New-York tribune., 1918-07-18


twenty-four hours of the German
offensive serve to clear up much
concerning the operation. We are clearly
confronted by another local operation,
fully comparable with that undertaken
west of the Disc between Noyon and Mont
didier little over a month ago. and de-
signed TO remove an obstacle to a later
and greater operation. The battle which is
now proceeding is manifestly struggle
for the possession of Rheims and the
high ground Immediately behind it,
known as the Mountain Of Rheims.
1t is necessary to point out, too, that
while the German has not, in his fifth
effort scored any such success as he did
in Picardy, in Flanders or on the Aisne,
he has made such an advance as to i'm
peril gravely the entire Rheims salient
and to make probable an evacuation of
the ruins of the Cathedral City unless
there be some change in the situation
within the next twenty-four hours.
On the larger side, the German opera
tion may be fairly called failure. in so
far as there has been no rupture Of the
Allied front, no immediate and sweep
ing success like that on the Somme or the
Aisne, nothing to compare even with the
breaking of the Portuguese front at
Armentieres. The fifth German attack,
as a piercing operation, as a surprise,
has failed to produce profits compa-
rable with those of any previous attack.
This explains the optimism which is re-
vealed in all the foreign dispatches.
The fear that there might be another
piercing of the line, another thirty or
thirty-five mile gain like that in Picardy
and more recently along the Aisne, has
been dissipated
On the other hand, optimism, and
proper optimism, born of a recognition
of the larger failure, has served to dis
guise and to cover the extent of the
progress which the German has made
in the removal of local obstacle of
great menace to him and of great value
to the Allies in the defence of Paris.
from any study of the official reports
and of the maps, that the Rheims po-
sition, if not fatally compromised, has
been dangerously imperilled by German
progress east and west of that city.
The simplest way to explain the
situation is to revert to the old dis
cussion Of salients. A salient is loop
in the line, thrust out into the enemy's
front, as cape extends into the sea-
To reduce such a salient the invariable
practice is to attack it not at the point
of projection, but at the two points
where it touches the main line This
the Germans have done in the case of
Rheims, and have done with consider
able local success.
What actually has happened is this:
At the point where the western side of
the Rheims salient joins the main
French line-that is, on the south bank
of the Marne-the Germans have forced
a passage of the river on a fifteen-mile
front and have made sensible progress
eastward across the base of the salient
or peninsula. If they can advance eight
miles they will take Epernay and cut
the line Of retreat Of all the French
troops defending the Rheims salient in
the whole circle.
Meantime, on the eastern side of the
salient, where it rejoins the main French
line along the Vesle, the Germans have
occupied the Moronvilliers Heights-the
most conspicuous and considerable mil
itary obstacle rising out of the Cham
payne Plain, and the scene of Petain's
notable victory last year-and are now
cutting westward toward Epernay. ex-
actly as their other forces are coming
eastward toward Epernay on the other
side Of the salient.
Actually, the French troops who are
defending Rheims and the Rheims
salient are now cooped up in a narrow
bottle, the neck of which is less than
dozen miles wide and is slowly being
narrowed. They have only one main
road of retreat, the national highway
from Rheims to Epernay, and this must
be very completely commanded by Ger
man artillery.
If the Germans can push a little
nearer to Epernay, either from the east
or from the west, then, as a matter of
precaution, Foch will have to draw his
troops out of the point of the Rheims
salient, evacuate the ruins of Rheims
and conceivably surrender that great
obstacle, the Mountain of
Rheims. Any considerable retirement
will take the French back behind the
Marne and straighten out the line be-