The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1918, THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE.

Taihape Daily Times, 4 June 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1918, THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE.

(With which is Incorporated The £ak hape Post and "Walumiiaq News)..

The rapidity with which the Germans have pressed forward their drive between Soissons and Rheims has absorbed all the reserves Foch has been able to concentrate on the spot, in defending the more than double length of front caused by the surprising distance to which the point of the wedge has reached. Thirty-five miles was covered in about four days, and as the whole offensive was only on a thirty-five miles front th e new salient is in the form of a triangle, two sides and an obtuse point totalling over seventy miles in place of the original line of thirty-five miles. . Reserves have had to be used for the doubling of this length of line, but as the aggressors now seem to be held there should be ample men coming forward to strengthen the fighting line. Checked from going further south, the enemy tried turning westwards, towards Paris, but the French seem to have forbidden anything of that kind and have pinned him down where he is, and that is just about the same distance from Paris as he was before this great offensive commenced. The Germans have had such a successful run that many people are asking whether the Allies have any reserves to throw? into the struggle. We have shown that reserves have been needed to cover an additional thirty-five mile front, but the main question seems

to be adequately answered by Frenchmen and French newspapers. There is no doubt now about the intention of the Germans —they have turned westward and are endeavouring, by bat-tering-ram methods, to move towards Paris. Despite this, French newspapers appear to be quite confident that their city is safe. They state that the French army is still intact, its material is as good as Germany's and its soldiers are in every way the equal of the Prussians. They are, of course, impressed with the gravity ofevents, and they state that Paris waiting for that counter-stroke that i? to bring relief. This anxiety is shown in the expressed opinion of leading French newspapers; one states that the last two months of warfare have shown that defensive tactics are a failure, and asks, "Has not the hour arrived for attacking?" 'Another says that to be victorious to-day, as in 1914, it is necessary to believe in the superiority of offensive over defensive. This authority continues: "Everybody knows that the enemy can be driven our of France only by a new victory of the Marne." Others want to know when reserves are going to be set to work, all comments showing clearly that there are reserves awaiting Foch's decisions. By the enemy turning westward it is discovered that Paris is the objective in 1918 as it was in the retreat from Mons in 1914. Germany believes that all France will fall with its capital; that with the fall of Paris the French will be ready to enter into a separate peace on some such lines as those made with Russia and Rumania, but the Germans will never reach that objective. It is remarkable that although Germany has an untouched army fronting Haig, at Rheims, and another untouched army facing the French at Soissons, and although the greatest pressure has been exerted, and Rheims has been surrounded on three sides, and with all these desperate efforts the Germans have not been able to widen the base of the pyramid shaped salient they have made. Why is it Rheims and Soissons can withstand all the force that Germany can throw against them while in between the Allied line is sharply bent back to a depth of thirtyfive miles? The fighting has changed from a line east and west to one running due north and south, that is, from Soissons to Chateau Thierry, both points being almost a precisely similar distance from Paris. Reports state that our troops on this new front are stoutly holding their ground, and it becomes evident that the enemy is inviting disaster if he continues to drive the wedge in the direction of least resistance. The point of the wedge has been permitted to go in, but not one inch further apart have the two sides of the first cleft been forced. The enemy has turned its greatest effort against the western side, but it does not give way. It seems that if the Allies can hold the Germans at these two points they can do something more. It is an accepted fact that with sufficient force a break can be made anywhere; the widening of this salient is a matter of life and death to tHe enemy, and yet he does not seem to have that sufficient force to overcome the force of

the defence. However, we shall not have long to wait before the whole situation is made clear and understandable to us. It is now known that there are a million Americans in France ,but aside from what Americans are available it is also known that the Allies have huge reserves, none of which have yet been used up. Unless the Germans can successfully turn the point of their wedge towards Paris, or burst further apart the Allied defence it is driven into, they will.be afraid to go on. Every mile further south increases the danger, but it is probable th'6 wedge struck something too hard for it before it could damage very important railway communications. French newspapers and French experts are urgently asking whether the time to take the offensive has not arrived, and we believe they will be answered in due time by Generalissimo Foch. General Maurice says that half the German effective reserves have already been thrown in and now a race is taking place between the remainder and. the men Foch will throw in at the right moment. General Maurice is certainly not an optimist and if his statement is correct Germany has" suffered far greater casualties than was at first supposed, and is fast aproaching a stage in which a great offensive by the Allies, supportecPby adequate reserves, could not he withstood. As one French newspaper urges, the only way to drive the Huns out of France is by another "Battle of the Marne7'