The Dominion FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1918. THE RENEWED OFFENSIVE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 174, 12 April 1918, Page 6

The Dominion FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1918. THE RENEWED OFFENSIVE

, It is already evident that if tho enemy hoped to v<!pcat on the Franco-Belgian bolder suc li a success as he recency gained furthel south ho has suffered heavy disappointment.. In this battle, as in their previous onslaught in the south, the Germans are attacking without regard to the cost entailed,' but they are far from having approached such results as attended their drive across the Sommo battlefield. The ultimate' fate of their present effort cannot, of coui'Bc, bo foretold, but on the facts thus far visible it is quite 1 possible- that the tide of battle may turn as definiteiy against the enemy in Artois as it turned in his favour in the south. Ho had gained some ground —though without securing any vital advantage—but there is to bo set.on the other side of the account a tremendous slaughter of the Kaiser's storm troops in the river marshes over which the conflict is raging. There is no suggestion that tho enemy on this, occasion laid bare- any weakness in the Allied organisation. On tho contrary there is every indication that he is being resisted at all points with superb valour and tenacity by the British and Portuguese defending troops, and has paid a full price for what he has gained. The attack he has now opened strengthens' the view tbat tho enemy is definitely checked, for the time at least, on the approaches to Amiens; bnt it,is nevertheless in itself formidable, and raises serious issues.

The test way to gauge the position reached in the battle is to consider what the enemy may reasonably be supposed to aim at accomplishing. There is very little mystery about the matter. He is manifestly intent upon driving such a. breach as would enable him to outflank the Allied front extending north through Flanders and also the front which' runs south .round Lens and'.by way of the Vimy Ridge past Arras._ Along the greater part of this front—from a point south-east of the Houthulst Forest, in Flanders, to east of Arras—the Allies are established on high ground, overlooking the enemy in inferior positions. This is a condition of affairs the enemy is interested from every point of view in transforming if' the feat is within his power. , Obviously if the Allies contrive to retain possession of the commanding heights they now hold in Flanders and Northern France until the enemy has exhausted his efforts to pierce their front they will be splendidly placed to thrust with deadly effect at his main communications. The enemy will naturally do everything in his power to .-avert such a development, but the attack upon which he is now engaged is, of course, above all a. continuation of his previous efforts to break the Allied armies into two sections, «nd, failing still larger results, to gain an extended foothold on the Channel ooaet and correspondingly lengthen the Allied sea communications. The big fact which stands out at the moment is that the Germans are expending men and material as recklessly as ever in a desperate attempt to force a decision, and that the measure of success they Have thus far gained in Artois is not a, good return for the efforts they are making and the enormous losses they have incurred. They have driven a broad wedge into the Allied line between Armentieres and La Bassee, but the greater part of. the ground gained is low-lying marsh. Costly to occupy, it will at the same time be difficult to consolidate, and though he is now facing into the flank of the British line along the Flanders ridges, the task immediately confronting the enemy is that of attacking river crossings under very difficult conditions. Should he extend his success to the point of capturing Armentieres—a town close behind the Allied line which long ago became a ruin under enemy bombardment—the position now reached would not be greatly altered.

Considered in light of facts disclosed by Mr. Lloyd George and supplemented to-day by Mn. Bonar Law, the events of this battle as far as it has gone may be regarded as encouraging. We are committed in any case to a long grim struggle, for there is no longer any doubt that the enemy will persevere in his efforts to force a decision so'lone as he is able to mass, guns and has masses of men to hurl forward in attack. For the Germans there is no alternative. 'They must win victory this year or await the day when the Allies, with American aid, have established a derisive superiority. This means that tho Allied armies will 'he subjected to * a supremely searching test which is likely to extend over months. But it .also means, as General Fooii observed a few days ago, that the future belongs to the Allies. So long as they resist tho German onslaughts to the extent of maintaining an unbroken front and sound communications they arc defeatinc the enemy's purposc._ It has been asked in the Imperial Parliament and elsewhere why the Allies, being still in slightly superior strength, did not anticipate the enemy offensive. ' The answer was in plain sight before it had been given by Mr. Bonau Law in the House of Commons. Rightly or wrongly. the highest military authorities of tho Allied nations have maintained throughout that a successful offensive against entrenched positions is only possible with a pronounced superiority of force on the attacking side. The Germans are gambling upon the assumption that this theory is unsound, but the fact that this Allied organisation was in some respects found wanting in the opening stage of the conflict certainly docs lint prove that tlie theory is unsound. It lias, however, given tho enemy an initial advantage, yet to be measured, which the Allied strategists admittedly did not foresee or allow for. We are faced as a result by a supremely critical situation only to be met by putfcinp every available man into the battleline. What Britain is doing In this end appears in the cablegrams to-day. She is making such calls upon her manhood as threaten the stability of the whole fabric of industrial organisation, and may tell heavily even upon vital war industries. Her action is a- measure of tho demand created, and should supply the lastargument, if it is needed, to convince tho people'of this Dominion that the only policy which dan for a moment bo considered is

to expand our contribution of military strength by every, resource at command. At the same time il should not for a moment be supposed that the Allies arc- merely engaged in a desperate effort to stave off defeat. On the contrary, nothing is more certain than that if the- enemy offensive is met and repelled as it should be, and will be ii the Allied nations and armies do themselves justice, the Gormans will not merely fail to achieve their purpose, but will lose the war.