NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17336, 27 November 1916, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

The unexpected appearance of the Austro-Germans at Craiova is still, quite evidently, puzzling the military critics, and the "Rumanians have been so very economical in the distribution of accurate information that it is even now impossible to ascertain precisely what did happen. In some quatrers it is suggested that the dash of the onemy to Craiova was nothing more than a raid, but it was certainly sufficiently serious to prejudice the whole position in Little "Wallachia. No doubt as soon as the Rumanians gave way in the valley of the Jiul, von Falkcnhayn sent a mounted column south with instructions, by forced marches, to occupy Craiova before the Rumanians could rally: to the defence of the town, and if the truth wore known it would probably bo found that the enemy had made good use of his mounted troops to outflank the Rumanians and attack their lines of communication. It is apparent that the Rumanians were attempting to hold the Jiul valley with inferior forces, and that, devoting their attention to the enemy's main advance, they neglected their flanks. Possibly, also, while they -were fighting in the valleys, they took it for granted that the mountain tracks were secure, or that ill was sufficient merely to patrol them. It was this blunder, as far as can bd gathered, that allowed the' Germans to push a force over the Torzburg Pass while the Rumanians were busyiug themselves rendering the Predeal safe. But so very little information is available concerning the fighting in

the Jiul valley that it is impossible at present to say how the enemy came to reach Craiova so rapidly. That their dash was not expected is shown by tho fact that the Rumanians on tho Orsora sector were standing their ground and were making no preparations to retreat, although when tho enemy reached Tirgochil the Orsoya army may well have considered thab its lines of communication were likely isoon to bo threatened. Jt is a question now whether this force will get clear. It is in full retreat, abandoning Orsova and Turnu Scverin in succession. According to Professor Lydc, Turnu Scverin has a population of 120,000 and is the second city of the kingdom, but the "Statesman's Yearbook,'' which summarises the results of the census of 1912, does not enumerate it among the towns with more than 25,000 inhabitants, and tho " Encyclopaedia Britannica" gives the population in 1000 as being under 20,000. It is a modern and expanding town, important as a river and rail junction; and in recent years its trade has increased rapidly, because of the attention devoted to the development of tho river traffic. There was near it in tho old days a tower built by the Roman Emperor Sc-venis in the third century, and from this " Turris Scvcri" the town ultimately took its name. Before that it had had some importance, because of its proximity to the great bridge of twenty arches which Trajan built over the Danube. The river at this point is some 4000yds broad.

If the reports concerning the operations in the Jiul valley had been fuller it would have been possiblo to anticipate tho general trend of the campaign on the plains. But one is left in doubt whether the Rumanian resistance collapsed on both banks, whether the army made its retreat in good order,, and whether thero is any prospect of a stand on the lino of the Oltetu. between tho Jiul and tho Alt. The German official wireless story declares that the Rumanians were twice defeated in pitched battles, in one of which they employed all their available reserves, but the condition in which the army retreated is not indicated. Prom the fact that the enemy's advance was so rapid it is to be inferred, of course, that no further resistance was offered to his march southwards, and the question is whether the Rumanians managed to retreat west and to join forces with their comrades in the Alt valley. The enemy now commands the greater part of Little Wallachia with its various roads and railways, the only unbroken Rumanian force remaining being that which was at Orsova. The position of this army is*' highly critical.

As for the prospect of holding the line of the Alt, it is to bo remarked that the enemy claims to have broken the Rumanian resistance at Calimanesci, where the road from Pitesci touches the Alt, so that on this sector there seems to be nothing now to prevent von Falkenhayn's column from deploying on the plains. Moreover it is admitted that. Germans and'Bulgarians have crossed the Danube at two points west of Turnu Magttrele, at tho confluence of the Alt and the Danube. Zimnitza is one of tho recently developed river ports, the terminus of a branch railway, and a collecting centre for grain and live stock. Generally speaking tho Rumanian bank of the Danube is low and swampy and the lower reaches of the northern tributaries are very liable to flood. But here and there a tongue of firmer ground reaches down to the river, giving a site for a riverside town , and small port. These towns have corresponding river ports on the Bulgarian side, Giurgevo and Rustcb.uk, Zimnitza and Sistova, Turnu Magurelc and Nikopol, Calafat and Vidin being examples of this pairing. Islacz. another of the points at which tho Bulgarians have forced the passage of the Danube, is close to tho confluence of the Alt, but west of it.

Beyoud the Austrian report that the Rumanians are offering a stubborn resistance on the Romnik sector —Romnik being a few miles south of Calimanesei—there is nothing to suggest that the Rumanians are meeting the formidable western attacks at all strongly. Thero is no news from the rest of the northern front, and in the Dobrudja both sides claim to have been successful, the Russians recording a definite advance by their left wing along the coast towards Constanza. At the moment the Dobrudja fighting may be ignored, because it shows no signs of influencing the main situation. And the main situation is obviously critical. The best that can be said from the Allied point of view is that the Rumanians, if they elect to hold tho line of the Alt, will have a front of about 150 miles to defend instead of over three hundred miles of frontier, but the advantage of initiative and hitting power is so obviously with the enemy that the shortened front scarcely seems likely to improve the prospects of an effective resistance.