THE LOOP

Evening Star, Issue 16263, 4 November 1916, Page 9

THE LOOP

A YTTAL POINT. IT SHOULD BE HELD. LOWEE DANUBE REACHES. ITALY SGORES. [By Crjt7cd«.] A singular silence has fallen over the Dobrudja operations. The last we heard from the enemy's side was when they exultantly boasted several days ago that the Russo-Rumaiiians were rleeing precipitately towards tho pontoon bridges at Braila, Galat/,, lsakcha, and Tnleea. It ■was suggested here that the RussoRumanians would make a. stand on the Bab-a Dagh line, and, oddly enough, after tho enemy had claimed to 'have reached a point immediately south of that line all further claims of progress from them ceased: Wo Have- had nothing since save the announcement that MaekonsenV; forces had established cntact with the retreating infantry and cavalry. After that there was silence. A German communique today states that Constanza has been bombawled from the sea. but nothing is .said of Mac-ken-sen's operations ; while a Russian communique announces that the situation in the Dobrudja is unchanged. All this, together with the "announcement that General Sakharoil is taking over the command of tho Russo-Uumauiaiis, strongly suggests that the D'dirudja is not to bo abandoned, but that every eil'ort is U> bo made, to hold tho Paha i)at;h line. Possibly the Russo-Rumanians have, taken up strong position*, and Maekensen is laboriously dragixinvr his transport, mis, and munitions through tho mud of' (he Dobrudja, ami making preparations for an

attack. ]f Sakharoif reaches the snot before the- attack develops Mackensen will probably meet with a far diileront reception to anything experienced liv him in his previous attacks, particularly as ho is now handicapped in the matter of communications, and Russian reinforcement* must he pouring hi. Had the Rueso-Rumanians been under the command of a first-class man before, the Rasova-Tu/.la line might never have been surprised, and the Cherna-yoda-Constanai railway mie.ht never have cT. 1 loSt ' Tk ' tt<?l " lat ' , t] 'an never; but. bakharotTs appointment is an admission that the Russians have only had a secondrater m command all these .weeks, and they-expected such a. man to beat a. <*onera! hke Mackenson! THJi LOOPATGALATZ. '-IW accompanying map shows the. loop 01 the Danube at Braila (or Rvahilov) Oaiatz, and Kcni, and will gi v . ; a c i<nr cwioeptioii of the reasons why it is so impotent to hold ri.e Balm Dagh line, lurther south. A s the SO nlc at the bottom shows, the month of the loop is only a few "iiU-s wide, and is dosed by the Budshak I- lis.. ]y,„g 0; ~t. of .\f a tcl,h,. It would n.ik« an excellent place for a stand bv the rearguard whiio tho main body crossed on Ik- pontoon, bridges. But if the enemy Hm ■ \ ,■?| OS f <!M,^1 , , °'' the ' Hills ,-| ! }?' " hh *° comn »and the raila<!s at Urmia. Galata, and Reni with heu- heavy guns. Xow these three railvit ik "of m DanUbe co ?stitute the tot R,,= , « Col "iminicatinn between R s,,a and Rumania, and the co „trol of iHse poni ts by tho enemy's artillery wonld he a grave embarrassment to the Allies Ihe h*ivth River, which outers tho" Danube between Galnt* and S, is erased by a modern iron rail a « Thi Lf " ' l r niail communicalions. J. ha* bridge is 300 yards long, and would be exposed to the fire of heavy A , Tn ot four or live miles, if tCVemv It i.v. therefore, a- consideration of „„„..„,,„ ■•mo of communication for the alone h^^iy -ion.-, wh.'lo (he amount of R-i-sian shiiFng contained in the Black Sea " S Z and there were h, rficn Z. of ships Heongmc to Britain and other nations, wlueh ] l; ,d been Mini in br the closing of the Dardanelles So C as the lower reaches of tlv- Dr-nub-'are controlled by the Allies, all thi, nMfcs " oi shipping will bo ava.ih.ble f,-, r t!v t-nns port or Russian uroops and supplies to Rumania. Brnila. Ga.k.t/... Lkeha, and are all important port*, vhcro Uo vessels orn unload, while Suima, n.t tho entrance to the Danube mouth of the same name, ;*_•>. well-equipped port, whom large ocean-going .steamers can "disrhnrge Kussia has several ports on the Black Sea connected with the interior bv railway' including Odessa and Seba-stnpol, wh-re .roops and munitions can bo shipped" for the Danube. In fact, the Danube is «apab.o ot taking over the heaviest part, <>f tho work of supplying the Russian armies in Rumania, and it is improbable, therefore, that it will be sacrificed without a big etl'crt to save it. ALL GOIXG WELL. At the end of three weeks from the timo when King Constantino is slid to h'ave predicted tho overthrow of Rumania uithm 15 days rf.ll is going well. Ti:e latest enemy communiques claim nothing more than tho ropulse. of Rumanian attacks south and south-east of Brasso. where a couple of days ago thr-v asserted that they had "broken" the Rumanians, and a vague claim to progress south-east of the Rotcuturni Pass. On the other hand, tJto Rumanians report that the situation is unchanged on the .Moldavian front, and' all-day fighting resulted in tho repulse of the enemy in the Pra-bova-Val-ley by counter-attacks; while the pursuit of the enemy west of the Vulcan Pass continues, numerous guns and limbers with much material having been captured. It is evident that, the" enemy arc •jecr.rcly lield, and all serious danger of Rmnania being oveirun ought now to be past. Presumably Hindenburg has made his big effort, with every ounce of strength that he could put behind it. If not, he is almost as bad a. bungler as Falkeuhayn, for he must ha,ve known that the opportunitv opened up for him ,by Russia's strategica'i errors would nob last long. But, judging by the way in which he wont Ktraisrht to tho vital point, and sent his ablest lieutenants to take 'command there. Hindenburg'a grasp of ga-and strategy is worthy of respect, and if. he has failed the inference is that he has put forth all his strength and found it inadequate. £till, he blundered badly in not gaining additional forces for employment against Rumania by shortening JiL western line, and when history has adjusted tha facts to their proper perspective tliis will be clearlv recognised

