PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3100, 2 June 1917, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A dashing exploit is reported by the mounted troops (Anzacs and others) and Engineers attached to tho British force which has invadedPalestine. By a rapid and effective stroke they have deprived the Turks of twenty miles of useful railway. While tho British have advanced about fifteen miles into Palestine by the coastal route towards Gaza,, the Turks, prior to the events described to-day by Mr. Massey, retained possession of a railway which extended to El Audja, a place half a dozen miles distant from the Egyptian frontier and approximately 35 miles south of the Mediterranean coast. Tho railway from Bcershcba to El Audja was a little over thirty miles long, and twenty miles of the track,-with tho Bridges and culverts over which it ran, have been effectively demolished. No official report upon the enterprise has come through at time of writing, but Mb. Massey is an accredited correspondent in ■ immediate touch with tho- events ho describes, and his account may be accepted in full confidence. The destruction of the enemy railway clears the skirts of the British advance, and may; prelude another attack on the'positions covering Gaza. At all events, it (fends to safeguard tho route over which the British have' advanced,' and leaves.the. enemy much worse placed than he wa-s to attempt a counter-stroke.

What appears to have' been the heaviest battle fought for some days in the Western theatre is reported by the French. It arose out of attempts by the Germans to regain lost positions on the part of tho Moronvillers massif, about a dozen miles east of Beims. The- area of conflict is one of which it was reported recently that all the principal observation points had been mastered by the French. The engagement now reported took the course that might have been expected in the conditions thus entailed. In fighting which lasted all clay from a very early hour on Wednesday, and was continued on Thursday, tho enemy attacked with furious determination, but many of his assaulting waves wero swept away by the advantageously posted French artillery, and with the exception that he gained some advanced elements north-east of Mont Haub all his attacks wero broken under fir© or with the bayonet'. The ground which changed hands is probably-of small importance and an extremely poor compensation to the enemy for his losses. It is at all events dominated from n, crest on which the French are firmly established. a t

That the Germans arc still restricted to enterprises of this character is a convincing indication of their limited and hopeless outlook in tho Western theatre- In tho early days of the retreat tho German people were comforted with various assurances of which ono much in fa.voiu- was that HindknnußO was providing by retreat a battlefield on which he would find tho scope needed to enable- him. to overwhelm his onoiriies in a battle- of manoouvre. Considering tho actual course of events, tho mouthnieces of the German General Staff must bo hard put to it to carry on their task of deception. They will no doulit make the most of the comparative lull which has lately obtained, but, oven so, thoir ingenuity will be strained in explaining away

patent and arresting fa.cts. The enemy has been dislodged from vital positions on the northern , Iront, where the British are, iri possessipn of a long section of his boasted Hinclenburg line, along l.ho Aisno and in the Champagne. His lino is very seriously weakened, and at tho same time he has_ not shortened it to an extent which would afford him compensation, nor is he relieved of the perils which result from ,the salient formation of his lino where it bulges forward into Northern France, With matters in this state tho prospect.- of a powerful cosinterstroke by the enemy has so receded that it'now hardly deserves attention. The Germans have squandered men very freely in conn-; ter-attacks during the la-.;t six or seven weeks, ' but these have been throughout of much the sarae character as their latest abortive -essay in the Champagne—desperate _ attempts to lecover local positions which they evidently regard as vital. It is at least, doubtful whether tho enemy would prefer these tactics, to a retreat to a- shorter and straigliterline- if he did not fe/ir to face the losses and possible disaster which such an operation would entail. Meantime lie is continuing the war of positions, but deprived of some of tho most pronounced advantages which he formerly enjoyed in this form of warfare. The most import? ant of all is, of course, the artillory superiority, which has iiow passed to the Allies. Only less important is the enemy's loss on vital sections of the front"of dominating positions and points of observation. There is much in the existing situation to give point to observations made a couple of months ago )>v the military correspondent of the Times. "A moderate estimate of Germany's position," Colonei, Repington wrote, "based on a great mass of reports, is that it tends to become desperate. Germans themselves admit that their State will be bankrupt without huge indemnities both of (money and of territory, and though the Color/iie Gazette encourages subscribers to the next loan by mirific stories of future indemnities, these, are "not* brought any nearer by this advocacy and advertisement. The German people are also suffering from want, and the poor are on the. verge of starvation. The armies at the front are still well fed, but this is not true for troops in the interior, who, with the mass. of the people, do not receive enough food to support their strength. The result is a continuous loss of vital-, ity in tho masses, and as harvests must tend to grow, worse owing to labour difficulties and the want of artificial manures indispensable to high farming, and one really bad crop may produce a catastrophe, the outlook is most cheerless. It is not the German practice to continue an operation,, whether of trade, finance, or war, when failure is scientifically demonstrable, and as even peace will not allow th* Germans to be properly fed for months, if not for years, the reas.on why the Kaiser offered to negotiate for peace needs no further research. The writer does not know the precise position of the German munition factories, but can. only say, from tho evidence of his own eyes on the Somme, that his position may be much worse than people imagine. -When, in May, 1915, and in all the. earlier fighting of the -war, our trenches almost disappeared under a rain of Gorman'projectiles of all calibres, to which,bur guns could make but little, ieply, we .did not sacrifice men by the tens of thousands for the sake' of economising shells, but because we were without tho means for replying When tho boot was on the other , leg at the Somme, and the' Germans sacrificed hundreds of thousands of men in the hell of our fire, the writer could only conclude that they also had run short of shells, and though the comparative quiescence- of winter may have enabled them to build up a better reserve, jt is possible that they are still worse off than we know." The events of the Battle of Arras, the conquest of the-Aisno heights, and of high ground in the Champagne,- and .his own numerous but almost invariably • unavailing efforts to recover lost positions, have certainly not improved the enemy's outlook since Colonel . Kepington wrote. . . • ■

In the main, though determined enemy counter-attacks are still being ropel'led, the present .period is. evidently being devoted by tho Italians to recuperation and preparations for a renewal of their offensive. Correspondents ■ are quoted as dwelling upon tho formidable obstacles which still oppose an advance on , Trieste', but there are a number of modifying considerations which seem to deserve attention. It is, of -course, quite; true that the Austrian's are likely, if they retire from Mount Hermada, which is tho immediate barrier on the direct approach to Trieste, to defend other heights nearer the city. But it counts for x good deal that tho enemy has been- dislodged from a series of positions as strong and as elaborately fortified as he can hope to hold at any point. It ia noteworthy also that trie road and railway along the coast north of Trieste are exposed to. the fire'of-tho British monitors, which have lately, been'effectively seconding the Italian main attack by bombarding-this route and Trieste itself. Both 'as regards the advance on Trieste and the- larger objects of the campaign the decisive factor is not tho extent and number of--strong positions available to. tho enemy but the limit, yck to be determined, of- his ability to rally his 'forces in new positions after successive defeats,