Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-20
ALLIES TO CONTINUE
OFFENSIVE, SAYS
MILITARY EXPERT
Present Fight Already Half Sue
cess For Allies, He
Declares.
FOES LOSSES IMPRESSIVE

Washington. July ~ The war situa-
tion i thus analyzcd hy q noted military
expert
In Yesterdays review Il was stated
that tho countcroffcnsive of the Allies
ara,nst the Nlarnc salient was both de
(cneIvr and offensive m It's conception
A. n defensive measure Il has already
succeeded Il We may Judge by the latest
oGcIal bulletin from Berlin. THIS com
rnnuiouc X remarkable for what u docs
not say rather than for what II does.
IN the first place no mention ~ made Of
tho presence Of tho American troops VINO
N two points Relleau Wood and about
SoieSong- have PLAYED such an important
part IN the fighting 81 the last two DAYS
In tho second place tho report contains
no reference 10 tho fact that the Germans
: are not still on the offensive.
| prRlIN's mrglEAprNG REPORT.
| Tho entire report mentions only tho
,ar,o,,s failures Of the Allies to drive
! tlrm back not only on the northern sector
/ pcar the AIsnc. but south OF the Marne
and west Of Rheims.
Since hv the German report the German
offensive seems TO have ceased, We may
! assume that General Fochs offensive has
drawn away the German reserves ana mas
/ IS thls means forced the great German
effort to come to n halt. Foch batue
is therefore. at least half q success
The next consideration IS 70 WHAT eA-
tent has il been an offensive success;
To mass Judgment upon thus point would
~ to assume that We were entirely
familiar with the allied commander
pan and knew Just what his Objective
was. We do not, of course, know either
one.
pEGTNNr&a or GENERAL OFFENSIVE.
But il docs not appear that this IS
meant to mark the beginning OF a general
offensive or that 1t Is meant 10 lnVoiVe
any other front than that attacked
General Foch Is essentially an offensive
febter He has remarked that there IS
no such thing aS successful defence. / mere
has been some criticism of the fact that
no has not counterattackcd before. Ills
failure 10 do so Is not altogether CON
sistent with has reputation Is an offensive
leader.
Al the same t.nc the burden of the
Italian situation mas been upon his
shoulders for some time, lie has not
been free TO use mS strength too hbcr-
alv as he was not sure OF Italy aDlA-
tv 10 take care Of herself.
The last he had seen Of Italys army,
it was entirely disorganlzed, and was very
low IN morale
Until he was sure that this army had
been regenerated Foch was forced TO hold
reserves TO throw into Italy as a moment
notice. should occasion demand 1T.
But ltalv proved that she could AXE care
Of herself, so that Eoch was Tree IN
France.
FoCH SAW CHANCE TO STRIKE.
The present German offensive IS the
/ first since the Austrian debacle In this
offensive therefore. FOch saw his
| chance while Germany was much pre-
/ occupied in one sector To strike III an
+ other. and to strike, too, on sector
where success would spell the defeat OF
/ the major German plan.
The offensive as it has developed has
already achieved remarkable results. But
/ there IS no indication that il is intended to
! be more than a great local effort, affecting
only the Marne salient. Germany was
/ at a tremendous disadvantage on tins
/ salient To q slight extent, as far as
the front Of Foch's attack is concerned,
! Germany is operating on the outside of
a curve with Foch on the INSIDE.
ALLIES HAVE GREAT ADVANTAGE.
But this is the smallest part Of Foch 5
! advantage. The greater part IS that the
Germans have nailed themselves down
to the southern and eastern sides OF the
salient and have not been able to SC
control Foch lie has kept himself free
while conducting his defence to move on
the western side as well. The Germans
are deeply, irrctrievably involved lie
4 10 a certain extent footloose.
AS TO the actual fighting Of yester
day il gas in a sense indetermlnate
The Germans, drawing Their reserves