PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2820, 11 July 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Though tlu Germans arc evidently straining every nerve to hold the Allies on the Somme, their defences are falling in rapid succession. Each clay lately has tolcl of a material penetration of the enemy line, and-to-day is no exception to the rule. Iu a grsat attack south of tho river the French succeeded so well that,the portion of their front which forms the, point of the wedgo the Allies arc driving into tho German line is now only, a little over a milo distant from Peronne, tho immediate goal of the offensive. In this attack—described by tho Germaus as a local advance which failed —the French advanced for an averago distance of a mile along a front of two and a half miles. Meantime, along tho front to the north of tho rivor, heavy fighting is in progress at several points, and the Allies are stoadily, though not rapidly, gaining ground. They are still lighting hard for the village of Ovillers and for Contalmaison. The latter place they won a day or two ago, but it was immediately recovered by the Germans in a counterattack, in which they arc estimated to have'losfc three thousand in killed alone, apart from other casualties. By the considerable advance they have made, at different points, during the last few days, the Allies have done a great deal to straighten and strengthen their lino north of tho Somme, and the German coun-ter-attacks in genoral seem to havo completely failed. The case of Contalmaison is an exception to the rule. The British infantry were driven out of this place as soon as they entered, and before they had timo to'consolidate the position. German claim's to success at several points north of the river are directlly contradicted by the latest Allied official roports. Here', as in regard to the operations south of tho rivor on the direct approach to s Peronne, the enemy is evidently resorting to fiction in an effort to postpone general knowledge of his defeats. This supplies another indication, if it were needed, that tho tide of battle is running strongly against him.

Peronne is now very closely threatened. Already tho French are in a position to make most effectivo uso of their artillery in bombarding the enemy road and railway communications in which it is an important local centre, and at'their point of greatest advance (the village of Biaches) they have covercd five-sixths of the distance which separated them from Peronno when the Battle of the Somme began. Tho nature of tho Somme as an obstaclo has" been clearly explained in recent cablegrams. The deep, canalised river, with a belt of marshy ground along its banks, is obviously a formidable obstacle, but it certainly cannot be taken for granted that it will avail tho Germans against such an attack as the Allies are rapidly developing. It is all the more ncccssary to keep an open mind on tho point since tho defence of Peronno on the, direct approach is only a part of the problem which the Germans aro set. "Whether or not it is destined to assume even greater importance as tho battle develops, tho grim strugglo along the front north of tho river already absorbs a great part of the total available German strength, and by so much lightens the task of the French forces which arc now in practically immediate touch with the obstacle of the Somme. It should not be long before the stopping powers of the obstacle aro put to tho test. Mcan-

tiiuo 'it is worth bearing in mind that the Germans trusted for the safety of this section of their line, not to tho Sonimo, but to a triple line of defences advanced'half-a-dozen miles beyond the river—in places considerably more. Tho speed with which these defences have been overwhelmed is accounted for largely by the nature of the Allied bombardment, which seems to have set new standards of efficiency.

9 * * <* Events aro moving rapidly in tho Eastern theatre, on tho southern front. In Southern Russia General Brusiloit's right-wing is now sweeping in towards Kovel junction, and at tho other end of the southern front tho Russians have captured Dclatyn junction. They aro thus astrido a railway which runs through the Carpathians from Southern Galicia into Hungary. Besides bringing tho invasion of Hungary into nearer prospect this deprives tho enemy of a useful line of supply and retreat, and the loss is the greater since the next lino penetrating tho mountains lies sixty miles further to the west and north. Tho Russian sweep towards Kovel also promises well. Tho place is not yet- taken—indeed, the Russians aro nowhere nearer to it yet than twenty, piles—but it is a fair inference from rccent and current reports that the hack of the Austro-German resistance in this area has been broken. Losing Kovel, tho enemy will bo in serious difficulties over maintaining cross-communications between his different army groups. Rapid reinforcement of his southern a/mies from the north will bo no longer in his power.

