PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 16, 14 October 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A remarkable forward sweep by the Allied armies in tho Western theatre is disclosed in to-day's reports, and there docs not seem to be anything exaggerated in ffio statement made by ono correspondent that the fighting of the next fewdays will reveal whether tho Germans are able to retain their organisation while retreating. .The Allied achievements recorded to-day are on an unprecedented scale. In the north the British have broken through the formidable defences east of Lens and reached the outskirts of Douai. Further south the bold wedge which now turns round Le Catcau has been very greatly widened, .an American army corps on the British right flank taking a creditable part in tho battle. At the moment of writing there are. no details' of the reported evacuation of the St. Gobain massif, west of Laon, but it seems to bo inevitable in view of the French drive cast of St. Quentin to the Oise and the progress of other French armies which have dislodged

the enemy from the Chcmin des Dames. In the Champagne the French are advancing at a rate which argues a ruinous collapse of the enemy's organisation in that region, and the Americans are also torging ahead rapidly on both sides of the Meuse.

Followed out in detail, these developments mean an cnor.iiiious change for_ the worse in the enemy's situation. .Reputedly strong lines of defence are falling like so many houses of cards; vital lines of communication arc immediately menaced. Looking only at these aspects of the campaign, Germany's prospects are rapidly growing darker. But as the campaign is now shaping tactical developments, however important in themselves, are chiefly significant as illustrating the overshadowing fact that the German armies are moving rapidly downhill to defeat. This is so clearly established, and the cumulative and rapidly increasing effect of the Allied offensive is so obvious, that developments which once would have stood out .as of commanding importance now figure only, as incidents.

* * .* . *; As matters arc going_ it is evident, that the Germans are in a fair way to be driven out of France, and that if their tenure of Belgium is for the time less precarious they have to thank conditions of ground and weather." The question now raised is not whether they are bound to retire speedily upon the shortest available line, but whether they are capable of reversing the present trend, in which they are visibly falling a prey to demoralisation, to the extent of organising » defensive stand on a shortened line. The shortest line available to the Germans extend? south from the Dutch frontier by way of Liege and the Ardennes, and round Thionville and Metz. But it is no longer certain that they will reach this front in a condition to defend it for any length of time.

Although the main question at stake concerns the condition and effective strength of the German armies, some importance attaches to tho nature of the field defences the enemy has.prepared against the contingency of a retreat. A great deal has been heard in the past about line hayond line of field fortifications between the Western front and the German frontier, but late events, and particularly the rapid conquest of areas which the Germans might have been expected to strongly fortify, have somewhat discounted these stories. Ono correspondent suggests to-day that the Germans have left their, best-prepared defences behind them, and that even tho line of the Meuse—the short defensive line which has been mentioned—is probably in poor condition so far as material organisation is concerned. If he is right Allied prospects are so much the brighter, and it is to bo said meantime that the Germans only became aware very recently of how badly they would need prepared defences in successive zones as a cover against the Allied offensive. ■

One of to-day's messages states that Germany rejects the conditions laid down by President Wilson, except that she is prepared, to evacuate invaded territory. A later message declares that she accepts President Wilson's terms—presumably the famous fourteen points. On paper the difference between acceptance and rejection of these points is considerable, but as matters are going in Germany it seems likely that her military masters have merely offered to engage in a, discussion of President Wilson's terms—a discussion which could easily bo made barren—in- tho hope of being allowed to withdraw the German armies from their present predicament in the Western theatre.