NOTES ON THE CABLES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16985, 23 April 1917, Page 5

NOTES ON THE CABLES.

By Shbapnel. NORTH OF THE ALSNE. Tlie groat buttle on the Aisno continues with unabated vigour, and, though the progress o£ the French is slow, the lighting is intense at different points along the north of the Aisne, southward from tho Aisno towards Kheims, and eastwards of llheima, in tlio west of the champagne , towards Auberine. St Quentin, La Fere, Laon, Oraoune, Neufehatel, Bazancourt, and Soinmo Py, on tho Bazauoourt-Ohallerauge railway, are tho objective points aimed at by the French. Of these positions St. Quentin and Laon are the most important. The next in strategical importance are La, Fere, between St. Quentin and Laon, and Neufchatol and Bazancourt, respectively north and north-east of Rhcims. Judged by tho sectors on which tho heaviest fighting is taking place,- tho French, have for the present abandoned strong attaoks between St. Quentin and La Fere, and. also upon tho German lines on the groat massif of St. Gobain, with'its woodcovered slopes aiid deep serrations. Between that high country and the plateau of Aisy runs the Ailette, which comes down from tho highlands north of Laon. It is for tho possession of Aisy plateau that the French arc driving eastwards from Vauxailon and Laffaux and northward from Coode and Vailly, astride tho Chemin des Dames. Since the French have taken Laffaux, Nauteuil , Sancy, Aisy, Jouy, and Ostal, quite a third of this difficult terrain must now be covered iby .their advances, and, as they have now fought their way to tho top from the wide valley of the Aisne, from 3Ooft to 400 ft below, more than half the difficulties of taking the Aisy platcaa must bo over.

The Germans for their part arc stubbornly defending the position, as they recognise that the occupation of the high ground between the Ailetto and the Aisne by the French will outflank their stronghold in Goban massif, and, with the fa,ll of Craonno, which is imminent, will open the road to Laon and Bazancourt. An advance upon these two places by the French tends to broak the Siegfried-Hindenburg line and throw the Germans' left flank in the air. The capture of Douai or Cantbrui *by the British will shatter the German,centre. As matters now stand, it will soon be necessary for the British to make a demonstration in force on somo vital sector to take the pressure off tlie French.

OPERATIONS BOUND BHEIMS. • On the sectors from Ville-au-Bois, north of the Aisne and north of Rheims, down to the east of Rheimsand from that point to Auborivo in the west of the Champagne extremely severe fighting is taking place, evidently with varied success. French reports claim advantages to certain points and the Gorman reports claim repulses for the French, but it seems that when the French reach a given objective they settle down to consolidate the gain, and the Germans take .the credit of holding up the attacks. The French apparently assault a position with just sufficient men to take it and hold it" against counter-attacks. Loivre, Brimont, and Courcy, where such attacks are tailing place, are situated on or very close to the railway r running north from Rheims to Guignicourt on the Aisne. Attacks across that railway are being made in the direction of Bazancourt. They have the threefold object of advancing to that strategical point, flanking the strongly held German positions east of Rheims, and creating a fan-shaped salient, if it can bo so called, between the Ailette or St. Goblain Forest and the west of the Champagne. The country east of Rheims is high and wooded, and the vantage points, which conr sist of the old forts round Rheims, are in the hands of the Germans. Operations on tho massif of Moronvillers are being carried out in conjunction with those north of Rheims with the object of rendering the German positions in the Forest of Beine untenable by outflanking the enemy on the north and east.

THE BRITISH FRONT.

The British are for the present not very aggressive. Sir Douglas Haig reports that there is only mutual artillery work at a number of places on his front, but at Fanquissart. there was 'a, German attack which was repulsed, and east of Gauzeaucourt the British took the village of Gonnelieu, which is a step towards circumscribing the position of tfie Germans in Havrincourt Wood, a strong' bastion protecting Marcoing.

When Sir Douglas Haig reports that nothing much is' doing, it is noticeable that something very important is developing, and attacks may now be looked for somewhere between Loos, north of Lehs, and Arras. In conjunction with a movement eastward from that line there should either be heavy attacks or demonstrations eastward of Croisilles and north of Havrincourt Wood. As tho Germans will be anticipating attacks in tho vicinity of Lens, it is probable that tho British will surprise them elsewhere, j The latest reports mention small advance oa tho Scarpo and the repulse of a German attack eouth-west of Lens after an advance by the British. PALESTINE. In tho south-west.corner of Palestine tie British have begun an attack towards Gaza, and have captured the Turkish lines on a six and a-half mile, front. The Wadi Ghuzzch is the dry valley of a stream, tho direction of wliioh runs from the south of Beersheba' north-west. to the Levant. As war vessels assisted in the attack, the left flank of tho British must, of course, have rested on ihe coast. General Murray's intention is evidently the occupation of Gaza' despite the chances that the Turkish, base is at Beersheba, from which place a flank attaok could bo launched against him.- , His present operations therefore show that he has forces of considerable strength near at hand, and that tho railway under' construction from tho Canal lias reached Rafa, and if that is so, as soon as Gaza is taken, lie will move inland towards Beersheba. / MESOPOTAMIA. . The British advanco up the Tigris, north of Bagdad, has reached Istabulat, and the Turkish defeat having developed into a rout, thero should bo little difficulty in pushing on towards Samara, 12 miles to tho north! At Teprit, 30 miles further north, the railway ends, and it is presumable that General Maude will push on to that 'point, establish a base there, and await tho Russian progress to Troz Khurmati, north of the Jebel Hamrira range.