The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1918. FOCH'S COUNTER-STROKE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 July 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1918. FOCH'S COUNTER-STROKE.

The Allied generalissimo has been a biding his time for an effective of- * fensive, with the result that when l the blow fell it came as a surprise, and achieved a success that bids fair to alter the whole g position on the West front. Gen- c eral Foch has acted on the lines e that the object of all strategy, is •» the destruction of the enemy's or- *' ganised forces, and that a purely J defensive battle, even though well l conducted, does not result in a vie- c tor and a vanquished, the offensive c alone giving results, and making a for victory, so that every move- * inent must lead up to the development of a decisive attack, charac- < terised by its mass, its surprise, I its speed, with the maximum of r troops available. It is the reserves i which are the deciding factor, and ' in this counter-stroke, which. Gen- "* eral Poch has started with such ! signal success, if the available re- i serves are sufficient to justify what t is generally termed a grand offen- t sive, then we may look for most - important results, and probably a crushing defeat of the enemy. } On the other hand, should there \ not be a sufficiency for such a 1 movement, then it may be assumed 3 that the generalissimo will be con- 3 tent to use his forces for the pur- 1 pose of a pineer-like operation by : enclosing the enemy in the jaws ] that will operate from Soissons i and Rheims, and clearing the Ger- t mans from the country between the Marne and the Aisne. It will ' be noted that a number of Americans have been used who had not previously been under fire, and , the way in which they acquitted ; themselves is a splendid testimony i to the spirit in which America has : entered the struggle. The accounts of the fighting show that the offensive was a great surprise to the enemy, who had evidently been led to believe that the Allies had as much as they could do to act on the defensive. The awakening has come as a rude shock, and it must be intensely galling to the enemy, to find that the Americans whom they viewed with contempt have proved an irresistible foe. The Pranco-Amei-ican troops have pressed forward in meteoric fashion, capturing village after village, a large quantity of. guns, and some 20,000 or more prisoners. The fact that the advance still continues, and that the Brit- | ish are exercising pressure on | their portion of the line, indicates that German difficulties are iniereasing. A satisfactory feature of the struggle is that the Allies were able to make good use of their cavalry and tanks. Coming, ; as it did, on the top of a definite , eheck of the Germans' last offenE sive, the counter-stroke is bound .' to have an appreciable effect on t the morale of the enemy, and the 11 continued success which has folJ J lowed the Allied move cannot fail l ; to disthearten tie German ipoimmL &£ £te team £b&e.

it is prudent not to regard 111 is counter-stroke iu the light of ;ui attempt to force a i'niiil decision; yet no one can tell what tin: accident of a moment may open up. At present we have every cause to be satisfied with results, for, apart from the gains, there has been a terrible toll taken of the enemy man-power. The Germans made a grave blunder in creating such a dangerous salieat. Over-confidence has brought disaster, and the closing of the Allies' pincers should prove the real turning point of the war. j