Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-15
BATTLES TURNING POINT
REACHED, WASHINGTON SAYS
Germany Has Failed in Her Chief Purpose of Offensive,
and is Fighting Today Solely to Annihilate British
Armies War Bulletin Announces.
ALLIES PROSPECTS BRIGHTEN
By Associated Press 70 Every evening

/ By Associated Press TO Every Evening
Washington, April - The turning
/ point in the battle on the western front
/ IS being reached, says the War Depart
+ ncnt's review Of the military situation
/ for the week ending April IL, published
/ to-day The Germans have failed IN their
purpose n achieve victory in The field.
/ the statement continucS, and will sDon
/ be- forced 10 resume their old tactics
I'VE must bear in mind The review
says, that the enemy j. waging . battle .
of annihilation to achieve victory. lie I
II fighting today with the sole airn of /
annihilating the British armies Thus.
terrain conquered counts for little.
German Plan Thwarted.
While 10 must be admitted that Ger
man operations since The beginning of the
present offensive have resulted ID morc
than mere ploughing up Of part Of the
Allied trench system and the capture Of
local objectivcs along q wide front, never
theless the ann Of the German higher
command to obtain decisive strategic
success by these assaults has not been
attained
The turning point n the west is
being reached The Germans have
scored distant advantage which il
would be unwise 70 endeavor 10 F'ellttie.
Failed in Great Purpose.
Vet they have failed IN their great
purpose to achieve victory in the field
and will soon bc forced to resume their
old tactics. seeking 70 gain limited OBJ
jectives, striking first AZ one point, then
at another in order 70 render the allied
position untenahle an nve themselves
greater security
The review If operations follows.
"a time passes it becomes evident
that the enemy is striking with renewed
vigor at the weakest point be can ind
opposite him.
Hope to Roll Butish Back.
"In the Picardy the Germans sought
for q rift ia the line where the French
and British fprces joined EaiiIng 70
seefsexs~srfv eiaffrffse tf4r-reartTrrg rrss'iiss
from this operation they promptly re-
turned 10 the assault elsewhere hoping
to roll the British towards the sea ana
effect a break through.
This IS the ope ration attempted this
week IN the region OF the famous battle
ground Of the early days of the war IN
front Of Lille The British were com
PEELED to give ground after the Portuguese
positions had been broken through and
have since retired. abandoning Armen-
there's and other points. The front oi
attack has since been further extended
br nar-n baan fOread IN
abandon positions 10 the north and south
of the Lvs and west Of the Lave.
The enemy has made he4dway along
the Ia BasSee canal 70 the Immediate
: vicinity OF Bethune while other points
northwest of the city of considerable
tactical importance have fallen into the
: hands Of the enemy.
Within 40 Miles Of Calais.
The enemy now finds himself within
iorty miles Of Calais. The main lines or
communication 70 Channel ports r4dlate
vertically from this battlefront and thus
facilitate the German advance
III the enemy can muster the driving
. power he will undoubtedly continue his
i attacks hoping hat by an enveloping
attack on an obhque front he may score
: a complete annlhllatlon victory.
There has been less activity along the
southern flank of the Plc2rCly salient.
Here the line taken over by the French
now IS fully consolidated.
French Check Enemy on Disc.
'TFhe Germans by stubborn and costly
! ! driven thrllSts were able TO force the
French out Of the triangular area formed
by the Oise. the Ailette and the old line
stretching from Ia Fere to Anlzy Le
Chateau The French were able To
check the enemy and carry out their
Z Z. -,
, OF the line which they now hold south Of
: the Ailette.
The German higher command also
made desperate attempts 70 enlarge its
gains in the area stretching from Montdl-
der TO NoVon but they were everywhere
repulsed by the French.
North OF the Sonune the British
rc-cstablished their hne in the Aveluy
woods and took number Of prisoners.
Later in the week very heavy bonn
bardments developed Iii the region east
!. of Boyon and north OF Montdidier
! Effective Work by IT, 5. Troops.
'.ln the sectors where our own forces
are fighting considerable activity prevail
ed Northwest Of Toul, our artillery
/ was able to disperse the assaulting col
umns Our own infantry counter at
E tackled and drove off the remnants Of The
! enemy units 4 number Of prisoners were
taken Our casualties we're relatively
/ slight
The enemy also executed MINOR rad
against one Of our outpostS in the Woevre.
Hostile artillery has been active through
out the week both in the Woevre and
along our positions in Meuse hills and in
, the Nosges.
: Lively SheIhng took place along the
! whole Italian front and the Allies executed
a number Of minor raids in the Asiago
region.
The rcgrouping ol forces has been
: going on and the continuation OF con-
6 centratIon of hostile units IS reported.
! Renewed Offensive Expected.
THE probability Of an enemy offensive
in this area as soon as the weather be-
comes more favorable is increasing.
while no events bearing directly on
Il the general military situation took place
: in the east it is TO be noted that German
] and Finnish forces have occupied and
: passed beyond TammerfOrs and hostile
n units are moving northward with the
: object of cutting the Russian railway
through Finland TO Sweden,
q In Siberia the situation remains
il obscure. The Japanese landing at Nladi-
i vostok has been followed by the landing
Of British force,