THE DIFFICULT AISNE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 132, 28 October 1914, Page 7

THE DIFFICULT AISNE.

BIVEK'S XATUKAL OBSTACLES. THE I'IiIOE OF SUCCESS. It is not necessary to lie a soldier, lml only to possess xeasonable intelligence and a i'airiy scale map of lh,> conntry through which tin' Aisne Hows, in order to uuders tand how il is that the allied army, alter successfully ell'cctin;; a crossing, has not only been prevented .from prosecuting its advance beyond the river, but has even been temporarily drivi-n back to the left lianli, at some points Ik counter-attacks, and thus compelled to brave again and again tile perils oi forcing the passive. writes Lieut.-Col. Alsagi'i' I'ollock in an cxclc,uii;'e.

The Aisne is a very sluggish river. From \ iilcneuve, one mile east of Soissons, to Laiuotte, eight miles east of Coiupcigne, a distance of nearly seventeen miles, the fall is only twenty-one feet. The flats between the hills 'forming the valley are seldom ie=.s than one mile in breadth, and the lifts tiiemselu-s rise tin !!••(•. rather abruptly as a rule, to 'ji-l-iits of from :i()0 to MO feet above the rher. The (•oniijju-iition of Ike bi'is is very indenteil. so iii.lt on either ei do, the guns and al-o the ill! -I'aeu „' a force disputing the pas-age can r,-;; ,i v tered from artillery lire i'imi-i lie o; ,- site bank, while at tile same time ~-.-. manding long reaches of the valley i,..:!i up and down the stream. RAXGE FIXDIXG. Moreover, whereas an enemy who lias crossed over can be effectively fired upon at decisive ranges, from very advantageous positions, Hanking his advance or otherwise, these positions of the defenders can be reached by an artillery supporting the attack only at ranges winch in Europe are very iuell'cctive, siuip'y because accurate observation of lire is ill the climatic conditions extremely difficult, if not actually iiupossib'o. In the clear atmosphere of South Africa, the lire of artilh-rv at SalK) yards', or even at still 'eager lang's, can be qnile n-el'u!ly obirved, jariieuarly when the run is sailing en the targ'-t, but not so in flurope. Her-, then we have an e':;,-'aii-it:o:i •suliiei nt in itself to a ,-oii.l for the diili uliy t .xperiem-d 1 v :h. French and lirltbh troop, in mal. icr good their hold of tile right ban:; u; '.ae Aisne. in spite id a'l trie lalour displayed by them in .successfully eiVccting the' crossing itself. A single example will suffice to make clear the whole matter in this connection. Let us ns-ninc an attempt to cross at Vic-sur-.\i.-nc, among, of conr-e, a number of oilier points simultaneously attacked. One mile south of Montois is an artillery position three miles long, and having a command of, roughly, Mi) feet o\er the level of tin river.'The hills on the opposite bank have, in no case a command within sixty feet as great. In other words, the 'artillery positions at, the disposal of the attackers enjov a command of not less than sixty feet over any possessed by the defender:. A SPUR. | lint on the left bank of the d'Hoxoin, a tributary stream which fads into flic Aisne at Vic-snr-Aisne. a convenient spur ' juts out westwards, from behind whi-di an open field of live extends for SliiW i yards along the right bank of the Aisne, j and guns there posted would-be ijuite safe j agahist anything but chance shells from j howitzers, which might conceivably drop ( on thiir lurking place—assuming this to have been indicated by aviators. ; There is no commanding position whit- ' ever from which direct lire could be \ brought to bear on guns placed behind ! the spur in question. ' j What the map discloses is that while \ the actual passage of |he Aisne by well- | trained and valorous troops would in- j voice in many places no unsiimoiintnVe ; difficulty, the supporting artillery ed'ec- 1 tually preventing the enemy from offer- i ing serious resistance, the conditions be- ; come very dilliciift for the moment when '' the atlackers begin to mount the slopes beyond the river in face of artillery, machine guns, and rides securely p'need where it is impossible to reach them from the opposite bank. The range from our artillery position to the spur behind which the hostile guns are posted as in the case of Vic-sur-Aisne only 5(100 yards. But how many : shells per day are likely to drop at the exactly oorrect angle over the forest? ■P-nh1,!.!,, ,in t nnS ; ;' ■ .■ ' .