The Sun THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1914. AN INVADER IN DIFFICULTY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 221, 22 October 1914, Page 6

The Sun THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1914. AN INVADER IN DIFFICULTY.

When the Allies concentrated their fighting strength against the German riglit wing the German direction found it necessary to strip Alsace and Lorraine of troops and weaken the centre so that von Kluck might be reinforced. These reinforcements have not been sufficient' to stay the Allies' advance in north-west Belgium, according to the satisfactory accounts received this morning of the fighting in this department. The censor has passed messages (without any tag as to their being unconfirmed) recounting excellent progress of the allied forces iii Belgium and severe repulses inflicted on the enemy. Warm praise is accorded the British artillery, especial reference being made to the marvellous accuracy of the naval guns. The Germans near the sea, west of Ostend, were caught between two fires—they were shelled by British warships on the coast, and bom/ barded by machine guns in front, with the result that the "whole German line resting on the sea retreated. This is the first mention of the Navy in -the operations on the Channel coast. If a number of the naval guns—they made a name for themselves in South Africa—can be transported safely over soft/country, they should go a long way towards counteracting the siege artillery of the enenry: According to-vfl* l ' Amsterdam message, a Berlin correspondent tells of depression among the Germans on account, of their defeat on the Aisne, and the facte that the approach I of winter will tend to seriously disadvantage the already, stricken armies of the Fatherland. The latest information points to the Germans being in bad case. Battered on all sides by a foe who steadily maintains the ascendancy, threatened with the ravage of disease in "Hie trenches, their safety resting almost wholly on the right wing, which cannot .s'hack its way through," and is being determinedly and successfully assaulted, the German forces are in a dangerous condition. The pressure and strain on the right wing is reflected in i the uneasiness along their Avhole battle | front, for if von Kluek'sline a general retreat is highly probable. And j once the enemy's line of commuuica- j tions was severed, the invasion would collapse like a house of cards.