Evening star., 1918-03-31

general front intact. eSca aplng envelop-
ing movements which should cut off
! portions of his armies and avoiding the
insertion of a wedge between his ar
mics and the French to the south of
| the Disc and between portions of his
, own armies farther north, until the
strategic reserves of the allies could
| intervene.
! On Saturday the British situation was
critical. The northern flank of Haig 8
army was holding well and had retired
/ only to its third lines, but the center
was crumbing rapidly and the Germans
/ had passed the Tortille. were around
| Peronne and were thrusting deep
wedge between the British armies north
and south of the Somme. Still farther
to the south the whole British defense
was in ribbons and making a desperate
| but hopeless resistance along the st.
| Quentin canal, while the Germans were
/ rapidly inserting wedge between the
] British and the French along the Oise.
Critical Situation for British.
i The situation did not improve on
Sunday. The British were now far
| west of all their prepared systems of
defense on very wide front. The war
! of position had been succeeded by the
war of movement. and the Germans
We're stin enjoying all the advan
! tages incident to superior concen-
I
! this day the British hope of holding
/ the natural line of defense from Arras
south through Peronne and behind the
Somme to Ham and thence behind the
| st. Quentin canal to the Disc at Chauny
disappeared.
| Monday the crisis was not yet past.
Indeed. the Germans, having taken
Bapaume and Peronne, thrust right
across the old battlefield of the
Somme and took Martinspuich and
| Courcelette on the west side of the
| Bapaume-Amiens road, thus driving
wedge between the northern and
! southern forces of the British COM
mander. At this moment a supreme
I German success seemed within the
Ngrasp of the kaiser's great lieutenants
/ At the same time the situation to the
/ south was only beginning to improve
as few French divisions were arriv-
| ing and going into action to fill the
gap created by the almost total de-
struction of British forces between the
Somme and the Disc.
First Signs of Improvement.
/ Not until Tuesday do we discern any
| real improvement of the British pros
| poets. BY this time the British have
| been driven clear across the old Somme
| battlefield and are standing from Ar
+, ras to Albert almost on the lines from
| which they began the great attack of
July /, 1916. they have lost the famous
| Albert ridge, they have lost all the
| ground north and south of the Somme,
/ which was the prize of six months of
/ battle. But north of the Somme the
! German advance has begun to slow
| down and the dangerous wedge which
| had been driven in the British lines
west of the Bapaume road has been
Strengthened out by British retire.
, ment behind the Ancre.
! South of the Somme the situation is
still bad, but improving. More and more
! French troops are coming up and the
! extreme flank along the Disc is being
! held firmly, although Noyon has to be
I evacuated. The sector of greatest Ger
! man activity now is in the plain of
! Santerre. where Castelnau won his
J great victory about Roye and Chaulnes
| in September, 1914. Roye and Chaulnes
are destined to fan and the German
push directly toward Amiens goes for
ward on this day, with slackening pace
| but with material gain.
/ Wednesday the Germans are stopped
| north of the Sonlme with the single
gain of Albert, which was inside Brit
I ish lines when the Somrne battle be-
/ 2an. Theme. northward the British hold
! the west bank OF the Ancre to the bend
J and thence to ArraS the high ground
! which formed a part of their original
/ line. On this day Gen. Maurice, British
/ director of military operations de-
clares that the German drive north of
:
French Defense Stiffens.
Far to the south at the other end of
the battle front the French defense has
f. stiffened and the hills above Noyon are
! being held. but beyond these hills and
( north of Iassigny the German advance
. is continuing, and is well beyord Rove
aad Chaulnes, and breaking into ground
"'hich Was he'd by the French W hen the
Somne attack began in 1916
And this is tn" situation, that exists
as this review IS clos d. fhe German
attacking f'ort has been narrowed
from fifty TO less than twenty miles
and this is becoming a dangerous sa-
ient open to attack from the northern
ard southern tanks. ON more than
half the front the German advance has
pre- ac.icaHy ceased and only in front
of Amiens. now less than twenty miles
away, does the German push still re-
main dangerous and unchecked Ac-
eording,y. the simpln problem. now
posed is whether by delaying engage
ments or counter attacks the allies can
either halt or throw back the German
point. which is still driving into their
lines.
What Huns Have Done.
We can thug see roughly whit ~. Ca.