communications with Libau, in furtherance of their land campaign in tho Baltic Provinces.