The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1918. PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, 31 August 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1918. PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

(With which is iceorporated The fai hape Post and Walnmil-jo News).

Generalissimo Foch is pursuing his multiplicity of offensives against the invading Huns in France with most gratifying success.' The British took twenty-six thousand prisoners last week, and have pushed their way on to territory that has not been trodden by civilised people since the memorable retreat from Mons, and who. will deny that Haig and his men are today retracing the way back to that town? They are already nearing Douai; the next place of importance on the main direct road is Valenciennes, then comes Mons, the whole distance from where our armies are now being between thirty and forty miles. Foch is inflicting terrible punishment on the enemy; is scoring innumerable victories at a very cheap rate, and, he emphatically states, he is going to continue. O'n the other hand the enemy is in confusion, dishevelled and disrupted everywhere; is throwing in stop-gap reinforcements until men curse their officers, and officers"curse the Higher Command for sending them on impossible errands with impossible man material. "While there is rush and desperation amongst the enemy, the British and ' French are moving forward with deliberation, almost at, a leisurely pace, but, withal, most inexorably. Yesterday's cables told us that the brilliant work by Canadians had brought them to within half a mile of Queant, the hinge of the Hindenburg line, after having moved up a mile and a half in only a few hours. There wil undoubtedly be great enemy resistance at Queant, if only to secure the extremely needful time to get more men and guns out of trouble. The slow, ponderous movement of the Allies, we are told, is to shepherd the lives of the men as much as possible. There are evidences of a determination to force the Germans back until they arc so disconcerted, perplexed and distracted with the pressure, and the anticipation of the final blow that Foch has in readiness; and until that stage is reached that Foch is playing his victim for when the maximum results will be obtainable. We believe that Foch is manoeuvring for an opportunity to strike for a stake that may not be far short of final German defeat. A huge force such as is known to be waiting for orders to move, thrown on to an already conquered enemy, in the Douai sector could force its way to Mons before the enemy recovered from his first surprise, or, as an alternative Germany could be invaded near the Swiss border and the banks of the Rhine reached while Foch's present offensives are operating where they are. In any case either success would have most far-reaching effects. We have not to wait very long as the season for war on a large scale is fast drawing to a close; the French general's crowning offensive, the consuming sensation of the war, is near at hand, and we may be sure that it will leave Germany in a plight to "face the winter, terrible to contemplate; and it will force the German armies into places and conditions in which to suffer the severities of an European winter that may prove unbearable. On the other hand, the Military Party may have it more clearly forced upon them that victory is no longer possible, and they may decide to accept The ■ inevitable and send their men to their '

homes. While it is unprofitable to expect too much from Foch 'S final blow. we need not be deterred from contemplating its possibilities. The fact remains that the Allies are marching to victory after victory while the enemy i 3 becoming more and more confused, losing many thousands of men day by day. His final utter defeat is now assured.

Since the above was written it' is reported that Cagnicourt, north-east of Queant, has been occupied. This movement is across the Hindenburg Jine.at. its. most vital point; it outranks ; the whole German position in Picardy, and it may result in very serious German disaster.