The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1918. THE CONFLICT RESUMED

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 214, 29 May 1918, Page 4

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1918. THE CONFLICT RESUMED

No surprise will bo felt at the renewal of the German offensive, but the circumstances in which the enemy has resumed his desperate attempt to break through the Allied line present some features which were hardly anticipated by the ordinary onlooker, though there is no suggestion that the Allied Command has at any point' been taken unawares. Instead of following up his earlier thrusts in the Somme Valley and in Flanders, the enemy has_ attacked on a wide front in an entirely new area. As reports stand he lias developed only a compara- [ tivcly small local attack in Southern I landers, but has attacked on a front of about 25 miles traversing the high ground north of the Aisne and turning south-east round the eastern extremity of the Aisne heights to the vicinity of lieims. He therefore attacked in front and flank the great ridge north of the Aisne which constituted the backbone of his defensive line until it was captured by the French last year. Another somewhat unexpected _ feature is the appearance of British troops, apparently in considerable force, on the Aisne front. This suggests that the Allies anticipated the enemy's intention to attack in this area. At the same time it transpires that the Italians anticipated the enemy's blow in France by opening an offensive on their own front which appears to be developing with good promise. There is still no authoritative news of the presence of Austrian troops in France or Flanders, but evidently the Italians are intent either upon preventing the withdrawal of i Austrian troops to reinforce the | German Western armies or upon ' profiting b.v the absence of trooos I already withdrawn.

The enemy is attacking with all the violence to ho expected from the fact that a maximum offorr, is his only alternative to .admitting himself defeated. It cannot Ik- t"o plainly emphasised that the titanic struggle on the West front has sH its own standards, and that, it has made obsolete standards which at an earlier stage of the war found general acccptancc. In its latest phase the German offensive lias already produced results which cannot be regarded as unimportant, biit their a'ctual importance will lie estimated only by taking due 'account of tho enormous 'extent to which _ conditions have changed since it became manifest that the enemy had determined to slake his last hopes upon forcing a decision before America could throw .1 bis army - into the scale. The latest news in hand at time of writing shows that while the enemy has been heavily defeated in Flanders, he has suecccdcfj, at great cost in lives, in gaining important ground north of the Aisne. He has, in places at least, crossed the Oheniin des Dames ridge and reached the. valley of the Aisne, Apparently the French wore holding a front of about .15 miles, extending along nearly the whole length of the famous ridge to its; eastern extrcmifc.y.. From the latter point .British divisions were holding a. slightly shorter front, extending across the Aisne and divided by that river into two approximately equal parts. A French official report states that after a violent attack German units, 111 spite of heavy losses, readied the Aisne Valley. To this Sm Douglas Ha 1G adds that while the British divisions on the right—that is to say, south of the Aisne—maintained'their battle positions, those on the left, north of the river and holding the line between it and the ridge, were forced back to a second line of prepared positions. More detailed news will very probably show that the greater part of the Chcmin des Dames has been recoA'ered by the cuemv. Tho tactical importance of this ridge as an observation point and kev position in the country north of the Aisne has often been pointed out. . Its conquest by tho French last year, in long-continued and carcfully-plan-

nod attacks, was rightly hailed as a great achievement, but we shall probably make no mistake if wc attach much greater importance to the statement in a French communique dealing with these events, "The Franco-British troops arc lighting in close co-operation, and are assured of the effective use of reserves,'' than to the loss of a dominating ridge formerly regarded as vital.

The commanding fact which is being brought out ever more clearly as this mighty conflict develops is that, with defined exceptions, its progress is not to be measured by loss or gain of territory, and that the one f:ictor which now overshadows all others'is the effective use of reserves. There arc areas ill which the Allies arc defending vital communications by a somewhat narrow margin. _ In the Somnic Valley opposite Amiens, for instance, they oCem to be under an obvious necessity of firmly-holding their ground and in Flanders aiso there is a narrower margin to work upon than could_ be desired. _ But, generally speaking, the Allied Command is undoubtedly prepared to surrender territory, at a price, and there is no reason to doubt that in this sense the events on the Chemin des Dam*s reported to-day have taken shape, so far as the Allies arc concerned' very much on lines anticipated and in consonance with a deliberate plan. There is no fact which may be received with greater confidence than that the Allies, so long as vital communications are protected and ii'eedom to manoeuvre is preserved are prepared to. readily sacrifice territory where by doing so they can expedite the exhaustion of the enemy s fighting formations and reserves and bring nearer the day on which they will face him in decisively superior strength. Mora will be known in tho near future than is known at present about the position of the contending armies m regard to available reserves and tho ability to move them rapidly and with effect from point to point but meantime it is by no means a bad or unpromising sign that the enemy has found it necessary to open a formidable attack on a new iu° ni_ • iiis success on tne. Chemin des Dames, he is very much further removed from decisive results on this front than in the areas in which he has hitherto developed his offensive. His first groat.object undoubtedly is to separate the French and British armies, and by extending his hold on the Channel_ coast, to lengthen the sea communications between Britain and I'iance and make them insecure. It is possible that he may presently turn from his present 'attack to renew his efforts further north, and equally possible that ho hopes to uGiive advantage froni the movement and_ coiintor-movenifint of reserves which the extension of the active front will involve. But, taking due_ account of such considerations, it still seems of hopeful augury that lie finds himself unable to pursue his strategic object directly, ancl compelled to spread- and disperse his efforts and resources liven at this early stage the battle atiords some evidence that the hopes based by tho Allies upon the creation of a Supreme Command and the dispositions it makes ' possible rest upon a substantial foundation.