PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2880, 19 September 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The operations in which the British troops on the northern section of the Somme front so notably extended their lines towards Bapaume are now described in greater detail than they were yesterday, and the magnitude of tho success attained is emphasised. For the moment, however, the assault has slowed down, and ovor a great part of tho line into which they lately broke so effectively tho attackers are how at a standstill, or nearly so, repelling counter-attacks. These the enemy is reported to have made in heavy strength and quite unsuccessfully. A noteworthy feature of this phase of the battle is the open character

oE some of the fighting. An engagement like that iu which two British battalions defeated and dispersed an cnomy brigade, about four miles south of Bapaume, would have been impossible in the Western theatre until quite recently, and tho event' suggests that the Germans south of Bapaume are now defending a line of much more open character than the_ continuous fortifications in which they have hitherto resisted the Allied offensive. Suggestive as it is, tho affair doe 3 not prove that the cnomy's fortified lino has been pierced here as it has been soma miles to tho south-east, but tho Germans now have very little to come and go upon _ in defending Bapaume, and continued possession of that place is an essential condition to tho security of a much longer section of their front than has thus far given way. * * * * On ono section of the front, at least, immediately east of Thiepval, the British success has- been materially extended beyond the point described in yesterday's reports. Probably everyone _ knows by this time that Thiepval is the western bastion of the German defensive line covering Bapaume, and is situated at the point where tho new line reached by the Allies leaves that on which the battle opened. Thiepval ridge, the highest ground south of Bapaume, starts eastward just to the north' 'of the village, and the .capture of tho village and the short section of high ground beyond it will remove one of tho principal obstacles remaining to a British advance on Bapaume. It must ha explained that the exact position reached in the attack on Thiepval has lately been obscured by the fact that though the capture of the strong flanking position known as "the Mouquet farm was reported a week or two ago, its subsequent.loss was not mentioned. Perhaps tho truth is that although it has only now been effectively occupied by the British, it has not during the last week or two been occupied in any real sense by the enemy. It has been hotly contested, we are now told, for weeks., At all events,_ the 'Mouquet Farm is now in British hands, and some progress has been made beyond it to the north. This should mean that the British batteries now completely dominate Thiepval village and its communications, and that the ridge beyond the village is exposed to enfilading fire, or at the least that these advantages are in immediate prospect. Mouquet Farm stands just over a rriiie due east of Thiepval, and very close to the summit of the ridge. The Germans at Thiepval are now enclosed on three sides, in a small salient, and the attack on. this salient will no doubt be pressGd with vigour. * * * * Important success has been achieved by the French in attacks south of the Somme, on portions of the front between Peronne and Ohaulnes. The conquest of tho two fortified villages oi Vermandovillers and Berny-en-Santerro is now practically complete, and a considerable extent of ground between these villages ana further north towards Barleux,, has also been captured. Progress in this region, where the Allies have not yet penetrated, the German defences as deeply as in the areas further north, is still slow, but the latest French advance represents another material step towards encircling Chaulncs and outflanking Peronne on the south. ViEwiNG'.tlie position at large, as far as may be done in tho existing state of information, it is evident that prospects arc opening out, and that boforo long thero may ho a radical departure from' tho conditions of sicgo >and trench warfaro which have so long ruled ill iho Western theatre. It is remarked to-day in ono message that the British arc getting well into the open, and tho same may bo said of the French. Tin's is not fanciful language. In essentials it is a simplo statement of fact. The Allies are manifestly in a fair way to create an . cffcctivo breach in the fortified front which tho Germans arc defending with such desperate tenacity, and uncertainty as to the lino of development which will be witnessed docs not rest upon any doubt as to the ability of tho Allies to complete the proccss of breaking through tho German defences. It_ is still a somewhat open question, however, whether tho Allies aro intent .upon any early attempt to dislodge the Germans from their present Western line. It has a bearing