THE RUSSIAN" FRONT. The Germans claim to have stormed a Russian position on the left (or west) bank of the Stokliod, and to. have captured 1,500 prisoners, and- the Russians 'admit that the enemy carried a salient in that There is still vague talk about a terrific battle raging from the Tripet to Rumania, but nothmg in tiie communiques to suggest anything more than severe local fighting. 'Of course, it is Russia's proper policy to put on pressure all a'ong the line-, find especially in Volhynia and Galioia* in order to prevent tho enemy from further weakening their lines in order to send troops to Rumania. Rut her true policy is to shift the'main weight of Iter offensive to the Rumanian fronts. and there is every indication that she is doing this in spite of-the correspondents' talk. But while the reshuffling is in progress, half a million men or mope are out of action, and we can expect nothing effective until the operation is completed. AX ITALIAN VICTORY. The Italians have, taken another substantial bite out of the enemy's lint on the Carso, capturing the hills "east of Mount Pecinka, and advancing to a point a kilometre east of the village of Sogati. They have also occupied several points southeast of Oppacchiasella, and taken nearly 5,000 prisoners, six guns, and many machine guns. The sector where this latest stroke luts been delivered lies about six miles due south of Gorizia. If the Italians can push forward slop bv step in tlio present fashion they mav'b'e able to extend their right ila'nk down into tho peninsula of I stria, by next, spring, and greatly lengthen the enemy's line lis a result. THE AUTUMN PAINS. The rains of autumn aiv heavily on the Sommo, .:jhl turning the whole district into a sea of liquid mud. Consequently, iittle is Jp'ing dotw, and little is likely to be done. When tlio frosts come and harden the ground it is probable that vigorous local attacks will |. c undertaken, but even then it i* not likelv thatfighting will be restitih'd on tiie grand seaie. Probably few people now have ,:nv

illusions about- the Somme .iffenMve being our grand attack. We are still far shortof the mass ol heavy niuis that we requite w.iei; we out forth our main ettTeit. We. should rave them in plenty by next spring, and the:: it is that the real tm.'-ef-war % likely to begin. Rut for Russia's sirateuical errors Bulgaria would have been overrun and (.'o)ißt,yitinoplo captured by men, and the Allies would have been fre- to t.-ut lorth practically their whole strength against the Central Powers alone. As itis, we can only hope that no undue delay in completing the irraml combination will result.