Evening star., 1918-06-23

upon IcCeHL events.
alton west Of the Disc aimed at taking
the high ground on the right bank OF
the river and thus compelling a re-
tirement OF the French center. This
object could not be attained by di-
rect frontal attack, owing to the
nature of the country.
Now. within limits the German was
successful, but he obtained only a
small fraction of what he sought.
His real purpose was to get south of
Compiegne, open the valley of the
Aisne. thus establishing communica- :
ton between his right flank west OF
the Disc and his left between the
Aisne and the Marne- Once he had
accomplished this the German would
be face to face with the French in
the last position Petain would oc-
cupy. II he were to hold the German
outside Of artillery range Of Paris
and by artillery range / mean effec-
meter guns: the "supergun" is not an
ef1dent military weapon and its pur-
pose is to destroy enemy morale, no
hostile cities.
German Losses Colossal.
In all his larger purposes. then. the
German failed and his losses were
colossal His appropriation Of can
non fodder'-the casualties he was
willing to incur to attain his object
was exhausted before the fifth day
and on this day he definitely aban-
doned his attack covering his aban-
donrlent by a spirited but local oper-
alton on the left flank on the edge
OF the forest Of TilIers-Cotterets
which was without importance.
In Picardy the Germans gained up
1vI ~ - l4-
around twelve: the Aisne drive netteG
thirty-five. but the last venture yield.
ed only eight, with a minimum oi
prisoners and guns. no considerable
booty. And the French were able Il
undertake successful counter attack.
on the third day. In sum. two con
centrated armies met, fought a pitch
ed battle lasting five days. at the END
of which the assailant gave 1t VI
after having paid a terrible price for
local gains without decisive value
Here Is solid ground for confidence
the more solid because all this hap
pened in the third month of the offen-
in defense to be growing. not dimin-
ishing.
Effect on German People Shown.
AS an evidence of the evil moral ef-
feet at homo of the German check
came the official utterance by the
German war minister that Foch's
army of reserve had ceased to exist
and that the larger part Of the French
army had been defeated. A statement
like this at the moment of a severe
check could only mean one thing,
namely, that there was growing un-
rest and apprehension at home over
the long delay in getting to Paris.
Just the same sort of official nonsense
covered the great German disappoint-
ment at the Marine four years ago. At
the very least our enemy is beginning
to have as anxious days as We have
recently known.
AS it stood on Tuesday. June IS, the
1o3d anniversary of Waterloo. the
least temporarily checked. In it the
German had used, and for the moment
used up, about half of all his divisions
available for an offensive. He had
left between fifty and seventy divisions
concentrated in front of the British
from the Somme to the sea. These
troops had been resting for nearly
two months. time had been allowed
for the reorganization of divisions
which had been heavily engaged in
March and April, and 1t was the unan-
imous view of correspondents that
lASS "SAS IL SAi6po " oSAiSSA q iic"
and heavy blow.
But would the blow fall against the
British with the channel ports as the
objective or against the French with
Paris as the goal? If the British were
attacked the cost of the struggle
might be so great as to postpone the
Paris thrust Indefinitely. But If the
British were ignored and all the re-
naming German divisions sent south
to blast their way to Paris, a British
counter thrust might be as fatal as
Blucher's march from Wavre to
Waterloo.
Where will Next Blow Fa1lp
AS write these lines the riddle re-
mains unread. British and French OBJ
servers continue to differ over the
enemys purpose, and both British and
French armies expect to bear the
burden OF the next blow. But II 1t
shall turn out that the next blow is
no moro successful than the last. we
may feel that we are about over the
pitch. that the skies are beginning to
clear.
It Is q very difncult task to write
steadily Of . campaign ana preserve
true balance between that confidence
which, within limits. Is essential and
the apprehension which is warranted
by the local situation. I would like to
say to my readers that I have never
feared and do not now fear that our