ALLIED OFFENSIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16624, 22 August 1917, Page 6

ALLIED OFFENSIVES.

So far as can be judged by the news to hand the new offensive launched by the Italian armies is on a scale even grander than the attack of last May. In all General Cadurna's plans there is a certain element of feint with the object of confusing the enemy as to the precise point where the heaviest blow is to be struck. Wo may therefore hear later of the battlo increasing in violence along some portion of the line selected for strategic reasons by the Italian commander. Meantime it is clear that the general purpose of the offensive is the same as in May— the winning of the obstacles that still bar the road to Trieste. To the south and east of Gorz the Italians have made great headway since they captured the city, but to the north the Austrians have always held heights dominating the Isonzo River and the railway line which runs parallel with it. In May the Italians materially improved their position in this region by driving the Austrians from Mount Vodice, which was regarded as the key to the line of heights northward as far as Plava. To-day's news shows that the new offensive has enabled the Italians to cross the Isonzo north and south of Plava. The battle is raging from the sea near Duma to Grahova, south-east of Tolmino. The defence of this long line may be a severe test of the Austrian organisation, for since they lost Gorz their facilities for swinging troops from point to point have been greatly restricted. They still hold strong positions, and their withdrawals from Russia have doubtless enabled them to mass considerable bodies of reserve troops on the Italian front, but recent reports show that the Italian army is now stronger and better equipped than it has been at any previous stage of the war. Among the first results of the Italian advance is the capture of over 7600 prisoners. The May attack opened with a somewhat similar capture, and within eighteen days the Austrian casualties had totalled 300,000. There is every indication that the present battle will also prove costly to the enemy and that it will bring the Italian army nearer to their goal. The French attack north of Verdun is being carried over familiar ground. Avocourt Wood was one of the points from which the Germans launched their assault upon Verdun in February of last year and Mort Homme, Hill 304, and the other positions now captured by the French were among the earliest objectives of the Germans in the memorable battle which cost them so much, and from which dates the turn of the tide of war in favour of the Allies. The recent local attacks by the Germans in this region were probably undertaken with the view of retarding the French offensive, which has now opened so successfully with the capture of 4000 unwounded prisoners and the retreat of the Germans almost to the lines they held before they began the assault upon Verdun.