The sun., 1918-06-11
NEW OFFENSIVE
DISAPP0INTSFOE
Penetration Far Less Than
on Any of the Previous
Drives.
ROADS TO PARIS BARRED
French Confident Enemy Will
Make But Little Further
Progress.
ny GERALD CAMPBELL.
Special Cable Despatch to The srx from the
London Timea

Special Cable Despn,ch to The Sun from the
London Times
Copyright, 1915; all riohn reserved
BRITISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS IN
FRAsCE. June l0.-Since yesterday eve
ming there has been little change in the
battle position. on the left and pc
, right flank the lines practically are the
same. At Rubescourt. II rec miles south
| east of Montd!dier. on the west. and at
Mont Renaud, on the east. French troops
held their ground in spite OF the great
vigor OF the German attacks. From
Rtbescourt the front gradually receded
by lie Fretoy as far as Mortemer, five
miles to the east. where the enemy made
an advance OF rather less than mile.
and from Vile to Bclval. another five
depth was lost.
Between Belval and Mortemer. in the
centre. places eight miles apart. the ad-
vance was more marked The front on
which the French fell back curved down
as far as Ressons-sur MatZ. three miles
Ysouth Of Roye-sur-Matz. the nearest
point to the original line. II this turns
out to be the whole extent Of the ad-
vance. compared TO the first two days
OF the previous offensive. this drive is
nothing to shout ahou, and must have
been rather disappointing to the Ger
mans.
Main Defence Not Reached.
Except for an eight mile stretch in
the centre it merely means that we have
given up some OF our advanced and
lightly held posts in front Of our rear
line of defence. Nothing is known here
OF the number of German divisions en-
ployed. but 1t has been practically GER
tain for some time that on account OF
the concentration OF troops in the rear
OF this particular sector II was marked
for the next offensive, The enemy who
attacked in close formation, certainly
would not have attempted the venture
except with forces considerably outnum-
bering those believed TO be opposed to
him.
A maximum depth Of three miles GER
ta!nly cannot be considered excessive in
the circumstances. There also should
be remembered that the extent OF front
over which these offensives is con-
Quoted is diminished rapidly In March
it was sixty miles. in May thirty miles.
this time II IL under twenty. so that
! the present attack may or may not be
the result of necessity more than de,
! sign, but IN either case II lightens the
task of the troops acting on the de-
! fensive, That in itself is great gain.
Renewal Is Expected.
on the whole, although II Is inpos-
sible to forecast the future with any
positiveness, II seems probable that the
present offensive will be less successful
, from the German point Of view than the
| other two.
We must expect the attack to he con-
tinued with the greatest energy and
desperation. 1t means everything to
| the Germans to advance at this point
With each successive Il rust 1t is more
essential to public feeling on the other
| side Of the Rhine to obtain crown Of
triumph. In other words. TO indicate that
tie end OF the war is nearer, Any fail
ure to reach the previous standard would
be dangerous. There are many obsta-
| cles besides the French army in the
way OF such a success.
So far theenemy has only begun to get
up to the heights, which form the main
French defensive position. Even In the
valley he has made little progress to-
wards the Oise. II he should advance
further in this direction 1t would mean
that the French would have to fall back
from the salient they hold towards
Noyon. But that would do no particular
HARM The road to Paris In this direc-
tiO mis- barred first by the forest Of Com
piegne after that by three other forests