PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 17, 15 October 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

So far as battle movements in the Western theatre are concerned, the big event chronicled to-day is the rapid evacuation by the enemy of tbe Laon salient. pursuing French armies are moving swiftly forward on a front of more than forty miles, extending from the Oise, north of La Fere, to the Aisne, north-east of Reims. Laon, La Fere, the St. Gobain massif, the Ailette ridge, and much territory besides are already in their hands, and the latest official message in hand declares that i tho advancing troops are already a long way beyond Laon. In pla-ces they are, as reports stand, eight miles or more beyond the positions they were shown yesterday to be occupying. As yet there is no detailed information in regard to tho conditions of tho retreat or the losses inflicted on the enemy. No doubt the Germans have been making all possible preparations during their delaying stand of the last few days in the defences of the Laon salient, but it is' highly probable that the hurried movement to the rear in which they are now engaged over a wide area will result in a serious congestion of the available avenues of communication and entail such losses of men and material as might be expected in these circumstances , . The French are not merely following up the enemy retreat from the fortified area which constituted the keystone of his salient front. The line on which they are actively attacking extends well to theeastward into the Champagne—that is to say, along the flank of the retreating German. armies—and on the eastern' part of the attacking front their progress is in the circumstances extraordinarily rapid. North of Reims and further east they were shown yesterday to bo occupying the line of the Retourne' (a tributary of the Aisne), fifteen miles north of the area in which tbe. Champagne offensive opened a.week or two ago. From the Retourne- they have now pushed forward half-a-dozen miles, reaching, the Aisne and blearing out tho angle between the rivers. Since the Aisne lino is outflanked on the west, the French will no doubt rapidly extend their foothold along the north bank in the area in which it is still held by the enemy as a barrier, and this may be the prelude 'to anothor great extension of the northward drive.

Seriously as this development would menace tho enemy's retreat, the-most dangerous threat to his main communications visible at present is an outcome of the British drive on Lβ l Oateau. In positions north of that junction the British •ire within about ten miles of the Metz-Lille railway, which is vital to the enemy as a line of lateral communication, and will be so long as his armies retain any foothold in France. It is oven more noteworthy, however, that the British troops near Lβ Cateau are only about fourteen miles distant from the important, junction of Aulnoye (northcast of Lβ Cateau). _ At Aulnoye the Lille-Metz railway is joined by the Liege-Maubeuge line, the most important of all the railways supplying the German front in France. Whatever new construction the Germans have carried out during the last four years' the capture of Aulnoye .would undoubtedly play havoc , with their whole system of communications. At an oarlier stage of the war, a margin of fourteen miles would have been regarded as safely covering even tho most vital railway junction, but under' the standards lately set by the Allied armies the margin may easily provA inadequate in the case of Aulnoye. At time of writing no extended movement is reported on the British front, though important ground has been gained ak various points, and Douai has been all but entered. Matters are not likely to rest long at their present stage, on the British front or elsewhere. In regard to Douai, the report that the prison has been captured may suggest that the town has been entered. . The prison thus mentioned, however, etands a few hundred yards from the western fringe of the town, and separated from ft by a canal.

In regard to the moral of the German armies, , upon which so much v now depends, reports are greatly in conflict. It is fairly certain, however, that a message which declares that "the peace negotiations have not affected the enemy's moral" errs on the side of caution. Mr. Philip Gibbs is not given to taking a rashly optimistio tone, and he observes to-day that the Germans have the spirit of defeat, and think only of peace. "Tho Kaiser's offer has thrown them off their mental balance, and demoralisation has grown." This may refer to the enemy armies in a particular area rather than to those engaged in the campaign as a whole, but it is quite unbelievable that the German moral is untouched by the rcoont course of events.

Official newß that the Serbs h'avo occupied Nish gives a reliable indi- ■ catipn of the course of events in tho Balkans, and supports other indications that the political developments reported in Austria-Hungary may be of more substantial importation than the domocratic posturing of the German militarists. Whatever tho actual political trend in the- Dual Monarchy may bo it is certain that she is ill-placed to resist such an attack as is in prospect by way of the Danube. It is not only her own fats that is in question. It is necessary to look to this quarter as well as to the West front in estimating Germany's military prospects.