The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1918. FOCH'S BRILLIANT COUNTERSTROKE.

Taihape Daily Times, 20 July 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1918. FOCH'S BRILLIANT COUNTERSTROKE.

(With which is Incorporated The £aihape Post and Waloramo News).

Another surprise attack was* launched on the West front on Thursday, its only particular difference from those recently preceding it is that it is not by the Germans but very notably against them. Wc have drawn attention to the remarkable tenacity with which Foch has clung to Soissons and Rheims, how he held to these places regardless of however much territory the enemy might seek to roam over, that he could reach through this somewhat narrow opening, and to-day we have the pleasure of commenting upon the sequel, the discovered intention of the Allied commander-in-chief. We pointed out how persistently Foch fought to prevent the Germans widening the base of the wedge they had driven into the Champagne front, but we were hardly prepared for an attack so "soon on the base of the wedge, which, if successful, must either result in a rapid retreat of the enemy to the line of the Aisne, or the wedge must fall into the hands of Foch. It was stated in the early stages of the Champagne thrust that the Crown Prince's forces were moving so rapidly that they were almost sure to leave an opening for the Allies to get in a disastrous blow. The .opportunity has come and the blow is struck; the French have attacked the base of the pyramid at Soissons, and at last reports they had got four miles into it, had captured thousands of prisoners and many guns; that Foch was now able to interrupt communications upon which the whole German Army that had passed through between Soissons and Rheims were dependent for their supplies; that Allies' guns now dominated the whole Soissons region. Then a special message *came along advising that it was believed that the collapse of the German pyramid was pending; that the Germans would soon be scuttling back to avoid wholesale capture by the Allies who were rapidly closing the opening through which they had been allowed to go. The Allies seem to be following co-ordin-ated action in at least three places; the most important'being that by tne French who are attacking the base of the wedge on a twenty-five mile front, where they have rapidly advanced and have captured thousands of prisoners and many guns, prisoners still continuing to come in. At the point of the wedge the Anierlcahs have driven every Hun back over the Marne along their positions; while on the opposite side of the wedge, in the Rheims sector, the German Crown Prince is meeting with unexpected reverses; his men have been driven back from Mont Voisin, and it is claimed that his projected visit to Epernay Has been indefinitely postponed. It may be noted that Foch has attacked the wedge simultaneously at eacfr side of its base and a,t its point, and we can imaging what demoralisation may result when the point discovers that its base is crumbling. To render his attack on the base of the wedge successful Foch must have secretly concentrated huge forces in the Compeigne, for he has to hold back the Germans on the line reached in the Mbntdidier-Noyon attack, and still have ample men to pro. secute a rapid cutting through of the wedge's base. Foch's armies seem to be moving along the south (bank of the Aisne, leaving the river as a guard to their left flask; that he is losing no time, and that he is effectively cutting off one section of the enemy from the other is strongly evidenced in the mes. sages received. The first cable stated that a counter-offensive had commenced and that hundreds of prison. ers were coming in after a progress of two miles; when a later message arrived the Frenchmen had gained four miles and thousands of prisoners and many guns had been captured. Thi's offensive Is probably one of those op-

portunities given, that were expected from the *a.pi&..foruii-rushing of the enemy; still, there is no doubt that it is part -of v a -thorough-.-.co-ordination, so that "while the French are sawing on the wedge, the British to the north will take every means in their power to so engage the Germans that none can be spared to come to the wedge's rescue, and the Americans at the point, and the Frenchmen on the Rheims side of the wedge will go on with their, demoralising operations in fulfilment of the part they have been allotted. In this offensive the possibilities are indeed great, and to gain utmost success developments must be rapid, therefore indications of its progress will soon come to hand. Along ! the line from Soissons to Chateau Thierry the Germans have either to retreat in a helter-skelter or toe pinched off by the Frenchmen progressing in their rear, and it is almost certain this is the quarter from whence the thousands of prisoners and many guns are coming. The success of Foch's undertaking will be measured by the number of miles by which he can reduce the opening between Soissons and Rheims. From present appearances he will already have closed so much of the gap that his guns will dominate a greater part of the road by which the many thousands of Germans composing the wedge must return. A disaster to the Hun wedge seems imminent, and although it is indiscreet to count chickens while still in the shell, one cannot help trying to fathom the depth of General Foch's plans. Without doubt his object is to free Rheims and Paris from the Huns' devastating menace, but there are evidences that his entire plans are of a much more comprehensive nature and import. It is gratifying to learn that the time in the war has arrived when the Allies can assume the offensive, and that surprises of attack are not a prerogative of the enemy. Foch's first surprise is a brilliant example of great generalship; it discovers the fact that the Huns are not the sole possessors of military genius, and it will strike fear and tremlbling Into the Hun mind both military and political. From the pace at which Foch's surprise is travelling still more encouraging news may be expected today.