Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1918-04-06
COUNTER,ATTACK
TO TURN THE TIDE
Allies Maneuver Army Now to
Enter Fight.
GERMAN PROGRAM Defeated

Great Counter Is Now Awaited
Washington Waits Confidently
For Next Step In The
Battle.
Washington crisis OF the great
German offensive has passed. The
British army which has faced the
ferocious onslaughts Of the vast Teu-
ton war machine has weathered the
storm. Failure will mark the enemy
campaign and the frightful losses he
has sustained will be utterly in vain.
This is the substance Of the most
comforting information which has
reached Washington in seven days, In
formation which has come from the
highest British sources and has been
transmitted to equally high officials OF
this Government. The Ministry in
London did not express these assur-
ances, it may be noted, as result OF
one days or two days fighting. 1t
did not rush to any conclusion regard
ing the operations in France. On the
contrary, the British Government
waited until it could speak with a
sense of soreness before it undertook
to speak at all.
It may be added, coincidentally. that
the unofficial dispatches from the bat
tie field today tend strongly to bear
out the official communication which
has reached the American Government.
These dispatches show very clearly
that the drive has lost it's initial mo-
mentum: that Germany is fast exhaust
Ing her reserves; that with the
lengthening of the German line Of COM
munication and supply, enemy artillery
has become less effective, and that on
the whole, it has become measurably
certain that German might cannot
force that breach in the British line
for which this offensive was under
taken.
And these unofficial messages are
exactly to the same effect as the Off
cial dispatches, except that the latter
did not deal in detail and did not say
more than that the British army had
passed safely through the most mo-
mentous crisis Of the war with the
single exception Of the Marine.
It is no secret that this Government
Is now expecting some far-reaching
developments of favorable character
within the next "a or 48 hours.
Whether or not these expectations are
based upon information confided to it
by the British War Office or by Gen.
eral Pershing, or whether they are
based upon strategic developments
which are obvious to anybody, is not
known. All that is positively known
Is that the Administration is waiting
confidently for the next great move in
the battle.
General Staff officers agree that the
logical step to be taken next by the
British and French is courter-assault
upon a scale that will send the Ger
mans staggering backward. Such a
counter, if it is to be most effective,
should be launched at the earliest pos
sible moment, officers here say. 1t
should be begun while the German
lines are heightened and before it is
possible for the enemy to bring up
their batteries. particularly their heavy
artillery.
This Government knows definitely
the size and the power of this reserve
force, but it disclosed today no details
whatever regarding it. 1t is the gen.
eral understanding, however, that from
400, 900 to 100000 men compose it and
that when the proper time arrives it
will be thrown into battle either upon
the TANKS Of the German army or d.
rectly in its path.
And it is this reserve which Is relied
upon to force the Germans back step
by step until the Allies have reclaimed
what terrain they desire for the safety
Of general positions.