A RETURN BLOW

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 259, 20 July 1918, Page 6

A RETURN BLOW

Unless available reports on the subject are unduly optimistic, the German armies in the Western theatre arc at this moment receiving a lesson in tlio art of war which they will not speedily forget. Ths failure of th: enemy offensive on the Marno and on cither side of Reims kcame evideiit .at a comparatively early !:t:ige, but to-day's new , : indicates that the Germans hav? not only incurred disastrous '0,-:ses without appreciably approaching the objects thiy s'jfc out to attain, but have laid themselves open to i\ return blow which may heavily intensify their defeat. . As it is briefly outlined at the moment ■-::" writing, the situation is full of ; :'!'-.nis , e. General Focm has launch':'.! u counter-offensive on a front of i wen t-y-five miles along the westf.v- ';vcj of the salient the, enemy hv;. .'.Hven from the A is-n< , to the Jinny: and for a short distance south of the latter river. The French iir.d American troops engaged lia.ve effected important captures of ground, prisoners, and material, and it is believed that the enemy }■; under the. necessity of extricating liis advanced offensive formations a-3 best be can from the salient he- hv: lately been making desperate bul,-vain efforts to enlarge. There, is.; , , brief report also, not as yet conir-'mecl or amplified, Ihe British.'have hcKiin attacks at several points;. Exaggerated expectations might easily b'j based on news of ibis kind. Good as it ib', it afford-; no warrant for assuming that the Allies ;uv. likely to depart from their general policy of deferring the day of decisive action imtil'they rv.i've, built up a docisivo siiporiority in fighting str.-pgth.. .But it is, of course, fully covisist:nt with such a policy to make l.h'.i most of the enemy's mistakei,- in whatever ways . ;v:c open. Within the limits thus suggested' the, state of affairs now disclosed i<.; of excellent promise. It seem:-: highly probable thai; the. enemy will na'y dearly for his temerity in advanei'i.t; beyond lite Manic- without makivH-; adequate provision against Hie danger of HUeh ;i.i! attack on his \veste;-:i

lla,ii!v us tl:i: Allies nre nuw dcvclup

The possiliilitics r;iic-;cd will Ijc readily grasped by those who have followed tin; 1-nl.e events of tin.' caiiipaiKii. Tlv: , enemy front -is ;i whole between tlio Aisne and the Mu-rne v.-illey eonptitul.'. , :-; .■•.■ soincwhal; \nwI'uru f:;ili"iit. Measured on a linn piissinir thrmiyh liei'iis ;nid Soissous the salient is less than •!() miles wide lit its Ij;im, (ind the iiii'.-x of the \v«iclgc, in Hi". I'.oiir iiciglilioiiriiuuc! of Oxiluaii ThiiMTv, is more than yo miles south of tliis buso line. In battles fought, at the end of May find in June til' enemy strove vainly to improve his front ;md safeguard his communications by widening out the salient, to the-wast. His efforts petered out, in failure, at first

against Mil; forest barrier north-east of Pari* -and lal.«" against the de-, fences ahead of (.'ompiegne. The offensive whii'h has now collapsed was an attempt prepared and organised on a colossal scale to widen out the salient to the east. It is by this time evident thai, Hμ enemy undertook no limited effort to improve his front, though thai, remained an incidental object, but aimed at the largest results. A considered estimate of Lu«en"doi:l'T's plan which appears fo-dny declares that he hoped to breach 111? Allied front, on either side of JReiins and follow up this achievement by an advance to the south, which would have enabled him to threaten simultaneously an advance on Paris and an encircle l moiit of Verdun. Available, information in regard to tho enemy force employed suggests that, this does not exaggerate the scale un. which Li'DF.Nmim-T rfiapcd his plans. Tho Allied counter-stroke has eaucht him with great- forces massed in the Marne valley and the Champagne vainly endeavouring to advance the project which has so dis'nallv failed to materialise. The fmi that many of tho divisions thus employed weredrawn from ||v ; northern front makes it, probable that tho British forces ou that frpnt are co-operating in the count-er-offonsivo now in progress, but. the feature which commands ch'of attention as information stands is tho French thrust towards Soissons. This city k a most important centre of roads and railways serving the enemy in his southward thrust. When tlu. , present battle opened theGonnans hold. Soissons by fl. marttin of about half a dozen miles. It is reported to-day that this margin has been reduced by one-half, and that Soissons is dominated by the. Allied batteries , . At its face value this news should mean not only that, ths .enemy is under the 'necessity of boating a hasty retreat, butthat he is likely to suffer very heavily in the process.