BATTLE PROSPECTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 May 1940, Page 6

BATTLE PROSPECTS

ALLIED LINE SHORTENED

DENSER CONCENTRATION OF FORCES.

SLOWING DOWN GERMAN ADVANCE.

By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day. 12.40 p.m.) LONDON. May 15.

Although the collapse of Dutch resistance, coinciding with a continued Belgian retreat, is a grave blow to the Allied position, the troops which went north to help Holland are in a position to cover the left Allied flank and to engage the German right wing. Simultaneously, the battle before Brussels is intensifying, particularly at Louvain. Activity in this sector apparently indicates that the Germans have now brought heavy guns across the Meuse and are laying down a preliminary bombardment before a mass attack against Brussels. “The Times” correspondent on the Western Front says: “Our defensive lines have been considerably shortened and a denser concentration of men and materials is now possible. The Belgian retreat and the Anglo-French advance have resulted in dovetailing the Allied armies into a single whole. The Battle of the Meuse continues to rage, with fairly heavy losses on both sides. In the far south, the French have withdrawn to their main defensive positions, which are a continuation of the Maginot Line, leaving Sedan uncovered. The Liege forts are unlikely to hold out much longer. The war is still primarily one of movement. We aim at slowing down the German advance till the line behind which General Gamelin has decided to make his first serious stand is firmly organised.”