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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 255, 1 December 1914, Page 6

Following on the opinion expressed by General French in hie report, that ' ( we are possibly now in the last stages of the battle of Ypres-Armentieres," the latest communique reporting that the enemy continues to act on the defensive, while his bombardment is feeble,,has a special significance. This 'temporary cessation of the German of-, fensive is clue to pne of. two reasons.: Either the western front has been weakened in men and guns because of the desperate circumstances in. Poland, or the Germans are at their old game : of. rushing . reinforcements from one quarter in France to a point'decided on for another heavy blow. The Russian successes in Poland, though yet to be proved to be of, a decisive character, have undoubtedly. been felt in Flanders. When Lord Kitchener talks of immense German, losses in Poland, he is not, basing that statement on* theglowLng anticipations of the numerous war correspondents; his information will be sound and authentic. Not only will the Germans have to make good those losses, but extra men and artillery will be required to help stay tho» Russian advance. fudging from reliable reports, the, Grand Duke Nicholas has aii almost inexhaustible number of men at his command, and now that the Austrian armies have been' so sadly decimated, the Germans will have to bear the brunt of the Russian invasion. Germany's genuinely crucial period approaches "slowly, but surely, "to use the words of the Kaiser.