The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1917. A STRATEGIC RETREAT.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 12 April 1917, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1917. A STRATEGIC RETREAT.

(With which is incorporated The Taihapo Post and Waimarino News).

Germany’s great strategic advance to the rear in France, to take up stronger positions, is proceeding at a suspiciously rapid pace. The demarcation of the new positions seem to be altogether too inconspicuous, and Hun soldiers have, as a result, lost their way and are rushing back madly in search of safety with only the guiding help of British guns. In one day thirty-six square miles of boasted impregnable, invulnerable, impenetrable fortifications have been occupied, and nine thousand of the Kaiser’s glorious troops have been escorted to places cf safety somewhere in the British rear, with more following. The hustle still continues; Hindenburg’s lin e has been overtshot, and as there are no more concrete dug-outs in the near neighbourhood, and as no other provision was made for shelter from British guns the pace of the strategic advance to the rear is being forced to a disastrous extreme. Germans'- has no

monopoly of these rear advances; Britons found it advisable to make such an advance from Gallipoli, but they were clever enough to avoid being caught in the act, and Johnny Turk woke up one fine morning to find that h e had nobody to fight with and nothing to capture. The armies of supermen delayed their strategic scuttle trom France till too late. They foolishly built upon a traitorous Russia releasing German east front men, making them available against their more tenacious foes on the western front, but ancient advice tells us not

to put trust in princes, and w e presume this advice also applies to kings, 'e'liiperoiv, czars, kaisers, and their queens and hangers-on. It is also well said that delays are dangerous. It seems the supermen have ne- | glected both ap.d are now paying the pric e Qf their folly. VvTiat contemptible pretexts these supermen are making; they tell their people at home nothing better than a series of little anecdotes; they have not enough of the real man in them (as we understand manliness) to give a brave foe credit for his gallantry and courage. They boast that they are making a strategic move to the rear to take up more defensible positions. Of course, this is mer e miserable subterfuge, ana to convince ourselves that it is nothing else we need only recall the Grown Prince Rupprechfs supercilious self-deceptive words uttered to various interviewers during a lull in the Somme offensive at the end 01 last September. He then said, “Whether this will be our enemies’ last effort we cannot know. We have taken measure of their strength at its maximum tide and are prepared for anything they can deliver. For the "Sake of the thousands whom new~attacks will slay in vain we hope they have learned a lesso'n; we are indifferent; indeed, inclined to welcome any further folly they may indulge in. Our losses in territory may be seen on the map with a microscope. Their losses in that far more precious thing—human life —are simply prodigious. Amply and in full coin have they paid for every foot of ground we sold them. .They can have all they want at the same price.” Then with regard to their positions, Prince Rupprecht, the western front commander-in-chief, says to the newspaper man, “You cannot have failed to see the absolutely impregnable nature of our positions and the- superabundant adequacy of our preparations. It saddens us,” he said, “to exact the dreadful toll of suffering ahd death that is being marked up on the ledger of history.” A week later, to another pressman, he said, “We have superior artillery and superior fliers' to assist it, and have taken all necessary measures. Our troops have given their all and the nut was too hard for the enemy to crack.” In this string of errors and miscalcula-

tions we are given the true key to present German movements. Prince Rupprecht was too previous with the information that his troops had given their allfor -he now finds that this ail is, lamentably for German arms, hopelessly inadequate. This all is, to-day, being driven from its absolutely impregnable positions, and the superabundant adequacy of preparations avails it nothing. About the same tim e as Prince Rupprecht was entertaining pressmen with his fiction, the German Chancellor was telling the world that the German position at the close of 1916 was much more secure than in 1915. We have -here quoted the best evidence that is available and we certainly cannot find, even with a microscope, any evidence or indication of a pre-arranged strategic retreat. It is a lie; there was no strategic plan about the scuttle from B'ritish guns. The all of the German glorious troops was not enough; they arc whipped, and making the retreat. that all whipped curs invariably make; they are going anywhere out of the reach of the lash of fire that is being laid upon them. They made "huge concentrations with intentions of quite a reverse nature. We do not suggest they will not, even now, make a supreme effort to stave off the dry rot that is crumbling up their absolutely impregnable hiding-places, but the battle which commenced last Saturday is a smashing-up 'process that is going to prove a detriment to German arms from which there will be no recovery. It was a supremely brilliant British victory, causing a German strategic advance to the rear on that road which leads to an early peace.