Evening star., 1918-04-08

The parallel Of the Marine VIII have
occurred to every one at the present
moment. In September, 1914. the Ger
mans. checked on their left flank about
Verdun. and thrown backward on their
right flank toward Paris, assailed the
French center at La Fere Champenoise
with full fury and drove Gen. Foch
esting to recall now Foch's comment at
the critical moment of the Marne.
Things must be going very badly
somewhere else" said he. they are at
tacking so heavily here"
So far as one can Judge by the open
ing moves of the renewed German Of
fensive. the entire operation consists in
an effort to drive west upon Amiens by
the old Roman road from st. Quentin.
overcoming the British resistance and
northwest on either bank of the Avre
and along the Amiens- Roye road against
the French covering Amiens. Two
things would be accomplished by the
successful advance on this front: First.
Amiens would fall. and, second, there
would be general dislocation of i'm
portant British transport lines 1t is
unlikely now. however. that there
would be any separation between the
was only possible If very wide gap
were opened, and the Germans are not
at the moment attempting to open a
wide gap.
1t seems fair to conclude that the
present operation then. is a tremen-
dous and localized effort to get Amiens
and thus be able to- point to some
definite achievement as a reward for
the great expense of the latest German
EFFORT to win the war in a single battle
Amlens taken, the Germans might base
many claims upon their achievement
A failure to get Amiens, on the con-
trary. would leave them with little to
show for their great casualties beyond
the possession of the blood-soaked and
devastated battle ground of the Somme
What Is the Allied strategye
The question of allied strategy is now
squarely raised. Any further consider
able advance of the Germans toward
Amiens will put that city in greatest
peril. If there be German advances OF
a few miles, the allies will have to
choose between counter attack and the
evacuation of the city On the other
hand, it may easily be seen that Foch
Is waiting until the Germans have
made the greatest possible sacrifice in
trying to get Amiens before the counter
attacks.
The German position now is one call
ing either for advance or for retreat,
Both f1anks are exposed over wide dis
tances and counter blows directed at
Bapaume and Roye which were even
moderately successful would imperil the
safety of the troops ON the point of
their wedge facing Amiens.
1t seems probable that the allies
have. for the moment, exhausted their
immediate reserves in stopping the
first German rush and manning the
greatly extended lines of the new front.
But the American troops who are COM
ing up, the French troops relieved by
the other American troops who have
gone into the trenches south of Yer
dun, and British troops who probably
have been brought over from England,
must constitute an eventual reserve,
capable of delivering heavy blows at
no distant time
fensive which has opened carries no
such threat to the allies as did the
first. The Germans seem to have re-
nounced their effort to destroy the
British military establishment by a
nounce the attempt to take verdun by
one terrific push- At verdun they
made very considerable gains which
took them within four miles and a
half Of the city itself; ls but once their
ceed in going forward another mile and
a half in six months of desperate
fghting. This has been the history
Of the great offensives of the past in
the west. Once the element OF surprise
and artillery had been overcome the
defender has been able to hold his
ground and confine his losses to yards
and rods-that Is to say. to the ordi-
nary details Of trench conntct during
The German has, still some tan miles
to 70 to get Amiens. Just now he IL
flghting At Villers-Vretonneux. exact
u. where he fought in the Franco
Is Amions. His victory at this plaee
nearly half century. ago. 4otNru1AnAd