on tho matter that some high authorities who have recently spoken on the subject, General Brusiloff amongst others, ovidently hold that it is not this year, but next year that tho Allies will develop their general and concertod offensive in maximum power. It certainly seems likely that the Anglo-French armies will rapidly oxtend and widen their present invasion of tho Gorman front hoforo winter descends, but it cannot be overlooked that if ■ Ihoy put forth a maximum effort within the next month or two they will be doing it boforo their Allies in other theatres aro prepared to second their efforts in full power. This applies with particular forco to Russia, more especially as thore is now a reasonably good prospect of the Balkan campaign being carried to a successful issue before tho yoar it out, and this might very well lead to the speedy collapse of Turkey. Developments which would bring Russia into much hotter touch with her Allies would, of course, increase her striking power, perhaps to a very • important extent. It is on all grounds strictly reasonaulcTto look to conditions and events in other theatres, particularly in Russia and in south-eastern Europe, for some guidanco as to the probable policy -of the Western Allies, and from this standpoint it seems likely that an attempt t to completely overthrow the Germans on their present Western line may I be postponed until tho great camI paigns in other theatres _ have developed well beyond their present stage. ■ • Whatevbk their intentions in regard to the immediate future may Be, there can be no_ doubt; as to the magnitude and decisive importance of what the Western Allies have already accomplished. They are successfully breaking through a front that was intended to be impregnable, and, together with the demonstration of their ability to cre- , ato a breach, pretty plain proof is now afforded that the Germans are hopelessly committed to the plan of an immobile defence. On the Soramo front advantage of ground and position rests now with the Allies, and it is practically certain that the balance of losses turns heavily against tho enemy. It may bo expected to turn still more heav- . ily against him as time goes on,

and the prospoch before him is that of Buffering more and more heavily iu defending the shattered section of his line. At the samo time it is | an obvious truth that the German lino as a wholo is only as strong as its weakest part. Heavily fortified as it is throughout 'the greater part of ils. five hundred miles of length, it can be broken and turned, and that happening, much of its strength will go for nothing. The outlook from the standpoint of the Germans is so unpromising that it seems more than ever certain that the ( y would before now have sought relief, by retiring and shortening their line, from' the enormous pres> sure to which they are subjected, had such a course been deemed practicable. So long as the enemy is pinned down to an immobile defence thero is no immediate limit to the extent to which the Allies may profitably develop their offensive on its present lines. . The longer the conflict continues under the conditions now established the less will the Germans be able to resist the grand assault when it is launched. Some light is at length thrown upon fcho position in the Dobruja (south-eastern Rumania) by tho statement of a correspondent at Rumanian headquarters that the Russo-Rumanians are falling back to strong positions, extending from the Danube to the Black Sea coast. The retirement involved may convey the impression of a material enemy success in this region. It may oven suggest that the JLusek's talk of a, "peremptory" victory in tho Dobruja was'nob wholly lacking in foundation. The facts do not warrant any such conclusion. On the line to which they a-re retiring the Russo-Rumanians will have one flank resting on the Danube, ten miles south-west of the point at which it is bridged and crossed by a railway. The other flank will rest on tho coast, about a dozen miles south of the port of Constanta, the terminus of the railway. In effect, the Allies will be defending the lino of the Danube, and for the rest a short line, of about 40 miles, extending aoross country from tho river to the sea, and backed by a lateral railway. They will thus be well placed for the purposes of a holding campaign, and it seems highly probable that it has from the first been their policy to fight a holding campaign in the Dobruja. It is not m the east, but in the west, either north or south of tho Danube, that they seem to have best prospects of taking tho offensive in effective co-operation with their Allies in the Southern Balkans. If the enemy forces in the Dobruja crossed the Danube into Rumania, or drove across the railway to Constanta, they would be in signt of definite advantage. Meantime they have accomplished neither one thing, nor' tho other, and they are as vulnerable as ever to an attack on the main railway which runs from Hungary through Serbia and Bulgaria to Turkey.