The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1918. IS IT THE REAL THING?

Taihape Daily Times, 18 July 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1918. IS IT THE REAL THING?

(With which is Incorporated The f«Jhapo Post and Walnmmo News).

The German effort to secure victory in the battle that is now supposed to be raging is evidently becoming a complete failure; so promptly was the road the Germans desired to take barred to them, and their bridging of the river Marne rendered only useful for them to get back over, by the brilliant work of the Americans that it seemed doubtful whether this offensive was the real thing. In two days it has been held up at all points; surely ■Ludcndorff and his supermen will not ■allow such an indignity to go unpunished, The question is whether he will go on pouring his men into the positive hell the French and Americans have prepared for them along the Marne road to Paris, or' whether he will try to take vengeance by some other route. Such a frizzle, out is this long-looked for offensive that we had doubts about it being the real Simon Pure, and we notice that our contemporaries are handling it very tenderly, preferring to write all round it rather than straight at it. Even the military authorities were inclined to view it dubiously, at first, but there was the great readiness with pontoon bridges to throw over the river, the huge waves of life, artillery concentrated on the various spots where prepared plans showed crossings were to be made, the bitter, desperate fighting to hold the momentary gains secured, the long stretch of front on which the attack was made, and lastly the recognition of prisoners which proved that close on sixty divisions, or something like nine hundred thousand men were employed. All these are characteristic of a super-effort to secure decisive victory, and we must be prepared to learn that. Ludcndorff is pouring his cannonfodder in regardless of the shambles, he is creating and the. massacres he is inviting. To stop the waves of life employed in the outset of . such a major battle, to stagger and to send hurling back the hordes of massed German infantry the massing and concentration of French and American artillery must have been on the largest scale, for it is only death and destruction that can have any effect in stemming such an oncoming tide of enemy life; then, to hold it up in two days, the carnage must have been sickening for our allies to look upon; . one wonders whether German soldiers can be persuaded to face such a zone of death again. French troops stood against the enemy on a twenty-five mile front, and v/hon the grey masses reached the battle line of the Frenchmen thc3 r could get no further, and so severe was the punishment inflicted that the wire entanglements could not bo seen for the German dead that were hung upon and piled amongst them. It seemed a hopeless task for the supermen and they gave up the quest,., 'accepting the repulse, Tjluj Americans at Chateau Thierry were not assailed on so long a front, but the attack was launched with all the men and guns that could be put into it. It overpowered the Americans in the first rush, and the Germans got over the river at seveal points, but our brave brothers did not like being driven and they turned and faced their foes with such determination that they drove them back across the river and followed them up till they had them half a mile further back than the point from which they started. An offensive that cannot go forward is defeated, the very fact that it ■ is rendered motionless is proof that the defenders have such a perponderanee of punishing power that to advance means annihilation; the Gorman commanders called their men back, and considerable doubt is expressed about the probabilities of continuance, and whether those divisions that are still whole and tractable will be transferred to try their luck in another quarter. It is too early to form any definite opinion about the immediate future, but whatever Prince Eupprccht. Von Boehm, and Von Boulow

may they fear the effects of the defeat of the first stages of the battle that was to result in Germany’s favour; they fancy they already hear the uprisings and clamours of the ■German people for peace; they fear the scoldings of their All-Highest ruler by divine right, and they can feel none too sure of the men who have had experience of this last drubbing by the Allies ,and above all their own confidence is so shaken that they sec final defeat of their armies plainly ahead. They cannot'now face the Allies with confidence of victory and they are half-beaten before they commence. Generalissimo Foch has telephoned result of the two days battle to the British Prime Minister; if Foch is satisfied we know that Ludendorff cannot be. American military officers are of opinion that this is Germany’s last desperate attempt; they believe that Ludendorff, despite the initial set back, will push this offensive regardless of , losses, but they are confident that the Germans will never reach their objective, Foch states that the enemy is completely cheeked east of Eheims, which narrows the effort down to a determination to reach Paris through Chateau Thierry, and here he is driven back across the river and half-a-mile of his own positions captured. The most desperate fighting continued for two days, the whole being without effect to the Germans,, excepting for an advance of between two and three miles till French entanglements were reached. On the third day, we are advised, the battle was not resumed, it may be to allow of preparation for renewed effort. French reports emphasise the colossal losses of the enemy, and it is easy to imagine what punishment was inflicted on hundreds of thousands of men, moving in massed formation under the fre of such a concentration of artillery as the French would make to prevent the defilement of their beloved city. This last great effort by Germany to secure victory is redolent of a surprise of a pleasing character, for, it is probable that neither the military or political leaders in France believed that the enemy’s, last desperate appeal ; to the god, of battles could' have given him such disastrous returns, for.it is not only the failure to push onward;,..to continue the battle, and the ghastly, destruction of men, but the demoralising effect on the remaining armies and on the people of Germany must prove a factor in stemming the pursuit of victory.