FIRST FLUSH OF HUN ENTHUSIASM PASSED.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 1 April 1918, Page 5

FIRST FLUSH OF HUN ENTHUSIASM PASSED.

• OFFENSIVE NOT GOING AS WELL j AS EXPECTED. ; LONDON. March.,3o. I ; The United Press correspondent, . writing on March 9, states he believes j that during: the last 48 hours Hindenj burg's cohorts have been_brought prac- ; tically to a standstill. From carefully sifted information from widely different j sources he is convinced that the battle j plans of the German war lords have signally miscarried!, and that the pre- , sent spasmodic thrusts are due partly to the recomposition of the enemy as a fighting force and! a readjustment of '■: the scheme of offensive. I Prisoners intimate that the Germans expected! to occlfpy Amiens on the fifth or sixth day, cuttinsr the Paris-Calais railway; yet Amiens still stands. Similarly as to Arras, which was yesterday's immediate objective, coupled with, an effort to capture Vimy by a flanking movement. ■.'.*• I Withering machine-gun and artillery fire checked the Kaiser's storm troops, i Further cyclonic figßting is expectedl all along the line, but" the first flush, of the enemy's enthusiasm has passed. Prisoners say the offensive is not going as well as was expected, while the losses are hiech. However, the Germans^ discipline is such that they will ! undoubtedly continue the offensive despite the lower spirit of the troops. Eighty divisions have been already badly mauled, many being unfit to return to the firing line before the tide is de- • finitely turned, but fresh divisions are being hurried up, arid the tired enemy is trying to advance everywhere possible, particularly southward of the I Somme in an effort to reach Amiens. The enemy is steadily losing his headway.