Evening star., 1917-10-21

AS he drives this wedge forward Haig
will cut the lines Of communication
connecting the Germans on the sea-
man armies and with their own bases
of supplies. Already the advance has
approached the Lille-Ostend railroad
one of the two vital lines of communi-
cation. and the British guns are as near
this railroad as were the Germans te
the main verdun line, that coming ur
from Chalons, which their guns
blocked.
Practically Out of Business.
We may regard this railroad and the
out of business. When the point Of the
| wedge arrives at Roulers British gun.
will In the same fashion cut SECOND
and only less important line from
! Ghent through Thielt and Thourout te
Ostend. There will then remain only
| the trunk line from Client through
| Rruges to the coast, which runs a doz
| this cut. then all the German position.
on the coast from the Dutch frontier t
Nieuport would have to go: they woult
be isolated. In point of fact. before
line German retreat would be inevita-
BILE. since the peril Of development and
capture would be very great.
This aspect of the British strategy
has been apparent from the outset and
has been freely discussed in the press
and foreign comment. 1t acquires inn
Dortance from the fact that the subma
rine base of Zeebrugge, one of the mos,
troublesome Of the German submarine
! nests. would be abolished should the
n a ha tn 1oor ha l.
gian coast. There would be less ali
| raiding of London, too, once this base
! on nearby Belgian soil was disposed of
Yet. recognising the importance OF
abolishing the submarine base at Zee
brugge. 1t still seems to me that toe
little attention has been paid to the far
! more important threat this British ad.
vance carries to the whole German po.
sition in France from Lille to verdun
For as the British advance they are
| slowly but surely encircling Lille, mov-
ing across it's northward lines Of com
munication and reaching for those to
| the eastward. which are life lines.
Nearer to Brussels.
When the British reach Menin. as
they are now sure to do, for they have
mastered the dominating ridge to the
westward of this town and nearly all
the high ground on the west bank OF
the Lys, they will be nearer to Brus-
sells than the Germans in Lille are and
will either hold or by their artillery
cut many Of the Lille roads, including
that railway line leading to Ghent and
Antwerp. which is only less important
than the Lille-Brussels main line to the
eastward.
Now recall for a moment the events
at the Somme. The British and French
were then operating on the northern
side of the great salient of which
u,
1t the railways and high roads serving
this salient and moving across the rear
Of the salient itself. The operation was
quite the same as the British opera
ton north of Lille today. BY November
Of last year the British and French
were close to Bayaume and Peronne,
lust as now the British are approach
ing Roulers and Menin.
The threat to the Noyon salient last
year produced the great German re-
treat Of this spring, retreat from all
the German lines between Arras and
Of the French attacks at the Aisne and
the British victory at Arras. Now. when
the British get Roulers and Menin the
peril to the Germans east and west of
the wedge will be unmistakab1e and
before the British reach Courtrai, half
from Menin, the Germans will have to
clear out of the Lille salient
Evacuation Of Territory.
German withdrawal from Lille
would mean the evacuation of all
French territory between Verdun and
Lille-that Is. all French territory west
Of the Meuse-and such an evacuation
would be wholly analogous to the re-
treat from the Noyon salient last
spring. Actually the whole German
position from Lille to verdun Is grest t
salient. many times larger than the
Noyon salient, but not otherwise Diff
fering from 1t, and the British attack
at Ypres this year corresponds exactly
with the Anglo-French attack at the
Somme last year
Lille is the anchorage of the whole
German line from Switzerland to the
Flanders front. Its forts, partially dis
mantled. it's railroads and highways
give it very great value. 1t cannot be
attacked without certain destruction.
and 1t is one of the great cities of
France But once the Germans are out
OF 1t, their next good line Is from Ant
werp to Namur, covering Brussels, and
thence behind the Meusc right down
to the hills they hold on the east bank
Of the Meuse below Verdun. II Lille is
lost, then, although there may be q
temporary halt behind the Scheldt
from Tournai north to hold the Zee
brurre base. the Germans will have
to retire to the Antwerp-Brussels-
Verdun line with little delay.
This, as I see II. is the larger ana the
real meaning of the British thrust in