PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 29, 29 October 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The capture of Aleppo can only be taken to mean that- Turkey as a military Power is on her last legs. At the moment of writing there is no' definite confirmation of. the report, that she-has offered to surrender, but it is now manifestly unlikely that her submission will be much longer delayed. Not so long ago Aleppo, or rather the vital railway junction a. few miles < further north from which the Bagdad railway runs east to Mesopotamia, and another line south into Syria,' was a very distant objective, and much interest centred in the possibility that it might be captured by an advance from a landing in tho Gulf of Alex&ndretta. As to-day's reports show, General Ailenby's troops have reached Aleppo after an overland advance which has been made, at remarkable speed even when account is taken of Turkey's military collapse. Aleppo is two hundred miles north of Damascus and one hundred north of the junc- , tion of Horns (where a branch line from the port of Tripoli joins the Syrian main railway), which the British were recently reported to have captured. Since- they attacked the Turkish line's across the Plain of Sharon on September 19, General Allenby's troops have advanced approximately three hundred miles to the north, . Though their later progress has been weakly opposed, they had in-the first instance to overcome and defeat powerful enemy forces and subsequently to break the enemy's resistance in positions in which he enjoyed exceptional facilities for fighting delaying actions. As a whole their .achievement ranks as ono of the!'most brilliant of the war, and will take a proud place in history,

As news stands the British have not yet occupied the junction north of Aleppo, but its speedy capture is anticipated. This accomplished, the Turkish army in Mesopotamia will bo- isolated, in the senso that it will bo cut off from its main ba-se of supply. It may escape into the hill country north of the- Bagdad railway, but it cannot, in these circumstances retain its' organisation as an army. An official report today shows that in Mesopotamia the British are .attacking the Turks in the area between the Tigris and the Persian border, at a : distance of ibout 150 miles north : of Bagdad and' 130 south of Mosul. Though ground has been gained, the enemy is resisting firmly, but his efforts will soon collapse when the British are astride his railway communications north of Aleppo. If the campaign continues, the naval forces co-operating with Genekal Allenby will no doubt seize Alexandretta and other ports on the gulf to which it gives its name. Convenient bases would thus be obtained from which to work along the Turkish railways, east into Mesopotamia, and west and north into Anatolia; In all likelihood, however, Turkey will surrender in the very near futuic.

' No great change is reported at the moment on the British front in the Western theatre, but to the south the- French are driving in the salient, which the enemy has hitherto been defending with very great obstinacy betwen the Oise and the Serre. As yet , not many'details are in hand, but the French are advancing rapidly, and apparently have made considerable captures of men and material. Carried out in good order, , the retreat in which tho enemy is engaged would _ for the time being ease his defensive problems to some extent by shortening and straightening his front. On the other hand he is being drivenback upon a lino generally parallel with a railway which has an allimportant place in his system of communications. Such a line is, of course, more than ordinarily vulnerable'because its penetration at any one of a number of points may split asunder the armies told off for its defence and interrupt their line oE retreat.

The Italians are reported'to be continuing their offensive, and have captured two thousand prisoners in an advance beyond the Puve. In view of the political conditions said tn have arisen in the Dual Monarchy it seems not impossible that .the Italians may achieve a success which will handsomely balance their disasters of last year.