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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 192, 18 September 1914, Page 6

• Included in the liable messages to-day our readers will find some unpleasant little fictions that have reference to the hostilities on French soil. Apparently when the War Office or the censor wishes to. hide anything, or there Is little to hand concerning actual happenings on the hotly-engaged battlefronts, a flood of unconvincing "stories'-' is let loose on the unsuspecting world as a substitute for the genuine article. At this stage of affairs military the intelligent reader will not be misled by these tales which invariably bear witness to the dark side of German methods on the field- of battle. There has been no confirmation of the surrender of General von Ivluek, though it is announced that the German right wing is still in danger of being enveloped, while in the .reported disposition of the German armies no mention - is made of Von Kluek,. had an important com man d. The later mes-' sages from Europe make it clear that a heavy engagement took place at Soissons, during'the. forcing of a passage by tli,e Allies across the Aisne river. All the signs point to the Germans having fought a bitter rearguard action so successfully as to permit of the main armies recovering their feet and rearranging their lines. Apparently,, the Crown Prince's Army, sheltered by the rearguard resistance, has come out of a tight corner unhurt. With the Germans once again in a more or less established position, it will take all the resources of tl 3 Allies to throw them back. The reference to the enveloping movement against the German right is suggestively encouraging. If the right is rolled, up again, then the German front will have to retire in sympathy with it. An effective offensive on the part of the allied left would re-impose on the enemy the vexatious responsibilities and anxiety experienced in the retreat from the Marne. Judging from the various accoiints of this trememlous conflict, the French troops have shown that they are at least equal as a fighting force to the flower of tin German army. The menacing German centre could not .withstand the incessant' as : saults made on it, and was forced to give way. The proven vulnerableness of the German soldiery in the mass, discovered at Liege, next at Mons, and later outside Paris, will add sting to the vigour of the attack that is now being thrown against the enemy's lines behind the Aisno,