NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17878, 26 August 1918, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR.

There is fighting in France now along a front of roughly eighty miles. From Mercatel, south of Arras, to Lihons, west of Chaulnes, the British are engaged in a series of thrusts, now on one sector, now on another. Between Chaulnes and Lassigny the battle is virtually confined to tho artillery. Between Lassigny and the Oise, although the messages give no details, it is evident that :tho French are pressing forward, they have crossed the Divette. East of the Oise one phase of the battle has come to an end, because the Germans have been driven across iho Oise from the south and across the Ailette from the Oise to a point north of Soissons, and the French are now devoting their attention to tho oxposed German flank between the Aisne and the Ailette. The whole purpose of the Allied offensive, evidently, is to keep tho German front fluid, to discover its weaknesses and to exploit them. The possibility of a heavier thrust at, one point js kept in reserve, and tho Germans are thus prevented from throwing the whole of their weight info a counter-offensive. At tho moment the enemy's reserves are dispersed, some facing the British in front of Bapaume, some east of Albert, some at Chaulnes, and others facing the French west of the Oise, while others still must be at hand to meet, the new threat involved in General Mangin's offensive. It is impossible to discuss tho whole of tho operations in detail, but on each sector there may be one or two matters calling for elucidation.

On the extreme left General Byng has extended the front of his attack to a point three or four miles south, of Arras, and he has advanced across the Arras-Bapaumo road to Croisillcs and to the neighbourhood of Sapignies, little more *han two miles north of Bapaume, tho advance being carried thus to a depth of five miles or more. Achict-le-Grand, which was won and lost, has again been captured, and the New 'Zealanders, by a brilliant dash, have reached Avesnes, a suburb of Bapaume. Tho advance has been

made in spite of increased German resistance, ' and it is important because tho enemy has been driven from his socalled battle positions—tho mam lino of defence—and has been prevented from consolidating new positions. Moreover, reinforcements must have been poured into Bapaume, which is a key position, and in all probability a tremendous struggle is now raging north and west of .the city.

Tlio importance of Bapaume is obvious. Two national highways lead to it, ono from Cambrai and the other from Peronno, and there aro at lenst six supplementary roads. These must all have been restored, and in all probability tho railway communications with Cambrai and St. Quentin have been rebuilt. It was ideally situated for an advanced base, serving the whole German front between Anas and the Sommo. It is safe to say that if the Germans lose it now they loso their hold on the high ground to tho south and south-west and will have to come back from their strong positions on the plateau behind Thiepval. And thoy loso a great deal moro than that. After the British surprise attack south of the. Somme tho enemy evidently made up his mind to make the Albert-Chaulnes-Nesle-Noyon lino the basis of his defensive organisation, but tho loss of Bapaume would produce precisely tho same kind of situation as that which forced the retreat to tho Hindcnburgline early last year. Tho actual situation is not tho same, of course, because in 1917 tho British and French had cut the Bapaumc-Peronne road and tho urgent need of the moment for the enemy was a shorter and stronger defensive lino. But the general effect is similar, for the Germans must now either counter-attack in great force or accept tho necessity for a retreat on a wide front.

Between Bapaume and the Somme the position depends very largely on the result of the battle to .the north. It is true that the British .have gained Albert and that .they have crossed the Albert-Bray road, but so far the push on this sector does not appear to have had any great weight behind it. The German line is now being pulled back because of tho threat to Bapaume. However, the battle has burst out again south of tho Somme, for an attack between the river and Chaulnes has gained two or three miles, and the villages of Foucaucourt, Fontaine and Dompierro are all threatened. A weakness in tho enemy's defence on this sector might permit a British advance that would have an immediate influence on the position north of tho river. No immediate threat to Chaulnes seems to bo involved, and as Chaulnes is another of tho key positions it goes without saying .that the enemy has concentrated considerable forces to cover it.

No important developments have occurred on the French front between the

.....its and the Oise, except that the French have crossed the Divette at Evricourt, about midway between Lassigny and Noyon. They aro still facing formidable defensive positions, like Hill 165, just to tho north of Evricourt, which guards the flank of Noyon; while north-east of Lassigny they have to fight their way up tho slopes of the ridge that culminates in Hill 170. The approaches to Noyon have therefore to bo won by a continuation of the hard fighting that drove the Germans from the high ground south of Lassigny and then from Lassigny itself. There seems to be an impression in some quarters that the French may cross tho Oise east of Noyon and turn the position on that flank. But tho lino of tho Oise is easily held by machine-guns and field artillery. Tho river can bo bridged at various points, at Sempigny, south of Noyon, at Pontoise, at Varesnes, Brctigny and Quierzy. But these points are well defined and are bound to be guarded, and a failure on the part of the Germans to hold the crossings would bo emphatic evidenco of weakness.

The success of General Mangin's operations in the angle of the Oise and the Aisae has been startlingly complete. Ihe advance was apparently undertaken to clear the flank of General Humbert's advan'co, but it speedily developed into a full offensivo, with the lesult that the whole of tho ground between the Aisne and the Ailette and between the Oise and a lino from Soissons to Crecy-au-Mont has been cleared of the enemy. As it stands it is a ■very fine achievement, because the Germans were powerfully posted with all the advantage of position And the operations aro_ obviously incomplete, for the Germans could not conceivably attempt to hold on with ten miles of a flank exposed to attack. There may bo a good deal of stiff fighting, because Mangin's advance has produced a crisis affecting the whole German front on tho Aisne and the Vesle, and the enemy will have to decide quickly whether to hold on or to quit. If he elects to carry out a readjustment he will have to fight to cover the withdrawal of guns and stores and the destruction of dumps. If he decides to hold on along tho Vesle he will have to clear the threatened flank and reestablish it against any- possible assault,