New-York tribune., 1918-02-10

tween Armentieres and st. Quentin. on
the right wing Of the British army and
the part of the front with the best foot
ing at this season Of the year. The
other raids have been on the Ypres
front. In many of them Haig admitted
the enemy captured prisoners.
A trench raid as now conducted is no
simple dash across No Man's Land
with few shots fired, few bombs
thrown and scurry home. 1t is we'll
organized and carefully planned, with
a definite objective, that objective he
ing chiefly ito learn the disposition of
the enemy forces.
When the enemy shows such an in
terest in this part Of the line he either
expects Haig to strike or he wants to
measure his chances OF success in
launching a blow.
Raid Answers Raid
The same communicates reported al
most daily heavy hostile FIRE at certain
points of this front, generally south
west of Cambrai or northwest of St.
Quentin. In this period Haig also or
dered raids in this sector.
when the communique reports heavy
tire these days it means "hell broke
loose not few random shots. When
the enemy concentrates his guns on q
certain point it is not practice, but an
troops Or guns or to handicap work.
ers or railways.
All of which indicates there is good
reason to expect lively time on the
battlefield which already has been the
scene of some of the bloodest fighting
of the war. Probably that part of the
British front Offering the greatest
natural obstacles, but also the great
est reward if smashed, is that between
the coast and Ypres.
Dunes Wonderful Defence
Along the coast the dunes are Won
derful defence, while to the south the
flooded area continues to make this
one of the few parts Of "No Mans
Land which really justify the name.
The capture Of Calais by the Ger
mans would mean disaster to the AL
lies. But before the enemy could hope
to reach that important port he would
than have been accomplished thus far
in this war.
Because the chief attention is CEN
tired on the question of where the
enemy is going to hit, little thought
has been given to the possibility of a
drive from this side. The maxim that
the best defence is strong offence
is worth remembering, and certainly
is not one the enemy is likely to
forget. When the big blow falls it is
probable the whole. front will spring
into activity. and an enemy success at
one point might very easily find him
suffering reverse at another
That the enemy will pound away at
certain sector and thp Allies will
parry his blows without attempting to
hit him in another place is too ri
diculous to consider. Says the critic
of "The Manchester Guardian":
"The French salient at Verdun is
very tempting, but if the Germans take
up the Verdun idea again it will not
be Nerdun. but some point further
south on the French lines. and this
attack will probably be combined with
q movement on Western Italy.
"Thc rule governing these things is,
if thanking movement fails, to enlarge
the radius of the arc.
In long review Of the whole mill
tary situation the critic of "The Daily
Telegraph" makes this comment:
"Our line is. on the whole, less vul-
nerable than the French line, and if
penetrated would yield less to the foe
than a direct advance toward Paris or
than an intercepton of Verdun from
the centre of France. The Cambrai st.
Quentin sector, however, is a tempting
target to the Germans, because success
at that point would open the Disc Val
ley, which was barred by the French
victories of last spring. Moreover, the
railways in it make the maneuvre and
rapid development of vast forces feasi-
BILE, while the country in which the
enemy would try to penetrate offers no
natural obstacles of Importance to his
continued advance"
The Reichstag reassembles February
23. and there will be a lively political
campaign launched at that time. Ii the
miitarists have meanwhile begun the
military campaign their political oppo-
nents will be placed at disadvantage.
But the German militarists worry less
to-day about their political enemies
than they do about the weather.
If the weather continues fine the
odds favor an early resumption of the
lighting on the greatest scale of the
war.