THE LINE OF THE VESLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16926, 12 August 1918, Page 4

THE LINE OF THE VESLE.

The retreat of the Crown Prince's army from the Ourcq and the Marne reached the line of the River Vesle a week ago. In 19 days the German forces in this region retired 40 miles and suffered very heavy losses in men and material, the Allies having captured 40,000 prisoners and 1000 guns. The new allied advance across the Santerre Plateau has naturally distracted attention from the operations in the more difficult country between Soissons and Rheims, but the two battlefronts are separated only by the watershed between the Oise and tho Aisne, and may at any time be merged into one great conflict, as they were in June. The last detachments of Germans to cross the Vesle last Monday were followed at four or five points by light patrols from the allied armies, and these forces have been maintained in sufficient strength to secure their foothold on the north bank of the river. Further progress has been prevented by the enemy's resistance, which is fortified by the natural formation of the river valley. Its deeply-indented banks reproduce the heights of the Aisne, upon which the Germans established themselves after their defeat on the Marne in 1914, and held until they were driven back to the Chemin des Dames in the spring of last year. The line of the Vesle affords a strong defensive position, bat it is vulnerable on its western flank, and retreat from it, involving an immediate crossing of the Aisne, would be a hazardous operation. Any serious dislocation of the withdrawal, comparable, for instance, with the confusion created by Sir Douglas Haig's offensive, might destroy the efforts which the Crown Prince's staff would make to cover the gap of 12 miles between the heights of Brimont, north of Rheims, and the bold bluff of Craonne, at the eastern end of the Chemin dea Dames. That stretch of rolling downs and wooded marshes is the gateway to the plain of Laon, and through it General Nivelle proposed last year to pass to a decisive victory. He failed then because the Germans stood upon the bastion heights in fortifications which they had spent 18 months in constructing. But if the Crown Prince's army is now compelled to retire from the Vesle the task of holding the gap will be a difficult one. It is not unlikely that the defeat in Picardy will compel Ludendorff to withdraw reserves from the western Champagne, so weakening his line that General Petain may be given an opportunity to win such another victory as that which has crowned his counter-stroke on the Marne.