The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-10
FOLLOWED VENETIAN PLAINS

In this case pursuit followed the army
 cut off eon the Venetian plains. It
 reached Livenza by Thursday night, and by Friday had already counted S0Ooo
 prisoners and 1600 guns captured.
 At this point it is necessary to consult the map in order to see what happened,
 how the enemy's army was thus cut in
 two portions. The general maps are sui ficient.
 On such a map you see that to the north of Monte Grappa is the town of Feltre. Now. this town of Feltre is the very point of the utmost importance. As the map shows there is road running from the rail head at Feltre to the hills vest ward, and so to the Trentino by way of the Val Suzan. North of this point there 1 is no way by which a single wheeled 1 vehicle can cross the tangle of high mountains until you come to the great Dolomite road, five days march away. | Through Feltre. along the road sup. l plernented since the war by light railway, all the communications be- tween the armies of the enemy in the plain and the continuation of the lina 1 in the hills had to pass When, there l fore Feltre came under close range | fire of Wednesday evening, or allow | ing for the time needed to bring up the heavics, Thursday morning, the enemy retreating from the Piave was sep srate body from the enemy retreating beyond the Asiago back into the Alps. EVENTS IN FRANCE
 l The two other incidents of the ad- vance to Audenarde and the capture 1 of Valenciennes can be told more brief l ly. The former is important because it brings the northern French army right uI against the water line of the Scheldt by sudden advance of seven miles rxfk | for it does not show whether the wates line can be forced immediately or not, but it prepares such passage. It I followed or an enemy retreat in which
 no very great number of prisoners, but ] probably a very considerable quantity of material was taken.
 The capture of ValeEciennes, on the
 other hand, forced action. The enemy did not retire at his own moment. He was compelled to retire by the action of the preceding days which reached the railway south of the town and out flanked the whole place.
 We must guard against expecting an immediate strategical result from the opening of Bavarian and Saxon from tiers by the breakdown of the Aus trian monarchy. These frontiers look ! on the map not only vulnerable by their length but as though they opened to attack the most politically vital places of Dresden, Munich and Berlin itself.
 But that is only on the map. To reach 1 them, even with all the roads and
 railways freely at our disposal which | they are far from being, would be very lengthy piece of organization, ! matter of months The end will come
 before that long before. and 1t will
 come through the present exhaustion of the German armies i'll the west.
 No divisions now get their full fort. nights rest and many not week. No divisions establishment reaches the average, but is rather less than half
 the old reduced establishment, and the strain for materials Is even more se- were. Meanwhile, the political situa- tion behind the German armies is of a gravity which we can guess, but can not measure fSince writing the above news has come that the Americans on November captured Buxancy and Will lers. The Dun position will now fall.)