The Dominion THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1918. THE BATTLE IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 227, 13 June 1918, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1918. THE BATTLE IN FRANCE

One o£ the latest messages dealing with the battle that is now being fonght in franco observes that the situation is not disquieting. This verdict seems to be warranted by the events of the battle to the present stage, and the conditions, as far as they are known, in which it is developing. That the situation is critical goes.without saying, for the enemy is evidently doing his utmost to roach a success of decisive importance. But while it would be foolish to take his defeat for granted, it would be going to tho oilier extreme of folly to assume that the enemy, simply bccause lie is developing an attack of tremendous power and in squandering lives at a rate which has perhaps never before been approached, is bound to attain any or all of the objects at which he aims. At a time like the present it is as well to remember that in this war Germany has often developed grandiose schcmes of attack, hnd sacrificed tens of thousands of men on tho shrine of her military ambitions, without gaining her ends. She has defeated little nations, but, brilliant as her opportunities have been, all her military efforts against tho great' natioiij to whom r>ho stands^ opposed have fallen far short of decisive success.. As regards tho present onslaught, tho fact most clearly established at the moment is that the Allies have made such a fine defensive stand that though tho enemy lias gained somo ground he has vory little to sot against the enormous losses he has undoubtedly incurred since he launched his attacking waves in tho early hours of Sunday morning. "Whatever its ultimate fate may bo, this battle has absolutely nothing in common thus far with the earlier attacks in which tho enemy cleared the -,vay lot an extended advance by driving masses of men through thinly-held sections of the Allied line. "This," in the words of a French staff officer quoted to-day, "is a real battle." Though they have a certain margin to come and go upon,, tho Allies aro defending a tract of country which they cannot abandon or lose without endangering their future prospects in the campaign. This means that the enemy may be expcctcd to spare no effort and shrink from no sacrifice in attempting to gain his end, but it means, also, that his failure in this battle would be extremely likely to connote his defeat in the campaign. Much cf the comment on this battle and on _ other recent passages in the campaign has suggested that it is the enemy's grancl object to reach and occupy Paris, but nothing is more manifest than that even greater issues are at stake than the fate of tho French capital. As M. Makcfx Hutin points out, tho cjnemy's object clearly is to establish a straight front from Montdidior, by way of Compiegne, to Chateau Thiuny on the Marnc, and so outflank the great forest barrier between tho Oisc and the Marno which has defied frontal attacks. What this means will be readily perccived on reference to a map which shows even the general features of the battle area. As matters stand, the enemy is dangerously close to Amiens, being separated from that placc by a distance of little more than seven miles, but his front facing Amiens is seriously cramped on north and.south. In their positions along the valley of the Ancre the Allies have fastened a grip upon the northern. flank of this section of the enemy's line which he has completely failed to weaken. Indeed, the British success in _the_ vicinity of Morlancourt, which is reported to-day, is tho latest of a series of events demonstrating that the Allies have tightened instead of relaxed their grip. To the south tho enemy is oven worse placed from the point of view of resuming his thrust towards Amiens. About twenty miles south of the Sommc valley, on which Amiens stands, his front turns sharply to the cast for a distance of twenty miles, so that the Allies arc facing north into his flank. It is this front of twenty miles which the enemy is now endeavouring to swing round to the south and west. Succeeding fully, he would straighten his front between the Sommc and the Marnc. Incidentally he would outflank the almost continuous belt of forest between tho Oise and the Marnc which, presents an immediate and immensely formidable obstacle to an advance on Paris, but these details are to be considered not only with an eye to the menace to the French capital, but in light of the fact that if the enemy contrived to straighten his front in the manner described he would bo vastly better placed than he is now to re-

sumc his drive on Amicus, and this, again, with due regard to the capital importance of Amiens as a railway junction linking up the Allied armies on north and south. So long as Amicus is safely held the enemy is defeated in his essential object of dividing the Allied armies and isolating a proportion of the British armies as well as the bulk of the French and Americans from the short and secure sea communications across the Straits of Dover. Amiens was the enemy's objective in the formidable drive with which he opened his offensive, and it is more than likely to be the objective of his culminating effort. There is no doubt that the splendid defensive stand the Allies arc making in the present battle is, from the purely military point of view at all events, above all important as tending to safeguard Amiens. So long as they maintain their essential positions on the front through which the enemy is striving so desperately to break—and according to the latest available information these positions arc still everywhere intact—the Allies are not only seriously cramping the enemy on north and south r on .his front facing Amiens, ancl retaining all the benefits that attach to possession of the forest barrier covering the approaches to Paris, but are well placed to move troops and material from point to point as occasion may demand. As to the question oi reserves upon which so much depends, 110 very definite conclusion can be formed in the existing state of information. No doubt very considerable forces are still being held in reserve oil cither side, and the crisis of the battle may not lie reached for -some time. But while the vital issues it involves are still very far from being resolved, there is no doubt that the events of this battle as far as it has gone have done much to brighten Allied prospects.