The Sun WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1916. MACKENSEN IN TROUBLE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 827, 4 October 1916, Page 6

The Sun WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1916. MACKENSEN IN TROUBLE.

I Hindcnburg. the Chief of the German General Staff, is nof a practised I strategist, in the sense that his pre(deeessor, Falkenhayn, is. "Papa" i Hindcnburg delights in sledge hammer tactics: sudden concentrations and smashing blows. In fact, he is |an excellent exponent of the "hack- ' a-way through" methods of war. When he was catted to the responsible post of Chief of Staff, Hind'enburg, though faced with a decidedly ticklish job, was not one to change his style; hence his decision to invade the Dobrudja, and the attack in Transylvania with large forces. The Dobrudja operation was attended by risks if Maekensen, who was deputed to lead the invasion, could not quickly achieve his object—the defeat of the weak Russo-Humanian forces, the cutting of the ConstanzaBueharest railway line, and the capture of the Danube crossings leading to the Rumanian capital. Had the plan worked out according to design Maekensen would have deal! a darnaging blow at Rumania, and compromised the Rumanian campaign in Transylvania. Maekensen was in Turtakai and Silislria before the Rumanians could recover from their ; surprise, but his failure to progress along the Danube to the Gonslanza ■railway line—the result of the Rujmanians commanding the river, and the fact that Mackensen's left was operating in dillicult marshy coun-try—-brought about his defeat when the Rumanians received Russian reinforcements. The Dobrudja movement left Mackensen's Hank dangerously exposed, and once the element of surprise was eliminated from the invasion nothing was left him but to retire as best he could. This lie did, pursued by the Russo-Rumanian forces, until he began lo dig himself in. Rut that has availed him little, for as a German communique yesterday admitted and an odicial message from Bucharest confirms, a Rumanian army has crossed Ihe Danube, between Rulschuk and Turtakai, to the south side, thus threatening Mackensen's rear. Meanwhile an attack has been launched against the enemy | along the whole Dobrudja front, his 1 centre and right (lank being thrown j back. It all depends on the size of j the army that has taken Maekensen] on the (lank, but if, as is highly pro-! hable, this attack has been made with a strong force, the German FieldMarshal will find all his time occupied in avoiding serious trouble, llisj troops are in a particularly dubious! position, his line of communications no less, and with the aid of a little good fortune, the Rumanians may be able lo impose grave losses on the enemy. On all the eastern fronts, the Allies are pressing their opponents. In the Macedonian theatre,! the Bulgars are gradually yielding! lo the pressure of General Sarrail's armies, while General Brussiloll" has opened out once more on a wide front against the Austro-Gcrmans with a view to finding a weak spot! in the line defending Weinberg. One result of Ibis new offensive, which,! judging from the reports of German' correspondents, is of a major import-j ance, will be to ease the enemy pros-, sure around Hcrmannstadt, whence; the Rumanian advance guards were j recently 'pushed back towards the| passes. All the evidence goes to: show thai if the Allies in the Near! Hast play their cards judiciously they, should be able to make substantial; gains at the enemy's expense before; winter descends on Europe in earn-; est. Since the above was written, word has come through from Retrograd reporting the enemy evacuation j of Turtakai and Silislria.

what he may or may not have done He may have inherited his father'; instinct for the theatre, which wouk account for the papier-mache mode of Verdun at which the American correspondent says he looked while he listened to the maudlin tale tin "New York American" has published. If the interview is genuine jl suggests that the Crown Prince either a sincere fool or else a scoundrel of the whining and contemptible sort. Withal there is a sort of low cunning in his talk—he says what lit thinks will make Yankee moneygrubbers think. Beyond the rank? of (he dead slill unburied, beyond the pitiful rows of hospital cols, he has a vision bf men in pawn for untold years, and energies and inventions mortgaged. He quotes Scripture: and one wonders if (lie text lie has chosen is that which first occurred (o him. "'Where the treasure is. there is the heart also," he said. But the tenor of his address shows that "where the carcase is, there shall the vultures be also,'' would have been more applicable to the sort of audience he thought would listen to him. Such sentiments and such words can scarcely he believed of ;■ man of royal blood and princeh training—even of Prussian princclj training. The voice may have beer the voice of the Crown Prince, bu through this American mouthpiece i is tlie yelp of a little whipped cur.