HAIG'S FIVE PUNCHES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1018, 10 November 1917, Page 8

HAIG'S FIVE PUNCHES.

LI.MJTKI) OBJECTIVE SYSTEM. Tli" system of :itiat’; adopted in < ; <-n»-ral }liiin' s jatot Macks upon the Gorman position- in I'laii'.li’i ■> i- not a pietmcscijie and clashing attempt to go as lar as the troops can, and then dig in. Nowhere does the infantry advance' beyond it, objective, an objective easily covered by the British artillery. When the men do run beyond ibis safe range they are recalled. In the last battle some of the troops actually entered Passclientlat'le village, but were recalled lo ih<> dual objective. The advantage of this system i.s that ouemv counter-attack' immediately tome undue., the fill] weight of the British drumfire, the new line, supported by the artillery, also pouting in its lire with a confidence born of knowledge of tin, support. The- German artillery lire is well within the range of the British counter-battery five, and this minimises (he peril to the new tine under consolidation. The system makes an absolutely clean sweep of the ground covered. All Germans in the area are either killed or captured, unless they start nuniing in lime to get away. The object of the Brilish attack's ilo kill German' and -hatt-i the morale of the. enemy, with as light a cost in lives as possible. Of the. nerve-shattering effects of the drumfire \vc have heard in many recent cables, and a, for the cost in lives, Genera! .Maurice (Director of Military Operation.-) declare,| neently that the German casualties under these new attack tactics have been 75 per cent greater than the Brili-b. YAFGABFF. WORK HONE. The British have gone into this offensive in the happy po-ilion of doing useful work whether they win or lose their objectives. H they win—good; the Huns are driven from Holders, from Ostend and Zecbrugge. submarining is damaged, a large part of Belgium is redeemed. And i! these things are Too much for their bauds to grasp —well, they will still have many Germans killed or wounded, or unnerved, and victory will be so much nearer. The policy of attrition goes forward in either case. file Huns v,ill-ln-war is further damaged. And who knows that bis grip oil despoiled Belgium will not slacken and fail He has. hj is true, fortified this sector with prodigal wealth of labour and material. Xo pari of the world i.s move heavily fortified Ihun the Belgian coast to-day, unless it be the great, fortifications of the German coast, where even Nelson would not hove da mi lo i'lttaelc a sheltering fleet. Ostend dself has. been nearly blown to atoms by British airmen, arid Zeehrugge is badly lorn. % But right up the r-otiM. -evened in sham house:;, in -hrubbene-. and a:no: „ ■ml dunes are powerful l .itv ri- -. Vulnerable point..of lire roast are wired, and railways have been built, with gnus on steel trucks, so that attacks may be mot at any point. Zeehrugge itself lias been developed into a large .submarine port. From it the commerce destroyers, including raiders large: than submarines, steal out to sea. Basins and docks have been built. Heavy guns:, some of them 15-inch naval guns, are mounted along (lie foreshore. Large mine fields with secret passages have been laid off the vca.st. Amoil routes, from which the London raiders come, have been constructed in the rear of the city, and airships and largo flotillas of aeroplane; have been established there. A SEASONED ARMY. But tin British, having chosen tiie banlegruunii. will batter away again-t the Germans for the rest of the sear, well content, even if Zcebruggee i- not gained, hut the Germans' will-Ui-war i- further impaired. From the front to-day, says Keith Murdock, the most, cheerful optimists in the world are coming. 1 have never met men so convinced that their enemies are poor, weak things that victory lies with them, and all the wonderful future is before them. The front is still the most bracing plate m Europe—especially the Australian front, where men find strength to laugh in the face of death, and to endure great hardships cheerfully for tie- -ako of their country and their home folk. The British Tommy looks a very diliefent man to day from the- Tommy of two years ago. He is lit, hard, tanned, and confident. He fee'-, a man's strength, and has a strong man’s determination. He seems to my, “Whatever happen.;, we know we can Ho a man's .work.'' Aon can see now the difference between a trained and u raw army —an army which fought, and one which ha, not even been hardened, on the di ill-ground. The old German contempt for the British soldier is dead. In its place are fear and praisee, and though even now a raw division newly out from England may do only moderately well in it- first lights, Berlin confesses that the British soldiers are great foes. Tlie German war correspondents have framed a list of German regiments in their order of “fright fulness.” They put the Highland r- lirst, and among the first for offon-ivc lighting they put the Australian-.