THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 22, 25 July 1918, Page 6

THE WAR

There is nothing to show that fche German command has yet had to make any heavy inroads into the reserves hitherto retained for the main blows of the campaign. The progress of the battle at this stage suggests that it may not be necessary for any great diversion of strength to be made, for the with--drawal has been so far handled in a masterly fashion considering the extreme difficulties imposed on the enemy by the shrewd blow inflicted by the Allies at Soiseons. It is reported that the enemy has removed his aitillery from the positions on the Marne to strengthen his flanks, but notwithstanding this' weakening, the Allies are making their advance across the river only by email and' slow stages, being evidently impeded at every step by the enemy's rear-guardl defences, lightly 1 aimed 1 though they may be. On the flanks—that is between, Soissons and the Marne on the west, and betweecn Reims and the lUaa'ne on the east—the battte rages fiercely bnt with comparatively little movement. The western side has not advanced' appreciably inwards, except for slight progress near the middle of its length, at ■Oulchy. The front is still approximately marked by the road from. Soissons to Chateau TMsrry, which ia nearly straight. The road ftas h«w • im.wed. ;i short distance

in places. ' About five miles south o£ OulcMy the front leaves the road aiidi turns south-east, rejoining the Matne cast of JauJgorme, ii few miles west of Doimaiis, but the lino hero is indefinite, and necessarily bo, since the battle has apparently deserted tho sector. „

There is irregular loose fighting along the Marne itself, clearly of a character showing that it is designed merely to delay the advance, which is not yet being vigorously pressed. On the east flank, between Dormans on the Marne and Reims, some of the fiercest fighting has most recently been reported, It is on this front that the British divisions have been placed; and the sector is that on which the British who received the first shock of the Crown Prince's attack between Pi.eims and Craonne would have been found now if they had not been destroyed as fighting units by that attack. Italians are also assisting the French on this front. It appears that there are Australians among the British force, which so far is not a large one; but the location of the Australians is doubtful. It was made to appear yesterday that there are some of them also on the Marne, a few miles east of Chateau Thierry, but this is not positive, and would, if true, indicate an extraordinary degree of mixing of units, even on a front which is notable already for it 3 heterogeneity.

Reducing the latest information from tho front to its simplest terms, it may he said that the Foch trap, consisting, in the cablegram phrase,'of'a huge pair of pincers, still exists,'but that the jaws show no sign at present of being able to close before the material between them, or most of it, is withdrawn. There seems to be no instance in .this war, on the West front at all events,' in which the strategy of the nippers has worked successfully; but it has failed signally and even picturesquely on many occasions. There seems to be every reason to expect it to fail in the great majority of cases in which the imperilled army is coolly handled and retains its discipline, even when, as in this case, its means of exit are poor. The present battle, in fact, indicates very well the extreme difficulty of closing; round a big aimy Badly placed, for the Heims-Marne-Soissons salient was singularly bad in the matter ,of roads of entry and exit. 'The salvation of the Germans is no doubt largely due to the fact that although tho main lines leading to the far rear, north of the Aisne, are very scanty, those. within the sides of the battle area are moderately plentiful, and the ground is naturally strong for the purposes of defence.

The Montdidier affair is now officially described as a local operation, as was concluded in yesterday's notes. It has gained ground, but the French have not yet worked their way as far forward as the Avre or its tributary, the Doras. They now overlook the Avre, but are themselves dominated from the opposite side, of the valley, and the result of the attack so far is not important. If it was designed, as may have been the case, to hamper the reinforcement of the Crown Prince's armies in the big battle area, it has probably had little effect, or it would not have been so iuddenly met by the strong resistance reported. In this region, at aft events, it is evident that the Germans are fully ft!ive to <he advantage theirx forward positions give for future operations, and intend to 1 retain them,