PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 299, 6 September 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

At the moment . there are no means of knowing where tho Allies will make their next big move ..in the Western, campaign. It is obvious that the great attack east and south-east of Arras, which has carried British troops into positions a good eight miles east of the line they reached last year, has added immensely to the difficulties with which the onemy is grappling. But it is by no means certain that the Allies 'will elect ,to exploit this conspicuous success x b,y immediately renewing and extending their attacks on the same battlcfront. They are at least as likely to deliver their next important blow on some other part of the front. The Germans, according to.one of their own reports which appears to-day, have come to a stand on a line extending south-south-west from Arleux, by way of Moouvres to Manancourt, nix miles north of Peronne. Arleux is thirteen miles east of Arras and due south of Douai, at a distance from that placc of a little over five miles. The line described runs almost straight from Arleux to Peronne, passing seven miles west of Cambrai. It is nowhere particularly strong, and its stability is affccted not only by developments in the ■ north, but by the fact that the British have already pierced the Gorman defences along the Tortille, north of Peronne, and effected a crossing of that stream. Standing on this weak and menaced line the Germans arc covering their main communications by a, dangerously narrow margin. Douai and Cambrai are closely threatened, and this' means a threat also to Lille and other centrcs on the north and to the long German front which ranges south from Cambrai and turns round by way of the Spmme and the Aisne to Verdun. The armies which the German Crown Prince sapiently declares are "badly led" have struck undoubtedly one of the most damaging blows of the war. But the very fact that' the cffcct of theii- blow is bound. to be far-reaching opens wide possibilities in regard to the next forward move in fcho Allied offensive.

There is no newis_ at time of writing tha.t the British arc in possession of Lens, but the occupation of that placois delayed presumably only because it in considered better to squeeze out the enemy by economical methods than undertake a costly assault. • With the enemy out of Lens the threat to Douai and the railway system south ofi Lille will, of course, be accentuated. An immediate cilflct will be\to so nar-

row the strong La Bassec salient as to make i.t exceedingly costly to defend. !'The German retirement from what remains of the Lys salient

is proceeding apacc." The advancing British troops havo, closely approached the positions, from which the Mcssincs Ridge was attacked last year. They arc _ now little more than a mile distant from Armcntieres on the approa'ch to that place from the north-west, and between locality and Givenchy, a couple of miles west of La Basseo., tho present dine of contact bends' only slightly to the^vest.

An unofficial report just rcceivccl states that the Germans have already been dislodged from the line west'of 6ambrai which is mentioned in an earlier note. According to this message the ditch of the Canal du Nord has been crossed on a threemile front west of Gambrai, Moeuvres, seven miles west of Cambrai, has been captured, and the Br'tish are pushing forward through tho extensive Havrincourt Wood further south.

Thf.he is a distinct promise of important events in tho region north of Soissons,..whero General

Margin's troops during the last week or two have been persistently advancing eastward along the heights of the Aisne in spite of the enemy's desperate efforts to bring them to a halt. It is suggested that the Germans are on the eve of withdrawing their front from the Vesle Lo the heights of the Aisne, bnt such a movement will leave them with pressing problems still unsolved. General. Mangih's advance may at any time develop into an attack designed to dislodge the enemy at all points from the heights of the Aisne and open the road to Laon, which is the southern bastion of the German line in France. The French are not yet as well placed for an attack on Laon as they were last year, but in the interval conditions have greatly changed, and certainly not to the advantage of the enemy. a * * * General Ma'uiuce observes to-day that the Allies arc now in somewhat greater force on the West front than the enemy, but adds that the difference is not so great as to enable General Focii to strike the cou-iMlc-gracc. The tiine lias hardly come to 'talk about finishing strokes, but in regard to the possible development of the Allied offensive this year it would be interesting to

know what account General Maur : ice has taken of the Americans in his estimate of relative strength. It seems fairly certain, at all events, that before,' the campaigning Mason comes to an end, possibly in the immediate future, a very considerable force of American troops in addition to those at present engaged will be thrown into the scale.

The latest figures relating to the arrival of American troops in Franco show that the total now exceeds 1,500,000, and that a quarter of a million were conveyed across tho Atlantic in August. This is a drop of about 50,000 from the figures of the previous month, but no doubt at present there is a big call on shipping for the carnage of foodstuffs. In regard to the feat of transport organisation involved in the rapid conveyance of _ American troops to France, some interesting observations were made recently by the New York Evening Post. "It is an open secret," it observes, "that one of the factors in solving tho problem of tonnage as related to troop transport is the marvellous record achieved in the rapidity of tonnage turnover. At tho height of the Senate discissions, some months ago, concerning the tonnago requirements for an American army, of a million men, even the most optimistic figures did not, assume more than an average half-dozen round trips a year between America and France. What some of our giant transports have really accomplished is a matter of common knowledge. They have gone and come across tho sea at a speed approaching the records of peace time, and they have landed their human cargoes on tho other side at a rate that speaks wonders for our achievements in the development of terminal facilities. Berlin may be reflecting with mingled feelings on the fact that single American transport—of German origin T will probably have ferried over in a year's time fully 200,000 American troopß."