NUMBERS THE DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE CAMPAIGN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16169, 4 March 1916, Page 7

NUMBERS THE DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE CAMPAIGN

MR. HILAIRE BELLOC'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION. STRUGGLE WILL BE DECIDED ON LOUVEMONT RIDGE, ,■ i i''.,j . .".? • , . •• ' ■; ' ,y 'London, 1 March 2. ','/ Writing in Land and Water, Mr. Hilaire Belloc states: "The enemy has launched a great offensive, upon which will turn the' future of the war. It is another proof that numbers are the determining factor in' : the campaign. The'result will have a great moral effect. The French object is to inflict such losses as to render the enterprise, whatever . the result, a strategic German defeat. The Germans claim that they can maintain a battering-ram of irresistible density, weight and momentum. The French occupy the main ridge of Louvemont, covering Verdun, where the struggle will be decided. Had the enemy not occu- % pied Douaumont, the whole ridge would have been in the possession of the French, but in taking Douaumont the enemy, carried the highest point of the ridge, which is a position of great value. The situation is still critical, but the successful counter-offensive of the French on Saturday destroyed the enemy's immediate advantage." , The Paris correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph says the German onslaught at Verdun must be regarded as having failed, as it did not succeed at the first attempt. , ; ; ;,-, v ; \''i ~•