THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 76, 27 September 1916, Page 6

THE WAR

Combles has been captured, along with an important stretch of ground to the north-west and south-west. The battle-front may now be traced afresh on the map of the region republished in this issue. It runs from the south of Thiepval through tire height marked 153, then north of Courcelette, and curves eastward through the space between Martinpuich and Flers and the Le SarsGueudecourt road: then southwards, taking in Lesboeufs and Morval, probably along the road to the eastern side of Combles. Then it embraces Fregi.court, - "Rancourt, and Bouchavesnes, passing, more than half, a mile east of the road between, those villages. The gain of ground is perhaps seven, or eight, square miles, including the' considerable town of Combles and the villages Lesboeufs, Morval, and Rancour., or rather the ground they occupied and tho heaped debris of the buildings. Combles itself, as -the largest town site yet captured by the Allies in the offensive, naturally attracts a maximum of attention. But the place was probably taken with comparatively little difficulty, because it was practically surrounded. Every road to the town was already commanded by the Allies' fire. By the captur-e of Morval the British oat tho sole remaining road, from the north. The French, when they reached the edge of Fregicourt', were almost upon the road from the east—the only channel then remaining. Between these two roads there remained only a narrow sector to the north-east of the town. 'The whole of it waa within gun-fire range, and there was no prospect, that the Germans could, without immediate- relief, hold the town longer than "the supplies in it would last. It was thus sure to be taken except for the prospect of counter-attacks widening the narrow ground still untaken; and the British apparently had little trouble in breaking down the resistance of 'the remaining garrison. '

The attacks which have thus advanced about half 'the portion of the front between the Somme.) and tho Ancre were out of tho ordinary, inasmuch, as. both French and British attacked practically simultaneously. Since .the first big drive at the beginning of July it has-been usual for the French and British efforts to alternate; but this time, probably because the-capture of Combles was specially in view, both pushed together. An enormous bombardment preceded the advance. For three days- and nights it went on; and one description says that the previous efforts of the artillery were child's play to this. The gun-work of the Allies has already made description dumb ; nobody has been able to give his readers any real idea of the inferno of flame and uproar, of devastation and death and mutilation, that a great bombardment creates. All that can be said is that where the ground . is free from heavy natural obstructions, the guns sweep it clean of every living thing that is not buried in deep holes; no artificial structure can withstand the storm. Behind this terror of detonation and flying steel the Allies' infantry walk calmly and steadily over the battered ground. Only where machine-gunners in deep dug-outs have survived, or upon some only half-stricken section, is the resistance formidable.

It must not be forgotten that this trick of artillery was 'taught by the Gernjans. They invented it and developed it to their utmost power in the attack on Verdun. But it failed, there, as it is not failing on the Somme. The Allies have learned the lesson too well. They have gathered for use in their attacks an artillery power greater than the Germans ever had. and backed it up with unlimited supplies. At Verdun, the French defence was successful, as the German defence at. the Somme is not. It depended not. only upon the valour of the troops—which was its main strength—but upon the excellence of tho French gunnery. The French had gun ammunition in ample supply, and they had guns, that are famous, as the finest in the world, manned by gunners as fine as their "seventy-fives." They slew the German attackers in enormous numbers. Aiding these cannon wore the machineguns, which in their hands proved as difficult to knock out as the Germans' aro 'to-day. On the Somme the German defence is crumbling, mainly through the Allies' superiority in artillery. The. massed fire of the guns clears the ground for the troops to advance, and the Gorman artillery is not able to play upon the infantry with sufficient effect to stop them as the Qermans were so often stopped at Verdun.

The real cause of this failure is not yet explainer. Partly it must be the known inferiority of the German guns. The enemy's field artillery is not as good as the French or the British, and is not carpable either of such rapid fire or of such accurate placing; of shrapnel. Part-' ly it must be due to the way in which the Allies' artillery has hounded the German gune out, and forced them to

the rear, often so far back that they cannot effectively fire upon the advancing troops, for the French and British guns outrange the German. But another cause may be suspected. Germany is probably running short of ammunition. Tlie enormous efforts made at Verdun must have swallowed up- most of the accumulated reserves; and the other day an army order was said to hava been found urging economy, because the factories couid not keep up with the demand.

B i_ already .remarkable that the enemy's supply of explosives has been kept going so '"well. The blockade has not cut off all the cotton supply, but it must have reduced it to extremely small proportions above what comes from Turkey. This may have been got over by the use of wood-pulp for making a substitute for guricotton, one of the essen^ tial ingredients in cordite. Another equally essential constituent is nitroglycerine. The prevalent fat-famine in Germany would probably disappear if the war-lords did not need so much fatto manufacture glycerine. In all probability Germany's artillery reply to the Allies has reached its limit,: and that limit is fixed by the blockade.

Some aspects of the alleged approach of the German Foreign Minister, Vcm Jagow, to the American Ambassador with a view to inducing President Wilson to promote a 'peace movement, are dealt with in our editorial columns. It appears now that Yon Jagow's request may not have had the sympathy of tlie rest of. the German government. •■ It is stated that other members approached Mr. Gerard after Yon Jagow's visit, and that the Ambassador's trip to America may be postponed. Possibly Yon Jagow has gone beyond his instructions, hence his impending "retirement on account o£ ill-health." Or perhaps.the German Government, having read the obviouslyinspired message recently sent to America warning the' President that the hour for. mediation is not yet, has thought better of its plan. At all events, a German peace-feeler in the United States is not likely to do much good just now. Several weeks of reasonably good weather may still be expected in Europe; the Allies have begun to move at more than a merely measurable speed on the Somme as well as in the East; and they are not likely to listen to the blandishments of "diplomats while their ears are full of the triumphant roar of their own guns,, and of the reverberations of futile bombs dropped among civilians on British soil.