The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1918 THE WAR SITUATION.

Taihape Daily Times, 23 October 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1918 THE WAR SITUATION.

(With which is incorporated The T&i* hape Vast and Walnramo News)..

■ 1 It had not entered into the consideration of war area map makers of even two months ago that the Allies would so soon sweep over Belgium; in fact fighting has .been carried beyond almost every special war map .that has been issued, .rendering them useless. The capture of Ecloo, which is only five miles from the Dutch .frontier, was evidently, a great surprise to the German Command, as it headed off some sixty thousand German troops, completely -surrounding .them -on three sides and leaving only the .Dutch frontier on the other The whole sixty thousand have to take one or other of three courses, they must either surrender, be captured, or they must pass over the' Dutch frontier, lay down their arms and be interned. There is | no more wonderful military strategy j recorded in history than that which j is .rapidly being .unfolded in France and Belgium at rhis moment, and none , was ever more successful, but it canI not be said that the fortunes of war J have been on Foch's side. It has I been, .and is, the cleverness of his | plans, the bravery of his men and the j cause for which they strive that has given :him the success .he has achieved. Had the fortunes of war favoured him only a trifle more, hundreds of thousands of more Germans would have been out of the war, for considerable armies have been within an ace .of disaster. In Belgium his biting-off processes have had a notable success, ! and sixty thousand of the enemy were I icnt off .from .escape in the thrust for j Ecloo. Ghent, the distributing' centre ; for the most western portion of the ] enemy's holdings, is no longer of any I service, for nearly; airterritofy to the , westward of that town has been retaken by the Allies. When Ghent . cannot'be used'to stay off an advance ! ,on Brussells .'it will 'be sacrificed, in : fact reports state that it is already oelng and even that moving has -commenced from Brussells. : Further south, from Valenciennes to I Vervins, Foch's intentions are obJ vious, and it is very difficult to realI ise how they can fail. The Germans ! are figliting most determinedly on this I line in a desperate effort to prevent j Foch completely severing their southern army from that in the north, and the Americans are forcing their way ' northwards along the Meuse to cut I all communications to the eastward of the present Avar area. This complex | movement of Foch is .-.so nearing attainment that it seems as though nothing can prevent its completion, the cutting-off of a very large army now ; operating eastward of Laon and north- ; wards of a line from Rhiems to Ver- | dun. If the separation eventuates the ; northern army must, according to I plan, it .seems, have no other alternai tive than to go north, :and seek exit j from invaded territory through the I gate by which it entered in 1914, over | the frontier fifteen miles <east of Liege, ! via Verviers and Aix-la-Chapelle. In '. the meantime, struggle as the German i commanders will against it, Foch is forcing a lengthening of their front which, above all other happenings, they can ill afford. It is obvious that if the encircling movement north of Verdun is to prove more successful than similar efforts elsewhere have, the Americans are to immediately commence to play a very essential part. The Americans have been en- . trusted with guarding the enemy door . to Germany, and Foch's plans can . only succeed if the Americans can • | slam that door in the fleeing enemy's . face. There are strong indications • : that the defence of Belgium has been •' much weakened by the transference • of men to help in keeping thfs southl ern door safe, and to prevent the sev- ■ erance in two of the enemy anny. The j; matter of vital import is that Foch's ; ; forces are increasing in strength, I while those of the enemy are fast bei coming hopelessly inadequate for the • work they have before them. Conse- • quently, the German position in Bel- • gium is insecure, and evacuation is . now proceeding as rapidly as possible. ; The position at Antwerp, even, is threatened, and news of its evacuation may be expected any hour. The three 1 most important events to be looked for ! are, a rush onward by the Americans . along the Meuse, north of Verdun; 1 successful advance from Valenciennes to Mons, from Bavai to Maubeuge, and from Guise to Hirson; the third is the , capture of Ghent in Belgium, and a . push forward threatening the twentyi five-mile direct :ine between Antwerp and Brussells. Unconditional surren-

der will most likely be forthcoming with these eventualities. What is particularly worthy of note, in other theatres of war is the nearness of the Servians to entering Roumanian territory. Last week-end our brave Servian allies had reached Zaychar on the Bulgarian frontier, where only a narrow neck of Bulgarian territory separates Roumania from Servia. This is the locality referred to when Servia notified that a slight -adjustment of frontiers would be essential to give access to Roumania, and there is little doubt about the Bulgars acquiescing in such an adjustment. If these presumptions prove correct the very last hope of Austlria-Hungary and Turkey has gone, and unconditional surrender will be forthcoming from both countries within a very short period.