_In addition to this, the occupation of Kovol by the Russians will be an important step towards dislodging the enemy from his foothold in the Pripcfc tna-rshes, which constitute a wide area of practically dead_ ground in the middle of the fighting front as it is at present located. Measured by the extent of their own territory which must be traversed before they can procccd to an invasion of Germany, the task of the Russians must appear exceedingly formidable. • Distance, hpwovcr, is not the only factor to be taken into account, and the difficulties of the struggle now unfolding'! promise to bear much more heavily upon tho Austro-Germans than upon the Russians, Besides beatiiig down the enemy's resistance, the Russians as they advance will have to overcome serious engineering difficulties, but tho rapid progress they have lately made .through Galicia and Southern Russia is an encouraging indication of their capabilities in this direction. _ The best idea of what is possible in the way of rolling back the Austro-German invasion is no doubt to be gained from tho circumstanccs of. the Russian retreat last year. .

Much the greater part, of the territory now held by the enemy in -Russia was gained in the space of about five months, from May to September last year, and the enemy's progress, in spite of engineering difficulties, would have been even more rapid but for tho fact that the Russians fought a long series of battles, at hopeless odds, but with grim determination. The Germans are now called upon to emulate this performance, with the proviso that they must fight, as they retreat, upon a very much longer line than tho one from which they are now being driven. Only persistent and desperate fighting will enable them to methodically destroy railways and bridges behind them as tho Russians .did in their historic retreat. If the enemy's resources prove unequal to tho strain of such fighting upon a lengthening front, and the work of devastation is imperfectly done, the Russian advance will be so much the less hampered. It is a state of affairs which would hold out good prospects even if tho position were not complicated, greatly to the disadvantage of 1 the enemy, by the increasing demoralisation of the Austrian armies. It is, of course, quite possible that the Allies havo a bigger task in hand, in East and West, than they willovertake this year, but this does not • alter tho fact that the very magnitude of the operations now developing tells heavily' in their favour and correspondingly against the enemy. ' '

There is some interesting but not very convincing news regarding Rumania. The reservation applies particularly tc a report in which the Bulgarian Minister at Bucharest is made to express a confident belief that Ilumania will adhere throughout to the neutrality she has hitherto observed. This is manifestly a matter on which no Bulgarian can bo accepted as an authority, and the statement of the Bulgarian diplomat is not fortifiod by his preceding remarks,. to tho effect that his country has done with fighting and is merely waiting for tie return of peace in order to enjoy the fruits of its past efforts. Here, he is unquestionably wide of the facts. The actual position of Bulgaria may be best likened to that or a criminal awaiting sentence. The Allies are pledged to right the wrongs of Serbia as far as that is possible, and this opens no pleasant prospect for Bulgaria. Sho will be dealt with independent of the policy that Rumania may choose to adopt. The subject of the latter country's neutrality is raised in another message, which states that tho demobilisation of the Rumanian army continues. This is the first intimation of its kind which has been transmitted, and it certainly does not suffice, in the absence of confirmation, to establish as a fact that Rumania is 'demobilising and has decided to I maintain her neutrality.

It is, of course,' not impossible that Rumania has taken' this decision, though it would _ imply a gomcwhat extraordinary indifference to her own' best interests. Conceivably she may have failed to come to a a agreement with Russia on the subject of territorial adjustments; and the opportunity of throwing in her lot with the Allies is not likely to be kept indefinitely open. However, the reports touched upon are very far from conclusive, and those relating to Bulgaria are discounted by the news that a German forcc attacked the Allied advanced line 'in Northern Greece. This would imply that the Bulgarian Army re; mains embodied in the Austro-Gcr-man military machine, and will be mado use of accordingly. The Bulgarian advance into Eastern Greccc is also suggestive, and indicates apprehension of an Allied invasion by way of the Maritza Valley, a line the Allies would bo very likely to take if they invaded Bulgaria in concert witli a Rumanian invasion on tho north.