The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1918. A CANNILY COMMENCED OFFENSIVE.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 May 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1918. A CANNILY COMMENCED OFFENSIVE.

(With which is Incorporated The Taihape Post and Tfralnmmo News)..

Cables now coming in quick succession from Europe and America state that the great German Offensive, has eomenced, but judging from the information at present to hand it is a notablytame affair when compared with the opening of the offensive last March. Then, within twenty-four hours the B'ritish were retreating on a long front and after nothing short of a rout and scuffle for many miles.the situation was saved by a combination of circumstances, largely due to British resourcefulness. To-day the German effort bears no comparison with that of March; but new tactics may have been adopted, and it will be wise to wait for developments. So mild is the whole affair that the Allies can scarcely believe that the opening is a part of the intended knoela-out, but nreroly ia series of >?einte to '.right and Heft, sparring for the opening that German forces are trying for and which they will rapidly take advantage of when it is given. In an offensive of this kind ground has to be given, it is impossible to prevent it. In fact, a comparatively small army that decidei upon an attack can make ground, as is frequently instanced by our Australians who have by series of nibblings gained important points lost in the last offensive. So long as the Allies have the reserves to counter -attack in sufficent force any ground lost will quickly be retaken. Whatever these opening attacks may portend and eventually develop into, they do not at present indicate what the Hun intentions really are, but that is a condition that cannot be maintained for long; while it does continue it is puz-zling-to the Allies to know where to concentrate their reserves. Some correspondents state that German main forces are massed, waiting for orders, on the site of March successes, looking with covetous eyes on Amiens, and they are of opinion that the attack will extend along the whole Franco-British front, with the main objective unaltered from what it was in the previous effort. Certain it is that Germany has sufficient men on the West front to attack on a larger front than before, which at first was forty-five miles and later extended to near seventy miies. Whatever may be the intentions of Germany's new plans, the fighting is commencing most cannily and, perhaps, a little weirdly. First, the supermen put their super-gun to belch shells at measured intervals on Paris, which put out of action a few women and children, but did not disturb the hair on the head of a solitary soldier. Then, there was a great air-raid On Paris, but it proved only a faint-hearted affair, being driven off and "all-clear" sounded within an hour, a little damage only being done in the suburbs of the city. After this thousands of big guns began pelting high explosives and gas-shells miles behind the Allied lines, from the sea on the Belgian coast right along to eastward of the old city of Rheims. Attacks were made at several places, but only two were able to make any headway. One a few miles south of Ypres, in Flanders, drove tho French back considerably, then our brave Allies countered and recovered most of what they had lost, leaving the Germans a little ground near an awkwardly situated lake where the surroundings arc boggy and quite unsuitcd for rapid movement. The second success was at the other extremity of the line, which had been treated to a hurricane bombardment. Ht*re, if Gorman reports arc believable, viejry important positions were lost. They claim to have captured the whole Chomin des Dames ridge, but as much later cables from British and French do not mention anything of the kind, the story may represent what the Huns intended to do, and will strive

to do. They have secured a footing on the slope of that famous ridge where it descends down to the river Aisne, a minor matter. Between . the rivers Aisne and Vesle, where they run only a few miles apart the fighting is intense and continuous, and this may develop into a first rank battle, as the Allies must preserve a safe line of defence. If the Germans succeed the situation will be serious, as the Aisne is at the back of the Allied line. In face of an overpowering enemy, the situation is fraught with great disaster. If the* fighting between the two rivers runs in German favour, the retirement of the Allies across the Aisne would be cut off to a large extent, as bridges would come under German control; of this, however, we have no definite information at present. Nevertheless, we must be prepared for some considerable loss of territory; our chief hope is that we shall not suffer the loss of any section of our armies. The country where this fighting is proceeding with great bitterness is easily defensible, and if the Allies can retain positions dominating the Ailette and the Aisne valleys the Germans- have a task in hand that may prove very costly indeed to them: The arrival of cables fairly indicate how the Aisne battle is progressing. The first to come to hand yesterday stated that the Germans were developing terrific attacks and that they had forced a passage of the Aisne. Then General Haig reported that the weight of onemy attacks carried him across the Aisne just to the westward of the British sector, and that, in consequence the British left with the Trench right, had to fall back. A very late official cable, received in N«w Zealand yesterday afternoon from the French, who are standing the burnt of this terrific development, stated, "B'etween the Vesle and the Aisne the battle continues stubbornly in the region of the plateau : behind which our reserves are arriving., * 'Therefora, judging from very latest reports there is nothing to indicate a probability of anything like disaster befalling the Allies in that locality. Whether what has taken place is merely feeling the way to bigger things, or whether it is the real "Simon pure," is still undiscovered. The opening of his show scarcely warrants the;Raiser's latest silly blatancy, that, "To-day we are surer than ever .that wo shall strike the enemy down to the utmost depths." These may be the words of a demi-god to the descendants of. Attila, striking fear into their hearts, but they only evoke universal levity, pity, and contempt amongst the Allies.