PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 30, 30 October 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Turkey is strangely slow to bow to the inevitable, but bearing in mind that she is as dangerously menaced on the approaches to Constantinople from the north as in her Asiatic territories it can hardly be doubted that her end as a belligerent is near. To-day's news shows that the British have moved north from Aleppo, and not; only captured the railway junction_ which commands the enemy's railway communications with Mesopotamia, but advanced considerably beyond it. As might be expected the enemy's resistance in that_ theatre is weakening, and according to one message the British have already covered about half the distance of 130 miles by which they were separated from Mosul, the principal Turkish base in Northern Mesopotamia, at the stage to which events were carried in yesterday's reports. Although a great part of Asia Minor is still untouched by invasion, the British advance beyond Aleppo, and towards Mosul, in Mesopotamia, together with the fact that the Allies are well placcd to advance on Constantinople from the north, mean in the aggregate that Turkey is imminently threatened with the annihilation of her remaining military forces and the complete occupation of her territory. Even when account is taken of German domination and of the extraordinary corruption that reigns at Constantinople, it seems likely that tho final catastrophe will be anticipated by surrender. That thjj remnants of the Turkish armies are still being asked to carry on the hopeless struggle is already a remarkable proof of the utter indifference of the rulers of Turkey to any interest save their own.

At the moment of writing there is little news of the later operations in tho Western theatro. The French are briskly following up the enemy's retreat from the Oisc-Serre salient, and are making headway also on a front extending from the latter river to the Aisne, but tho conditions of the battle are not as yet very clearly defined. One French communique, as it is transmitted, states that in the space of about five days 37,000 prisoners have been captured by the FrcnchFirst Army. It seems almost certain, however, that this is an error—the actual number may be 3700. The larger number is unlikely to b<? right in view of the statement that the material simultaneously captured by the same army amounts to onl.y 25 guns and some hundreds of machineguns.

It is not yet by any means certain that the enemy is assured of a successful retreat, for while they are following up his withdrawal from the apex of his salient the French are also attacking heavily and breaking into his positions on either flank. As they are developing the operations between the Oise and 1 the Serre will before long appreciably affect the position in the area north of Verdun and west_ of the Mouse, in which the Americans are tirelessly attacking and slowly penetrating the fortified positions which represent the "hinge" of the retreating German line. At an immediate view the enemy, unless his losses are unduly heavy, pins relief by evacuating a precarious salient. On the other hand he is endangering the flank of the vital positions which have been mentioned further east.

Brief reports dealing with the Anglo-Italian offensive against the Austrians east of the River Piave indicate that it is developing prosperously. An official report states that nearly 6000 prisoners have been captured, and according to later unofficial news this number has already been considerably exceeded. The course of the campaign is liable to be affected by internal developments in the Dual Monarchy, but even if its development is governed by purely military factors it may lead up to important results. _ If it is continued during the winter the Austrians will bo heavily handicapped by their dependence on transport 'lines through the mountains. Thcso lines arc liable to be completely blocked at times by snow, and the Allies with their supply lines running over low country are in some respects much better placed to cope with the problems of a winter campaign.