The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1918. NEW ALLIED OFFENSIVES.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 October 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1918. NEW ALLIED OFFENSIVES.

(With which is Incorporated The Taihape Font and Walnmsiao News). .

, . At half-past two on the morning or last Tuesday Foch lifted an artillery preparation and sent his infantry forward in another offensive action on a large scale. This was followed toy another wave of infantry at half-past four, and still later a third army was set in motion. An attack of this magnitude is ample evidence that the objective is proportionate to the effort, and although messages arriving later did not wholly disclose what the specific object is, this did disclose that the gains were disastrous to the Cam-brai-St. Quentin defences, and more particularly that the whole line pr; mythical god defences were smashes | through, and also that open country and open fighting had been reached. East of St. Quentin our armies are within rifle-shot of the Oise Valley, which when in Allied possession renders the German position in the Laon sector quite untenable; in fact tne enemy has already taken notice of the menace and has set fire to Lao» and to Bohain, another important junction of roads and railways, ana even Lo Cateau, fifteen miles east of Cambrai, is said to be in course of evacuation, while flames have commenced to rise therefrom. Another fifteen or twenty miles will bring Foch's men to Fourmes ,elose to the Belgian frontier, and it now seems apparent that this frontier lies on the line of Allied objective. It would prove a fairly manageable journey along the Valley of the Oise, past Guise to south of Fourmes, and within striking distance of the Mouse, on the Maubeuge—Mezieres line. Tne Franco-xlmericans have simultaneously launched a new offensive along the Meuse from further south, fighting northward from Verdun, in whlcn most satisfactory success has already been: achieved. It is believed that the last line of formidable defence has been broken through, and should that prove correct it. is difficult to realise J how the Germans can save from dej struetion or capture a very consider- | able and fatal portion of their western i front armies. It is now quite Widen* that Foch's plans consist more of the destructive than the driving element. i When he says, that the Germans will be driven out of France he obviously means those that have not been captured or destroyed. At present It seems as though the word Sedan is again going to loom large in military disaster, but on the coming occasion the Franco-German situation of 1870 j will be reversed. Foch is • certainly playing,for a Hig-stake, and we have ' sufficient confidence in him and the l men he commands to have steadfast faith in his ability to win.. If open ground is reached north of Verdun as

well as east of Cambrai and St. Quentin ,the pace set will be a very fasr one indeed; so fast that the Germans are almost certain to foecome a merw helpless rabble, intent only on getting away or getting into prison compounds, anywhere from the terrible punishment that the Allies are capable of inflicting. We may be only days cr even hours from most sensational happenings ,for Foch is sure to toe quite prepared with such hosts of ope*i fighting forces that will overwhelmingly teem through on to the heels iof the enemy routed. Miles under, open conditions will be as yards against such defences as modern military science lias evolved, and with the railway to Thionville cut the (only outlet for German retreat will 'be northward. At present there is every probability that it is Foch's intention to round vtn the fleeing enemy along the reads by which he entered France on his mission of world conquest. The merest t3To in military matters fully realises what the success of such a roundingup would mean, and in this connection we should here give full consideration to the fact that it was officially reported a few days ago that Foch is controlling the German retreat. It is that control that Germany has been so desperately fighting against; it js that control which fired and mined towns are intended to minimise, for German generals can no longer hope to avoid it altogether. As the drover with his dogs turns his mobs of sheep in accordance with his will, so Foch with his dogs of war is rounding up the enemy in accordance with his will, and is crushing them into a corner where only a miracle can save them from almost inconceivable disaster. The most wonderful feature of Foch's conduct of the war is that he has so completely, obscured fas real intentions so that neither friend nor enemy can discover them; in that fact rests the secret of his amazing success. It does appear that the immense FrancoAmerican army is marking time to a deceptive extent north of Verdun, between the Meuse and the Moselle.

Laon is burning, which indicates that huge German forces will he retreating eastward, directly towards the Mez-

ieres-Thionville railway. On the road they will encounter i their armies that have come from the Maine and are being driven north of the Aisne, ana as they move further eastward it becomes essential to the very existence of all German forces'in the south tha« the country between the Meuse and Moselle, and between Verdun and Montmedy should be held. It is this retreat that the Franco-Americans seem to be waiting for, and they have already broken the "back of German defences in that quarter. To avjola this great concentration of FrancoAmericans these southern enemy forces will to hurry along the northern-running roads, for the difficult railway- over the 'Luxemburg •hills could only prove of limited service in such a retreat. Whether tne war will be virtually finished this year depends upon whether the Germans can limit the control Foch has of their retreat. The prospects are distinctly against any such, German hope; from the North Sea to Switzerland their boasted invulnerable fortifications have been so destroyed that New Zealanders and other Allied forces refresh themselves and cracx jokes amongst their irretrievable ruin; they have passed over them and are already many miles to the eastward of them. The enemy is rapidly being forecd on to open country where light tanks, flying horse artillery and cavalry will pour in with lightning-like destruction. Further nlorth, Lille is essential to a retention of the Belgian coast, and it is already evacuated and in flames. Towns devastated by war and occupied by Germans in 1914 are commencing to be named again with deeper interest; Cambrai, St. Quentin Laion, Lille Ypres and Dixmude are no longer any menace; Ghent, Mons, Maubeuge and Mezieres are coming into sight, and our hopes reach out to Brussels and Liege. Whether peace is to be this year <or next Foch has demonstrated beyond question that hS has the men and the power to force through enemy defences at any place |he chooses, and it seems that he Is j fast approaching a thrillingly sensa-, i t'ional stage in this great war.