The Daily News. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1916. THE VERDUN BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1916. THE VERDUN BATTLE.

No operations during the war have been more timely than those whereby General Nivelle, the new French Generalissimo, has signalised his accession to the supreme command of the French army. The thorough and complete victory achieved affords a convincing answer to the German peace move, and is a partial set-oil' against the, Teutonic success in Rouniania, but its chief purpose is to expose the futility of the continually repeated German boasts as to the invincibility of her armies. Such an overwhelming 'defeat as tliat administered' by the French forces under General Maiigin, in carrying out the plans of Generals Nivelle and I'etain, give ample evidence of the Allies' ability to defeat the enemy. The new French tactics succeeded beyond all expectation, and the Germans were driven from the captured positions in more or less panic at the onrusli of the French. The fact that over nine thousand prisoners were captured, as ay ell as eighty-one guns, shows the rapidity and desperate nature of the onslaught. On a front of six miles the enemy was driven' hack over half the distance, separating Fort Douaumont from the line on which he opened his disastrous offensive ten months back, and this in spite of the unfavorable winter weather. It was generally considered that there would be no cessation of activity on the Western front this winter, and General Nivelle has boldly and triumphantly commenced the winter campaign in a way that -should convince Germany that the Allies are confident of their superiority. As it is liardlv likely that the British will remain inactive while the French are giving' the enemy a bad time, it is only .reasonable to expect, that before long ■fre may hear of a move on the Somme. It will be remembered that towards the close, of October last the French regained Fort Douaumont and a good slice of Verdun territory, 'which had taken the Germans two months to acquire/. In the middle of the following month the British dominated the Beaucourt salient, capturing seven thousand prisoners, and about the same time the Germans were crnshingly defeated on the French section of the Sonime front, and now they have suffered the greatest .defeat of all. Whether this is due to the transfer of divisions to the Balkans, is of no consequence. The fact remains that a crushing defeat lias been inflicted on the enemy just at the moment when iie is playing the role of an invincible potentate, who can dictate terms of peace to beaten and cowed enemies. We know that Germany cannot suffer such losses as she has been forced to undergo without a serious weakening of her power. Moreover, the blows of the Allies in that theatre are increasingly powerful, and they are in a position to kucp on striking with irresistible .force A marked feature of the offensive was the exceptionally heavy losses of the enemy and the light losses of the attackers. In places the French are now less than two miles distant from the line on which the Germans opened their offensive on February 21, The enemy is now left in a deep elbow of the Mcuse, which will almost certainly have to be promptly evacuated, and this is all that there is to show'as the ultimate result of the" - murderous and ferocious assault made under the Crown Prince in February last. All the world remembers this Verdun struggle, and the heroic defence made. To-day the tables have been turned, and the Germans put to flight. Since last August tlic French have, been working up to the great climax in ■ which General Nivelle has made his delmt as Com-mander-in-Chief. It is interesting to note that when the Crown Prince made his futile assault on Verdun, lie had the advantage of the full weight of Germany's power, yet the French have regained the lost positions by three springs, sweeping the Germans out of their positions with incredible swiftness and completeness—the new French tactics. The vivid description of .the

French movements as detailed- in today's cables shows that the plan laid down was masterly in its tactical skill. There has been 110 more dramatic episode in the war, and French ally lias every reason for pride in the brilliant generals and the determined soldiers who achieved such a splendid result. They had a certain task to "do, and they accomplished it in such a wa.y as to prove that the Allies, and not the enemy, has the ball at foot. There has not been much inspiriting news from the seat of war of late, so that the great French victory is all the more acceptable.