The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1918. DRIVING TO VICTORY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 297, 4 September 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1918. DRIVING TO VICTORY

Soon after the Allied Genera-lie-, siino opened his masterly. atfcw-h i on the Soissons fiank of the Marne j salient it became evident that ho j was working to a plan very differ-!, ent from that the Germans had | adopted in their violent efforts to I break and overwhelm the Allied I armies. By this time the contrast is much more apparent than #it was six weeks ago. The most obvious distinction to be drawn between' the German offensive and that of the Allies is that the former was.spasmodic, while tk In-t-ter ha-Sj been to this hour remarkably bwsfcained. This distinction ha* a great deal to do with tbo fact that tho outlook in the Western campaign is brighter now than at any time since the Allies seized the_ initiative on July 18. To consider a little more closely the marked contrast between the enemy's offensive methods and those of the Allies is l to perceive even better grounds for confidence than have been afforded in the detail events of the past six or seven weeks. It must be fresh in everybody's memory that the German offensive consisted of a series of formidableblows separated by intervals of time which, on the whole, grew longer as the offensive developed. The enemy opened his initial attack, the drive on Amiens, on March 21, and camo to a halt on April 5. Then, after an interval of only three clear days, he began his attack in the Lys valley. Twenty-seven clear days elapsed, between the termination of this effort "and the commencement of tho next, in which he drove south from , the front north of the Aisne to the Marne. On the fourth. day after he was-stopped- in the Marno. salient ho opened a subsidiary offensive on the Montdidier-Noyon front,' in which he .persisted for a week. Then came the longest break of all —an interval of 29 clear days. At the end of that time, on July 15.. the enemy opened the attack on the eastern face .of the Marne : salient and in the Champagne, which was decisively checked in its..opening stages and was speedily countered and defeated by the Allied thrust at Soissons, which has since .led up to very much greater results. It now seems permissible to say that the enemy offensive was defeated when it was brought to a standstill in tho .Lys salient. It was continued for eleven weeks after that date., but with declining vigour and with increasing intervals between attacks in which -the Allies were enabled to recover and reorganise, and in many, ways to build up their fighting strength—notably by the rapid introduction of American 'reinforcements. It is too soon K to'say how long it will take the Allies to solve the problem which so _ completely baffled the enemy, but it certainly brightens their, prospects of reaching a solution in good time that their offensive, to its present stage of development, has been markedly free from tho intervals of inactivity, which did so much to injure any prospects of success the Germans had when they opened their offensive in March. ,

Tho Allied offensive has now/been under way for nearly seven weeks' In thab time thore have beqn few days on which some part of the German front has not;been driven 'in by surprise attack; there has been hardly a single- day on which the enemy has not been executing' a difficult and harassed retirement on one part or another of his line. It is no figure of speech, but a, simple statement of the truth, that since ,the Allies opened their offensive the enemy has been given no respite. Full account must bo taken of this vital fact in considering-the prospects tha't are opened in the news to-day. As has been said, the outlook is brighter now than at any time- since the Allies opened their offensive on July 18. The enemy, to appearance, is as far as ever from establishing the conditions of a secure retreat. Official, returns published yesterday and to-day demonstrate thfat he.has suffered enormous losses in men, guns, and material; and under tho able leadership of Marshal Foch the Allied blows have, beon so skilfully directed that the enemy armies are in a more awkward plight now than before they began their retreat. At -time- of writing unofficial roports declare that the Drocourt-Queant "switch" —tho elaborate range of field fortifications on which the enemy depends for the security of his main communications south of Lille—has been breached on a front of half a dozen miles. The development, if it has occurred, is of capital importance. It is very probable that success or failure in defending tho Drocourt-Queant line means to the Germans tho difference between a retreat to the Hindcnburg line (on which, they came> to a stand last year) and a retreat to the Mousethat is to say, to a line eastward of nearly all the territory they at present occupy in France. Issues of the first magnitude arc thus raised in the battles that are bcincf fought .cast of Arras, but authoritative information as to the progress made by the British troops is at tho moment Meantime, howevpr, tho onemy'B difficulties on other parts of the front arc bcinp intensified. Even whore ho is freoly exiionding his resources in defensive fighting hojs rapidly losing ground. He is bfling pushed back on all the approaches to Cambrai, and is making an enforced and hurried retreat on the front extending from Peronne to the region of Noyon. At tho same time the French advance between lh« Oisc and the Aisnc. has seriously weakened his hold on the heights of the Aisnc and given him good reasons for being nearly as anxious about tho Champagne front as about the all-

important defences oast of Arras, which have certainly been deeply penetrated and arc now giving way under pressure of British attacks. It is impossible to say at this stage how far the Allies will be able to carry their offensive before winter, but there is reason for all possible confidence in the fact that it is telling with rapidly increasing effect upon the enemy asjt develops. The Allied Generalissimo is taking no risks, and has made no attempt to grasp at immediate and spectacular success. Some disappointment was expressed at the time because he did not attempt to develop an overwhelming attack upon the flanks of tho Marno salient with intent tei envelop all the German forces south of Soissons and Reims, but the more cautious policy he preferred is already magnificently justified. The enemy's organisation, as well as his plan of retreat, has been thrown seriously out of gear, and he has lost, or is in imminent danger of losing, positions which are vital to a safe retreat. On the other hand,_ reports declare that the Allied armies are in splendid trim, that the great, war machine over which Marshal Foch exercises supreme control is working smoothly and well. Adding to this that sonic' hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who have taken a comparatively small part in the most recent fighting must now be available for instant service there does not seem to be any doubt that the Allies arc capable of maintaining indefinitely the imrclonting pressure to which they have subjected the enemy since the day on which they .opened their offensive. On the whole there are excellent grounds for believing that the best hope the Germans have of escaping disaster in the near future is that! tho remaining period of fino weather this year in northern latitudes is rapidly drawing to an end.