PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2839, 2 August 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

One of the greatest battles of the war is being fought on the front opposite Kovel, in Southern Russia, and on available reports it is going definitely in favour of tho Russians. 'The beginning of the battle found thorn striking for full' mastery of tho line of the River Stochod, which runs in a great bond east of Kovel, at a distance ranging from twenty to thirty miles. /They are now advancing from thc_river in face of a defence into which the enemy is throwing his utmost power. Detailed particulars of the Russian advance are not given in official reports at timo of writing, though they state .definitely that an advance is being made, but an unofficial report states that the Russians are now about five and a half miles i\vcst of the Stochod. '■ This implies that they are approaching their objective at a rate which must bo regarded as rapid, considering the nature of the enemy resistance. The statement in a Petrograd message yesterday that the onemy was concentrating on Kovel was open to tho reading that the Austro-Ger-mans were preparing to launch a counter-offensive in that region. More detailed news to-day is calculated to'completely disposo of such an idea. It is stated, indeed, in a I Petrograd commmiquc, that tho

enemy is Linngiug troops from all directions, _ even singlo battalions, and throwing thorn into tho battlo east of Kovel. But, read iu conjunction with tho rest of the news, this must be taken to mean that the enemy is making desperate efforts to prop up a fronb which threatens to collapse. In spite of these efforts the German front is being driven in. The Russian official statement about enemy reinforcements and its indication that the Gormans are staking as heavily as their resources will permit upon an effort to hold Kovel carries more weight than' an unofficial message whioh declares that the stubborn German resistance is in fact a rearguard action covering a retreat already in progress. ' The partial conflict,of official and unofficial testimony matters comparatively little, since it is definitely, established that the enemy is being driven back upon Kovel. N

All that has been said about the importance of Kovel to the enemy receives striking confirmation from the frantic efforts he is now making to stem tho Russian drive. No better standard could be desired than is afforded in the facts of the present battle, by which to measure the enemy's prospects of obtaining relief from tho strain to which ho is now subjected by falling back from his present line. We may be tolerably sure that the .mere loss or retention of so much territory is by this time a matter of comparative indifference to tho Austro-Gcr-mans, and that their desperate efforts to mako head against tho Russians opposite Kovel are inspired by the knowledge that the loss of this vital junction will expose them to worse disasters.- This applies quite as much to tho Germans as to the A":trians. who are threatened with tho loss of ei'fcotivc German support. A Russian advance to Kovel will not only lavbaro the German southern ilank, but should give, the signal for aofcion on other sections of tho "Eastern front. . Though they have played - the leading rolo thus far, General Brusiloff's southern armies do not constitute- by any means tho whole of Russia's military power, nor will it be left to them alono to make the most of a German retreat. *'**■* The Sommo battlo has moved into what has every appearance of being a very critical stage," and the British and French attacks reported yesterday and to-day are likely to develop rapidly into operations on a very much greater scale. Recent British assaults on tho left wing of the attacking front have materially widened the "growing rift, in the German defences, and luivc also done a great deal to -clear the way for a oombined movement eastward against Combles and Pcronne. On the left wing, whore they are facing north, tho British are in.immediate touch with tho last ra'nge of elevated petitions occupied by the Germans in' advance of the junction of Bapaumc Where thoir lino turns south they are similarly placed towards the road junction of Combles, their trenches having been advanced to the outskirts of Guillemont, the hill position which., covers-Combles on tho west. As regards the area south of the Somme, tho French nave for some time boon separated "by .little more than the. breadth of the river from Pcronne. All three places—Bapaumc, Combles, and Pcronne—xarc important centres in tho enemy's communications, and all three are now. closely threatened, although Bapaumc and Combles Ho' further ahead of the line which the offensive has reached than does Pcronne. Combles is two miles ahead, of this line, but the capture of Guillemont and neighbouring'advanced positions would be likely to decide its/fate. 'As'-regards Bapaumc also, though it stands about "ive miles ahead of the present line of contact, its strongest defences are the range of hill positions to which tho British' forces now stand immediately opposed, and if these are mastered the enemy -is not likely to hold- his own in the lower country [which lies between them and Bapaumc. It is still a more or less open question whether the next big move will # be north towards Bapaumc 01H east towards Combles and Pcronne', "out indications seem to point rather to tho latter development'than the first. The Anglo-French attacks, reported yesterday, on the front opposite Combles and south to. the Somme, have demonstrated that the Allies ai-o now in a .position to act effectively in unison on this section of the front. An indication that the enemy apprehends an early and important development of the offensive in this quarter is supplied in his desperate counter-attacks upon the French positions immediately north of the river—Monacu farm, which he momentarily regained only to bo thrown out again, and Hem Wood. These counter-attacks, though unsuccessful, have been pressed and repeated with an apparent disregard of cost, the enemy losses being much increased by an enfilading artillery fire from the south bank of the river, where tho French are much further forward 'than on the north bank. It is pointed out in one message that any j advance on the front north from the "Somme would threaten the German' position at Peronnc, which is still tho main French objective, and this no ■ doubt explains' the , furious energy with which the enemy is pressing his costly and unrewarded counter-attacks, There are other suggestive details in the news,' but tho essential fact which commands attention is that the. Allies are now at a stage" in their offensive when another attack on the grand scale might win them a success of decisive importance. Under their sustained assaults the front upoii which the enemy was established when the battle opened* has worn dangerously thin, and a j powerful thrust, attended by the same success as has hitherto crowned thoir efforts, might very well carry them right through tho enemy's strongest defences into easier country in rear. Tho Germans arc, of course, constructing and improving supplementary defences, but they cannot in this way overcome, the disability resulting from their being driven out of naturally strong positions into areas much less adapted to defence. Issues of decisive importance will, therefore, be likely to turn upon tlic fate of tho next great onslaught by the Allies upon tho 'enemy positions by which they are now confronted, the remaining elements of the vastly more extonsivo defences upon which the Germans wore established when the offensive opened, and as has boon said indications are not wanting that another grand, attack is imminent. One of tho most suggestive reports appearing, to-day tells of exceptional activity by the French' and British aircraft. On Monday, the

British airmen alono dropped seven I tons of bombs upon enemy communi-: cations and billets, and tliey seem ' to have done an immense amount of damage. Tho enemy's lines of communication arc, of course, constantly being subjected" to attacks from the air, but air attacks* on the scale described at the present juncture strengthen tne probability that a now and momentous chapter of tho Allied offensive is about to open. * * * * - News from German East Africa that British troops have gained a footing 6n tho great central railway, which runs from tho sea to Lake Tanganyika, should mean that the invasion of tho last of the German colonies has been carried very near to a victorious termination. The only other railway in .the colony, the line which runs across its north-eastern corner to tho sea, is now completely occupied. The lodgment effected on the central railway obviously means that a definite period has been set to further organised resistance by the German forces remaining afoot and their native auxiliaries. Another season of Zeppelin-raid-ing has opened, and a raid is reported to-day, \vhich appears to have been made by a stronger forco of airships than passed the English coast a 1 day or two ago. As reports stand, the raiders cruised over a number of English counties, dropping bombs indiscriminately, but doing no damage of , military importance. It is believed that they did not escape scatheless, though anti-aircraft guns came into action at only one point. That the airships came only to this extent under firo in itself suggests that they failed to find the areas in which they were capable of doing the maximum amount of damage. Though they have contrived to murder some hundreds of unoffending civilians, a lengthy experience of tho Zeppelins has gone to show that they arct incapable of serving any military purpose, except in the' character of naval scouts. In their latest exploits they do not seem to have improved in any way upon this reputation.