PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 260, 22 July 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The name of Soissons long ago became familiar in association with battles 011 the Western front. The events of the last few days have made it certain that the. city will enjoy enduring fame. Gained by the Germans in their offensive, it has come in the changing fortunes of battle, to constitute and mark a, vulnerable point in their line, and one at which the French and their American comrades have struck with deadly effect, The, magnitude of the success gained is made apparent in the news to-day. There is, at time of writing, no oflicial confirmation of the news that the French have entered Soissons, but they are firmly established on high ground immediately to the south-west, and their guns effectively command the railways and roads radiating from the city. By this achievement and without actually entering Soissons they have fastened a strangling grip, upon the German armies occupying the salient which extends south to the Marne valley. As one message points - out, the southernmost troops of these armies, at the apex of the salient, arc now in the position of having to draw supplies by road for a distance of thirty miles. In the lif?ht of events the confidencc with which the Germans took for granted the security of the vulnerable neck of their salient seems amazing. Equally in keeping them in this comfortable state of ignorance and in seizing the opportunity which arose, the Allied Generalissimo has show masterly generalship, and it seems highly probable that his lightning stroke is destined to _ alter the whole course of tho campaign.

In regard to ground gained and captures effected some points havo still to be. cleared up, but there is ample evidence that tho FrancoAmerican onslaught sprang a complete surprise upon tho enemy. This is of even better augury for the future than the immediate. results attained, though these arc in all respects 011 an impressive scale. Tho main achievement meantime is the capture of positions dominating Soissons, but a considerable extent of ground was gained farther south. The advance on Soissons covered eight miles or more, and this was apparently the maximum. The Germans apparently still retain a little ground south of the Marnc, but with their communications menaced and

tho bridges over .the river behind them under a tempest of land and aerial bombardment, they are not likely to retain it much longer. As to captures, setting aside unofficial reports which await comfirmation, the French state officially that they

have taken twenty thousand prisoners and four hundred guns. No doubt there will be additions to these totals before the battle is over.

The contrast between the enemy's abortive effort' to renew .his drive to the south and west and tho brilliant Allied countcr-stroke notably brightens the outlook. Nevertheless there is no suggestion at this stage that the enemy has played his last card., He has great reserves still in hand, and the staggering check lie lias sustained makes it more than every necessary from his point of view that he should act with speed and decision. He must retrieve his defeat or admit that it is beyond remedy. With affairs in this state a waiting policy is hardly likely to commend itself to the German command. Its

apparent choice at the moment is between an effort to restore the position in the' Aisne-Marnc salient and an attack oil the British front. n If # *

Tiie weight of opinion seems to be that the enemy will refrain, as General Maukicb puts it, from throwing good money after bad in (lie present battle area, and will aim at restoring the security of this part of his front while preparing another onslaught farther north. It is significant in this connection Chat although the British guns arc making great play on the enemy front and back area!-;, no big attack has been undertaken in conjunction with the Franco-American thrust between the Aisne and the Marnc. Two British attacks arc reported. In one the enemy was dislodged from important irrouiid in tho foremost area of the Lys salient. An advance was made on a four thousand yards front, and the Germans were dislodged from tht villa-go of Mcteron, about six and a half miles cast of Hazebrouck,

and lost more than four hundred I prisoners. Ground has been gained | also in an attack on a short front south of Hehuterne. It is possible | that the New Zealanders were engaged in this action. These attacks, though not unimportant in their rewere of local ancUimited scope and in no way discredit suggestions that the British armits anticipate an early attack by the enemy, prepared and developed on the greatest possible scale. It has all along betn likely that the Germans would sooner or later attempt to renew their drive towards the coast. The defeat they have suffered between the Aisne and the Marne, much as it impairs their general prospects, may h&vo the effect of hastening such an attempt.