The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1918. THE CRISIS CONSIDERED.

Taihape Daily Times, 15 April 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1918. THE CRISIS CONSIDERED.

(With which is lucorpwuteu The )ai

Uape Post ami Vralmaufoo iVews)

The somewhat extravagant language used by war correspondents, on occasions, in connection with merely sectional fighting in a battle is apt to

lead to a misconception of what is really taking place. It is not difficult with last Saturday’s cables to hand to realise that the British army in France is in very considerable danger. We cannot very well say without the fullest information that war correspondents, military authorities, and even Members of the British, Cabinet have wilfully and deliberately misled us with respect to the strength of the Allies in France being greater, or at least equal to that of the enemy. That, however, makes it no easier for us to understand why the Allies are giving ground that is in such extremely dangerous proximity to the British Channel ports; why such numbers of prisoners and guns are being sacrificed. The Germans are now within twenty-five miles of the French coast and if they have the overwhelming force of numbers and guns the battles up to the present seem to clearly indicate, we have nothing to prevent them reaching their objective. The immediate future ail depends upon whether they have that overwhelming force which we have been led to believe they have by the numerous reports of actions in which our men have been outnumbered from three and four —and even more —men to one. The Prime Minister of Great Britain has stated to the House of Commons that the Allies have the advantage in men and munitions; no Member doubted what the Minister said. It is therefore difficult and unreasonable for us at this distance to i have any doubt, but it is even more difficult to understand why the enemy -s being allowed to get so near to the coast from whence his land batteries could stop British ships from passing without being “suDjecled to extreme danger of being destroyed. i¥n extraordinary message, on Friday, informed us that the terrible offensive at Messines was completely smashed, now we realise that wfiile that "was happening the Germans close by were rushing our lines back to within twenty-five miles of the Channel. Why is so much importance attached to the locality at Messines and nothing said about the rush forward to Merville? Another most extraordinary aspect is in the enemy bending Allied lines back great distances in short spaces of time and are yet not able to break them. This, at least, points to some understanding, ' or co-ordination of plan between the various sections of the British army. From the description of the attack on Messines, Hollebeke and Gbeluvelt it seems as though the enemy were using new tactics. While a great battle is raging a small force creeps round to a point already prepared and thus causes the main lino to retire to escape what looks like being flanked; but whatever be the secret, we have to believe that while the enemy is making such inroads our armies are superior in numbers and equipment. If Sir Douglas Haig is correctly reported the enigma is to be solved. He has issued a statement (why not an order?) to the troops that there must be no further retirements; every position must now be held to the last man; with back to the wall every man must fight to the end, the freedom of mankind depended on each one’s conduct at this critical time. One can only presume that this is a general army order; the furthest risk allowable in prosecuting an attritive retirement has been taken, and now the bloody struggle must commence in earnest. Sir Douglas Haig does not appeal to his armies; he makes t» statement informing them that there is to be no more going back, every position now occupied must be held to the last man. Now is to come a discovery of British strength or weakness, of whether the British Prime Minister used deception in stating that the Allies were stronger than the enemy, of whether the reports of the British being outnumbered by three or four to one only applied to local actions; whether to the ordinary line of defence, or whether to the armies as a whole. The latter, we think, may be dismissed, for Sir Douglas Haig would not be likely to order his armies to perform the impossible. If the enemy outnumbered the Allies two to one Sir Douglas Haig knows well that his order would be one to submit to massacre without any good purpose being served, defeat would be certain in the end. If the Allies are weak they will do the very utmost to save their strength till it can be reinforced, not order it into sure destruction. If

the Allies are not strong enough to ensure victory at arms now, they will retire still further, even if the whom of the northern coast of France uis be evacuated; they must do anything that is most essential to preserving their strength till assistance arrives from America. If British armies are ordered into destruction now Americans will have no British armies to assist when they do arrive. It seems that Foch has the whole position under his guidance; he knows the value and power of his combined strength, and he has evidently told the British ' Commander that the line now occu-

pied must not be overstepped by the Germans. The lines are so near ac-

cumulations of munitions close to they, coast, so near to where guns in plenty: can be landed and thrown into the fight, with no long journeys to be car- 1 ried; to where men can be landed and put into the firing line in a few hours. The line is the furthest safe limit thai should be taken in lengthening the communications of the enemy to render difficult and dangerous his bringing up of men, guns and munitions in su>{h numbers as a determined stand by the Allies would necessitate, and it is where Germany can be prevented from shelling the various landing places of the British on the coast. It is only when this line is reached that Sir Douglas Haig ‘ tells his men that they must not concede another mile. Then, at present, we must conclude that Foch and Haig are confident the line reached can be maintained, and that Mr Lloyd George did not wilfully, or otherwise, deceive in saying Allied strength was superior to that of Germany, and that bo. was so reliably informed of the strength of the enemy that warranted him making the statement to the British House of Commons. There is no doubting the fact '.hat a crisis, if not the crisis, has been reached and that the bloodiest struggle in history has now commenced. Sections of our troops will suffer severely on < ccasicns, but it is tolerably certain that Allied reserves are now distributed so that they can rapidly be thrown in to avoid disaster. The week we are entering upon will go a long way towards solving the awkward problem that has been made more difficult by the retirements of Allied armies seeming to conflict with the statements of the British Prime Minister,