PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 312, 21 September 1918, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

■ Phospect's of throwing the Germans, back from the i Hindenburg lino arc deal'brighter than they w r ero "before the British and French drove home the attack which was .reported yesterday, and is tho subject .of "further ..messages to-day. .The position reached is best realised by'-working-north along the. front from the region of St. Quentin.. From a. point.four miles .south of St. Quentin. to Holnon, west of that place, the French are nowhere more than two mile's distant; from the Hindenburg line! The British front is separated from the'Hindenburg line by- a diminishing distance as it runs--north -:.from- -Holnon, and .reaches - , it .between: the .villages of Pontruet, at a point four miles-north-west of St. Quentih. For eight" or nine miles north of this point the British'troops hav© either captured the outpost positions' of. the Hindenburg .line- or closely approached them 1 . Further north,-' at. Gouzcaucourt'and- in its neighbourhood, the enemy is-hold-ing a ■•comparatively-small salient which projects a mile or two west of the defences of the Hindenburg line. Near Trescault, two miles north of Gbuzeaucourt, and further north; : thp'-'enemy 'has' been driven across the Hindcriburg line and is fighting in, the country .to the east. ■

_ The success achieved. by_. tlfe; British troops! on this, occasion is as far as.possible from being.measured by the-fact that th'c-y captured only outpost positions on the Hindcnburg line.- As several correspondents point out, tactically important positions have been'gained along practically the whole attacking front, and much has been- done to pave the way 'for'■•"attackunder reasonably favourable conditions upon the main defences -of ■ the ■ Hindcnburg line. The belt, of country .lost by the enemy, in,.the latest .battle docs not consist-of unimportant-outposts., It ■rather'constituted-- an essential clement : in his defensive-scheme. The .Germans long ago substituted a- sys-tem-of--defence-.'.-in depth ' for the earlier- practice - of ■ concentrating upon-the. defence of a clearly .defined fortified-line: The so-called Hin : den burg lino is every here a 'deep defensive zone." Within limits, It was and is strong in proportion to the margin, of defensible ground held in advance of its main fortifications. The. idea of Holding, such a margin is.to.increase.the. difficulty of effective bombardment by. an attacking force, and, when, an attack is -made, to break-up-the organisation of the attacking troops before they have reached the strongest defences in their path. Turned to file.best account,- lightly l 'organised covering defences distributed over a 'wide belt of territory are of great value, alike in providing a measure of protection against effective bombardment and ns'„a safeguard against, surprise. It.is evident that the; Germans made poor use of their opportunities in the battle which opened on'■'• Wednesday ■ morning.. They were'rapidly driven.out of an area which was of great value as.serving to cover and screen bht> Ilindenburg line, and-the -details supplied leave it. .iii'no-doubt that their losses' under-, all heads were heavier than .those of the attacking- forces. In his latest' available- report, Sin Douglas Haio mentions that,.up to the present the British • have taken more than ten thousand prisoners and sixty guns. -.'.There is no doubt that as'a'result of the battle the enemy's main positions in the battle area are much less secure than they ■were.

..The significance of the AngloFrench success would be modified in some respects if it were definitely ascertained that the. enemy has constructed supplementary defences of great depth immediately in" rear of the Hin'dc'nburg- line. 'As yet, however, reports relating to these new defences rest upon no very certain authority, and since the' enemy opened the year's campaign with, offensive andnot defensive plana in mind, it is' probable that these new defences are neither as extensive nor i as formidable • as has been • alleged.' | The late attack in any case resulted in a highly important forward movement in the area south of Cam-' brai, but a belief that'the enemy's 1 " main defensive system in the region '.if'.thc battle is imminently threatened does not rest only oil conjecture. Positive evidence to that effect appears in the formidable, but unsuccessful, counter-attacks which are, reported to-day. These were developed west and south-west of Cambrai and south of the Gouzeauco.urt salient, and as information stands the enemy has nowhere improved his line. His one success I since he began his counter-attacks is the recapture of Mocuvres on Tuesday evening. _ His later efforts, though made in powerful force, nowhere- gained him'.morcthan a temporary, footing in British trenches, | and he has incurred desperately heavy losses. As matters stand these costly efforts have served at most to delay the development of the British attack.

Such counter-attacks are hardly to bo expected of an army still in the happy position of being securely established on a strong defensive line of which only unimportant outworks have fallen. They, imply obviously that 111" enemy is doubtful about I he lability of" his line, and feels it .necessary at all costs to hi create his present margin •if security. The immediate danger Tm is'-stri'vini; to avert is evidently that of a movement in which tlio

British would sweep towards Cambrai and into and around £hc flank of the defensive zone extending, tothe soutli. On the whole, the AngloFrench stroke has at once produced noteworthy'results and created, a promising situation. It is always to be said, however, that, the outlook'in the campaign is no longer dominated by the aspect of affairs iii a particular area. The very fact that the enemy: is.', visibly , on ; the; strain Cambrai and St. Qucntin supplies an excellent reason for believing that he will presently be attacked elsewhere. •'

One correspondent states that in Wednesday's; battle the British troops captured Bcllenglise and Bcllicourt, villages on the St. " Quentih Canal, respectively four ahd seven miles ..north of. St. Qucntin. . This, however, is evidently., a- mistake on the co-respondent's part. Generally speaking, in the area,to which he, refers the British have gained the crest of a ridge from which spurs descend to the valley traversed by the St. Qucntin Canal. In places they may have - gained ground oft the descending eastern slopes-of the ridge, but at their nearest-approach to the St. Qucntin Canal in the area of Wednesday's battle they are:separated from it by about a- mile. Along the greater part of the attacking front;'the intervening, distance is'greater. If it continues. on its present scale of success, the, Allied offensive in Macedonia should lead speedily to big-_events. The advance of twelve miles on a wide front, which is now reported is remarkable considering that the Allies arc breaking into country only less difficult of p'assagc than that which faces, the Italians on the Alpine front. The pace of the advance and the heavy captures made equally suggest that the enemy'is demoralised, and it.seems to be.reasonably assured that at least his. resisting powers will, be' fully tested.... Thus far only., French,. -Scrbia'-ii, and Jugoslav troops, with one division of -Greek volunteers, have- been . mentioned as taking part'in the at>. tack, but no doubt othev" sections 'of the- Allied Army will tike up the running in the near • future.. As news stands, the Serbs are striking, north, through easier country than they, .have just- conquered, towards thc-Yarclai'i- the"principal • military ■avenue, through- Serbia, Beaching the Vardar. -on- the:present: line of advance* _ they - would .. sever i the enemy's'vital-communications with a. considerable part of the front he has long and' obstinately defended on the Serbo-Greck frontier.. The Serbs are also striking' north-west' towards .Pi-Hep, the first'great road centre-north of-Monastir. ■ Pr.ilep is the-.southern-gateway of the famous Babuna, Pass. "■