New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-12

Allied Strategy Aims
at Clearing the
Belgian
Coast
Copyright l9l7-The Tribune Association

the ground lost in October and November,
1914, but by no means reaching all the
positions held when that battle opened
Compared with the opening attack at
the Somme this was a material improve
ment. for the first and second German
lines were everywhere taken, while at the
Somme on half the front the German first
line held during the July l attack, and for
many months thereafter, all the way from
Gommecourt to Thiepval. Compared with
the progress made in the battle Of Arras
it was disappointing, both as to guns,
prisoners and distance, demonstrating
that Arras had been a real surprise to the
Germans.
But it is we'll to remember that this
method of attack is steadily changing
and the lessons of the French failure at
the Aisne have not been lost. Here the
French sought too much. Mangin expected
to reach Laon, and the ground gained was
hardly worth the cost in casualties. By
limiting operations and thus increasing
the value of artillery assistance the British
seem to have gained a mile to a mile and
half of ground on a wide front at rela-
lively low cost.
The small capture Of guns and the few
prisoners-fve thousand, as against eleven
thousand on the first day Of the Battle of
Arras-indicate that the Germans had been
expecting an attack and had withdrawn
their guns and held their front line lightly.
The recent terrific German drive at the
Aisne, too, was patiently intended to pre-
vent the transfer of French soldiers to the
User front, and as such failed as it also
failed to gain ground.
Allied Supremacy in Heavy Guns
German and British reports agree that
the artillery duel which preceded the az.
tack was the heaviest in all history, and
for full fortnight London heard the
guns. The British and French reports
frankly claim a complete supremacy in the
air, which would mean that the Germans
we're obliged to fire in the dark."into
blue as the phrase is, that is, without
the aid Of air scouts.
Apparently bad weather materially
handicapped the attacking force, as it did
in the Battle of Arras. 1t seems also that
there was q temporary slowing down after
the original attack, but whether this was
due to weather or to new tactics remains
10 be seen. Strong German counter at
tacks developing at once, as contrasted
with the forty-hour delay after the recent
fight &C the Messnes Ridge, suggest also
Grr-=n counter preparation and advance
information. Similarly the little German
thrust which destroyed two British battal-
ions north Of the User near its mouth
some days ago was an obvious attempt to
forestall and break up an Allied drive in
this region.
So much for the first attack. begun
and ended on August /, the anniversaryof
the opening Of the world war and thirteen
months later than the attack at the
Somme. Tor the present the Allied OBJ
jective must be Roulers, rather more than
a dozen miles north Of Ypres and Menin,
to the east on the Lys, rather less than ten
miles from the present front. The fall
Of Menin would gravely imperl the Ger
man hold on Lille, the capture of Roulers
would threaten, yet without menacing Sc
riously, the German communications with
leebrugge via Client and Bruges.
Long Operation
Meantime, it is idle TO discuss these OBJ
jectives with any idea that they will be
reached Immediately. Nothing Of the sort
is likely to happen. But we can see ex-
actly what the ultimate strategic effect
would be Of campaign as successful as
that Of last year. 1t would mean a Ger
man retirement from the seacoast, pre-
cisely as a German retirement from the
Noyon and Bspaume salients was made
inevitable by the Somme Battle.
Yet as this contest may well prove the
decisive battle of the war, the German eff
forts to hold out and the German efforts
to convince the world and their own PEG
pie that they are holding are bound to be
desperate and may easily confuse the
readers Of bulletins who accept the Ger
man statement that the Allies have failed
because they have not at once achieved
what they could only hope to achieve not
in day, but in period Of months.
Recall again the campaign of $50. IN
cur own Civil War, read what the Con-
federate press said after the Wilderness,
Spottsyvania, Cold Harbor, the failure
before Petersburg. II viii furnish many
d parallel with current German bulletins.
Recall also that Napoleon, having been
defeated in Saxony in 1913, fought next in
the Marine country because he had stayed
too long in Germany, sacrificing military
to political and moral considerations.
!, We are at the beginning of campaign
that may we'll have consequences compars-