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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 428, 6 August 1915, Page 4

In eonimeiil mg open I hi.’ Russian military it mdion ” Shrapmd. '’ whose v ar notes in ’the “Otago Daily Timis” are always worth remliug. makes special rcl'eienec to Ilie importance of the tierman Optra! ions in ilie nort.liernimist area, of hostilities. m Suwalki and the Baltic Provinces. He. says; ‘■'rhe (Icemans claim |n l-e approaching i.iio \l;irsh w A\ ihm ■ Pel rograd railway in

several )>la<-< s. hut partumlar’y m'ar Dtnuibcrg. General v<n Bulow's army is striking towards )..:vo .' k xandiovo (a little io the smith west <>f Diinabe.rg, mi the Drimi). and the railway. According !'■ lhe German report ion Bulow s troop; arc opposed only by w- ik Rushan forces. 'rhe lurnsl at Riga ves a feint to cover the approach to I tic M arsnw eommiiiiications. This ;■!- teratiim in the objective will hare been a surprise io the Russi-nis. A p’pari nt ly they wok*' up to ilie danger only ten da.'. ;or so ago. it the Germans gel astride this railway it wil] he a serums matter for the Russians. because it is a, move directed against the base to which thi y have to retire namely, the second lim* of defence running through Brest l.itovsk. If the (Iceman-' capture Viiiiii. ilioy will have a i-ini’e from which, apart from cutting the V. ;< i-.-.aw railway , tiiey ca-i thriisi at I’ig;’ ami Brest Lttovsk. Bv obtaining a from exit mliug from Libati through Wilna I<> M iusk. they (•an render Br-.'S< Eit<.\: k iiidena! !<•, ami Riga will he an easy prey. The strength of <lcnera 1 'in Bulow’s position lies in lhe fuel that Im can receive munitions by sea through Eibau amt Konigsberg. From 'noili these towns t icfe arc railwa y communication.;, lue most d'rect. being from Lilian. Besides, tiie Germans can make use. of the very navigable Xie.min as far as Kov no. where they pick up another railway. Altogether this srenis t.’m most serious ndvame m the whole e.i<lerii 1 heat re of war. I'he loss of Warsaw would be a

1 ..-ig.-itollc compared with the loss of Wilma, ami Dumlberg. Given with that, lhe capturi- of Riga, tho road t<> F‘ troy rad is open.” There is, at i.;e time of writing, no news through to day with regard to this particular section of contlict. ami the absence of any German claim to success would s-'rve to confirm tin- impression. given by the latest Russian messages, that the German advance had bei'ii cheeked, for the time al: any rate.

As to the GiTiiian descent that .s being made towards Riga. <m the Baltic, he stresses the importance of that h'libour as follows: —'‘Next, to i'll overwhelming disaster to the Russians in the Polis'i quadrilateral, the most serious thing that could luippt n to them wotdd lie the rapture of Riga. The capture of this great port would open a. road to Petrograd, by giving the Rmnain comm.'ind of the coast to the <lull' of Einland, it would also give the (liTinnns a strong anti convenient base from which they might, get astride the Wilmi-Pet rogrnd railway. At present Riga is to the Russians a. con cement port for torpedo boats, light cruisers, and submarines, all of watch can be used to watch < lerinaii transports biinging troops and mu ii it ions to Eibau. The capture of it would give I lit- (iermans a splendid base for an advance, either on PefrograD 11,1 Moscow, as there is a, railway In bolli places. Ij flu- Russian armies ;o-c cooped up or destroyed in the Polish (piadi'ilatei'al. the advance mi either of these places is within the bounds of possisibility The Russians, in recognition of this, have already liiutcd that they are quite prepared to fall hick mi the Volga. (Inc great !';>(•• lor against I'ic Gerinan attempt Io advance so far is the clement of time. Every day that passes us making the position of tin (h rmans in Eraiue more ( lit ic;i 1. and is in creasing llie opporl unit iss d the Itali'iiis. The danger of the ( terman advance upon Riga may lie said to accomit for flic, aeti'.ity of the Bri-tii-.li sid.-marines in the I‘altic. According Io (n'liiiiin account s. there, arc al least six of those British vessels operating in the Baltic. They are doing good work. One has sunk a. (Icrmati crttisi r. ami now there is advice of a. Oerman transport, vessel having- Keen sunk. T'ae activity of these vessels will end with the closing of llie Russian ports by ice when, vviiilt r arrives in the northern hemis plu-re. tin that account the loss ol Li'qan. the only ice-free port, is a, serious oim.

I haling with the position behind Warsaw and the Middle Vistula, front, the same writer says: “it may be suggested that- the Grand Duke has held on to t lit' Vistula, front too long, anti that his means of escape are now not, too certain. The advance of the Austro-Gcrmans northwards from (. holm and Lublin certainly looks dangerous, but, as the Russian reports do not emphasise that advance, it may, perhaps, be inferred that it has not gone far. Any great thrust from these two railway towns would imperil very' g! ea t I Hi.;, forces on l lie Vistula and

around Marsaw. Their direct re I real ii|><>ii Brest Litovsk would then be rendered quite unsafe. Either th< (.Irriiid Duke is sure of his power, or else his lorees in.- mm- so fixed by lhe l.l; ruian pincer slrttli’g.y that he canmit withdraw them, ami they must either light to the death or si;i; :-i:d('>‘- Stm li may l>e the dramatic result, wim-ii iim Florman Pre u s Bureau Las advised the world to 'expect ; lint, as long as the Jjhhsions Hold the Xarew front as well as limy are doing, it seems that flic (,r>',ml Duke has reason for holding <m m the west of the Polisfi quadrilateral as long as he hil.’-

llaving tAken such full advantage of “Shrapnel’s” excellent- notes, ami having made editorial reference to the tall of W;tr.-,aw. there is little t.o add with regard to the hrtlt)»• ■■area in the east, excepting to say that Hie overnight messages —the only ones to hand since yesterday’s issuepoint Io the Russians being able to hold uji the Au9rn German .attacks in South-east Poland, between the Vistula and the Bug. ami to carry out their retirement there in an orderlv manner, and that silence still reigns over (lie lines stretching southwards from Sokal through Eastern Galicia. From neither Flan ders, France. Italy, nor Gallipoli comes anything of recent date that 'l'-ifi.-. b‘ Jni'.e any serious bearing on the general military situation. On matters cf policy anil diplomacy it is to he noted that the German physician who has been in attend ance on the Sultan holds out no hop< of liis recovery, indeed foretells his early demise ; that Italy is on the verge of a formal declaration of war against Turkey, with a view to jiarlicipation in the Dardanelles; and 1 hai' the Greek King s recovery from his illness should bring M. Venezelos and his supporters early into power, giving’ prospect of possible active intervention on Hu' part of Greece.