The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1918-04-05

IN the first month OF the present wal
Defeated and outnumbered. with NJ
chance Of holding his enemy in an,
Immediate future. the problem of hi
British commander was to retreat, pre-
lserving his general front intact. es
lcaping enyeloping movements. which
lshould cut off portions OF his armies
and avoiding the insertion OF a wedge
between his armies and the French L
1.-THE south Of the Disc and between por
tons of his own armies further north
until the strategetic reserves of the
Allies could intervene.
On Saturday the British situation
was critical The northern flank OF
Haig's army was holding well and had
retired only to the third lines. bu,
the center was crumbling rapidly.
The situation did not improve on
Sunday. The British were so far west
OF all their prepared systems of de-
Tense on very wide front. The war
of position had been succeeded by the
war of movement and the Germans
were still enjoying all the advantages
incident to a superior concentration
OF numbers and OF artillery.
/ Not until Tuesday do we discern any
real improvement of the British pros
poets.
| Wednesday the Germans are stopped
north of the Somme with the single
gain OF Albert which was inside Brit
| ish lines when the Somme battle be-
gan. Thence northward the British
held the west bank OF the Ancre to
the bend and thence to Arras the high
ground which formed a part OF their
original line.
The Narrowing Wedge.
The German attacking front has
been narrowed from fifty to less than
twenty miles and is becoming q dang
erous salient. open to attack from the
northern and southern flanks. On
more than half the front the German
advance has practically ceased and
only In front Of Amiens does the Ger
man push still remain dangerous and
unchecked. Accordingly the simple
problem now posed is whether by de-
laying engagements or by counter at
tacks the Allies can either halt or
throw back the German point. which
is still driving into their lines.
We can thus see roughly what the
Germans have and have not accomp-
lished in this first week. They have
broken through. they have scored the
greatest success In trench warfare and
captured thousands OF prisoners. hun
dreds of guns and almost incalcuable
amount of war material. They have
advanced more than twenty-f five miles
ON a wide front, they ihnve in a week
regained ground which cost the British |
and French a year of campaigning and |
exceedingly heavy cost in casualties. |
They have restored war OF movement |
and they have demonstrated that the |
war of position can. at least temporari- |
ly. be interrupted, provided the assail- |
ant is willing to spend the men and |
the munitions,
Further than this there is no blink |
ing the fact that at many moments |
the Germans have been on the edge |
of a supreme success which would |
follow from the breaking of the Brit
ish lines and the driving of a wedge |
either between portions of the British
army or between the British and the
French armies. Maurice comedies that /
there was deadly peril OF this on Sat
urday and again on Monday. north of
the Somme, while south OF the Somme
the peril has been constant and Is /
not yet quite aDonsneu
What Germans Have Not Done.
Now the single thing The Germans
have not yet succeeded in doing is
breaking down the continuity OF the
enemy line or destroying the forces
on his front by the weight OF his blow.
Just as the French troops who were
holding the line in front of Verdun,
xrrft11 ,, To-
reserve army, giving up ground but
holding back the flood, the British have
hung on. striking and retreating for
the first week and the last half OF the
week has seen a slowing down of Ger
man pace, due perhaps in part to the
Of transport and the grow
Ing WEAKNESS of their men, but in part
too. to the arrival of local British re-
serves and the stiffening of British re-
sistance.
II would seem that the Germans
have put in practically their entire re-
serves of rs divisions; in any event
they cannot have more than ten d.
visions In reserve. Seenty-five divfs-
ions would be about 100000 men. The
maximum Of numbers engaged in the
thrust-or at least available
for it-between 100000 and / 100000.
On the other hand the Allies are re-
ported to have used something over
30 divisions of British troops. and
under ten divisions Of the
French trops during the first week.
and this wuld mean approximately
half a million. We may assume then.
that the Allies have been outnumber-
ed at least two to one on the whole
line. while they have been outnumber-
ed much more heavily in some areas.
The Twelfth Day.
Hard fighting continues at many
points with the German drive halted
Allied counter thrusts grow stronger
daily with arrival of fresh reserv-
-.
German losses now estimated at
$780, 900.
Anglo Preach armies recapture much
ground on Easter Sunday. taking up
wards of 900 prisoners.
Whole American force believed now
10 be in the thick of the fighting zone
MoreuiI. at the apex OF the wedge
which the Germans tried to drive to
the British base of Amiens. changed
hands four times in fierce fighting. re-
in possession of the Allies
French deliver smashing blows
r-os,,.@ ers,,tlnarr, f1orh NJ German