Evening star., 1918-08-12
BY FRANK H. sIMoNDs.

The fourth day of the great Anglo
French offensive. which will unques-
ktionably be known hereafter as the
third battle of the Somme. reveals
twith some measure of clarity the pur-
hpoee of Ludendorn and the method
The Is following in endeavoring to meet
land check Foch. He has abandoned
tths old Montdidier salient and all no.
ktioA Of holding any portion of his po-
ksitton west Of the line held by the
tGermans at the beginning of the first
tbattle of the Somme. in July. 1913. He
is now attempting to restore his front
ksonnewhere between the Somme and
;the Disc west of the line Peronne-
Ham-Chauny, to which he must even
tually retire.
rapidly increasing the tenacity of the
fresistance on the flanks of the break
Sin his line. He is standing firm on
the high ground north of the Somme.
(which saw the famous fighting of 1916,
land on the high ground north and
fwest of the Disc. between Noyon and
f1assisny II he can hold these TANKS
tfor the next day or two the Anglo
fFrench drive will have to slow down
land STOP because our allies will pres
I salient as awkward as the one from
(which the German has just been
fevicted.
AS it now stands there is no salient
/ or practically none: the allied front
| runs fairly straight from the Disc be-
low Ribecourt to the Ancre at Albert
with the Germans, still holding Roye
and the British In Chaulnes- At the
northern end of this front the Ger
i man resistance has so far been obsti-
nate. and. on the whole. successful
the allied advance having been incon-
siderable, although it Is approaching
Bray. At the southern end about
Ribecourt ad Lassigy there has been
practically no progress so far.
Normal History Of Offensive.
We are seeing once more repro
duced the normal history of a sue
cessful offensive in the present form
of warfare. OF the four stages two
preparation Of the attack and the at
that of pursuit, is still going for
ward, but the successful resistance OF
the tanks suggests that we are al
most at the point where the pursuit
stage. which is the march of approach
to the new position. All now depends
upon the success of the Germans In
maintaining their fianks in the next
tW6nty@fOHr hours
To illustrate by example: When Hutier
broke Coughs front twenty miles east
ward of the present battlefield, on EIarch
81 Of this year. he put some fourteen
British corps practically out of the bs +
tie and opened u gap between the Brit
ish and French armies. just as haw-
linson now has opened gap between
the armies Of the TWO crown princes
which met between the O1se and the
Somme. Following this break thr ough,
N
the way to the Avre and the Ancre.
But the French south of the Disc and
Byng's Sd Army, north Of the Ancre,
were not shaken by the German offen-
their. tanks toward esch other. while
Fayolle rushed French reserves up to
the actual gap The break was thua
. limited to the front Of the 9Th British
there had been a gradual narrowing oi
the German wedge. There was then left
the present salient-that II. the salient
which existed before the recent ohen-
sivs sesan It was i@pDssiSis e % for ,n tn.
ther, because they were being subjected
to flank and cross ffre from the un.
broken hanlGs of the two allied armies
Allies Broke Through This Time.
Today everything is reversed. The
British and the French have com.
tween the Somme and the LAssignJ
high ground. They seem to have &C
counted for upward of eleven divi-
sions, or three less than Hutier dis
posed Of In his March offensive. Bu'
now. as then. the troops on either sid
of the gap are standing hrm on high
ground, and there seems to be q tend.
ency Of the allied drive both Il
grow narrower and to move mort
slowly, II tAis tendency beSZe: