The Wanganui Herald (Published Daily.) THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1917. LOSSES AND THE OFFENSIVE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15192, 12 April 1917, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald (Published Daily.) THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1917. LOSSES AND THE OFFENSIVE.

Latest reports concerning the British losses in the Great Push which is now in progress verify the opinions and predictions of those war correspondents and military critics who assured us that new tactics of assault had been" developed to a point at which an offensive may cost no more than the defensive, and even less. The enemy's trench system south of Arras was enormously strong, consisting of extensive wire entanglements, armoured cupolas, machine-gun shelters, and guns of every calibre, manned by an extraordinary number of wellselected troops. Not even such an extraordinary position could withstand the stupendous and awful hail of fire from our guns, and the sables assures ns that the infantry went throug ifc without much loss, while the casualties on the side of the enemy were heavy, and our toll o£ prisoners was large. The carrying on of a great offensive without undue loss is a question of the very greatest importance, and it is fraught with tremendous significance, for the Allies already greatly outnumber the enemy, and if the losses of the latter are heavier than ours, what possible hope have the G-ermaiis? There is no doubt that

Nivelle's successes in the Verdun area were obtained with extraordinarily small losses. And so were the recent British successes on the Aricre, which to a certain extent depended upon the hardwon gains upon the Somme last year; indeed, the late Ancre successes seem to have been connected with the great retirement which was so soon after to begin. The case for what may be called the "costless offensive" was put lately by Mr Warner Allen, who declared that the latest Verdun and Somme successes "have shown that the offensive, if planned in accordance with the principle of the new tactics, which are in fact only an adaptation of the fundamental rules of ancient tactics, can not only be successful, but actually less costly than the defensive, which it has to overcome. In the Verdun battle of December 15 last the French losses amounted to about one-quarter of the prisoners' taken and to only one-eighth of the enemy's estimated total casualties. The offensive at Verdun," Mr Warner Allen adds, "•was, of course, only a. local offensive, but the extraordinary results that it achieved —the capture of enarly 12,000 prisoners speaks for itself—not by good luck but by good management, may well be regarded as foreslmdoTjring the results of forthcoming Allied offensives to be conducted on a much larger scale."

It is a reasonable deduction, then, from the cabled accounts of the fighting, that our losses are not so great as uie Germans, and if the wedge is driven much further into the German line it will prove very dangerous to hold. It is clear that if the Allies enlarge the wedge from Arras to St. Quentin, the great salients above and below will become untenable, and " the losses of the Germans will be infinitely greater than they have been, for the armies holding them will stand a big chance of being cut off and captured; at any rate, their escape will become difficult in the extreme. There must ue at least half a million of the enemy holding the line attacked, and once the line gives way at any point, disaster may follow. The mere 'sdifficulty of removing troops and artillery a#d munitions of war is-aa al-

most insuperable obstacle to the retirement of large armies with speed and safety. Remembering that under ordinary conditions one army corps of two divisions, wife the artillery and ammunition will occupy one high road for a length of 30 miles, one can imagine what a desperate undertaking it will be for the Germans to retreat with their troops and equipment once the line is broken.