Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-29
HUN ARMIES IN PERIL
OF FRENCH AND BR| TON
Larger and Larger Become the
Wedges Thrust Into Foes
Lines, Says Expert.
BY Associated Press to Every Evening

BY Associated Press to Every Evening
Washington. Aug % A noted war
critic writes of the situation on the
European battle front as follows:
1t was inevitable that the Germans
would have to retire to the Canal du
Nord The line before Chaulnes, ap-
parcntly imprcgnable To direct attack
except with losses beyond it's military
value. has been taken by the apparently
Simple expedient of thanking it out.
The French drove across the Rows
Iiiancourt road beyond Cremery; the
British drove eastward as far as the
outskirts of Dompicre
In both cases the two extremlties Of
these operations were well beyond the
Chaulncs line The wedges were grow
ing deeper. threatening To pm the Ger
mans against the Canal du Nord on the
south and the Somme River on the
north Chaulnes therefore had to be
evacuated
What has really been happening in
the area between the French lines and
these water barriers is just what has
been expected generally The Germans
were doing the same thing they did
when anchored behind the Ourcq IN the
battle of the AIarne holding fast IN
order to give the troops IN their rear
an opportunity to remove as much Of
the artillery as possible and To transfer
or destroy the ammunition dumps pre-
paratory 70 n retreat.
HUN RETREAT FORCED.
Apparently the French in yesterday
fighting had hut little real fighting TO
do as compared with the previous days.
The Germans were ready to retire and
fell back Of the Canals Ii is the visible
evidence Of the extent of the allied victory.
The Germans did not retreat from choice.
They were forced to do so by bitter
necessity 1t was the lesser of two evils
In the south about Noyons the Ger
mans have suffered serious loss rs
result Of this enforced retrograde move
ment In between the Divette River and
the Roye-Noyons road Is the powerful
naSsif of Noyons, the most important
features Of which are the Bols de Ia
Reserve and the mountain of Porqueri-
court These protected Noyons perfectly
from the west and mort Invest To have
attempted to force these positions would
have cost tremendously in men. il, indeed,
il could have been accomplished at all
But all this the Germans have been
forced to abandon practically without
fight.
MT RENAUD CAPTURE IMPORTANT.
The French were not slow TO take adj
vantage Of the situation but Immediately
drove in toward Noyons, cutting in from
the south between Novons and the
Mountain of Porquericourt and taking
the villages Of Sauchelles and Porqueri-
court itself Mt Renuad, Just south of
Pont / EvaQue the most important posi-
ton in the south, also has been taken
\oyons itself has not been taken, how
ever, although the French lines are on
the outskirts of the city
NoYoNs HARD TO TAKE.
"Novons lies on the north bank of the
Disc about a mile north Of the Oise Canal
and lust to the east of the Canal du Nord
1t is excellently screened therefore by these
bodies of water so that its actual capture
will be difficult At the same time,
if the Germans attempt to hold such a
sharp angle as that which exists between
the Canal du Nord and the Oise with the
French north of the Disc at Pont 'Eveque,
they are apt 10 have material difficulty
Noyons, however, is but "a point which
is now without great deal OF meaning
The proximity of the French lines is such
that it has no value to either side.
There is another reason why it would
not be worth much of a sacrifice to take
If it has any value at all In the allied
commanders eyes it can only be as a
junping-of place for new offensive
But no new offensive can be begun from
such point, partly because the width OF
front is not sufficient and partly because
of the character of the terrain Immediately
to the east
''In the angle between the Noyons-IIam
4 4 L..
another of those masses of steep hills,
with broad, wooded tops, the axis Of
which almost exactly bisects this angie
This angle is therefore practically inn
mume from attack, making another
fianklng operation, and much more
difficult one, necessary.
GERMANS FLEE FROM HAIG.
"On the British front between Chaulnes
and Bapalime, the German retreat has
also made itself apparent While south Of
the Somme the Germans have not gone
back to the same depth as on the French
front, the British report of last night gives
the distinct impression that the Germans
also are retreating, with the evident in
tcntlon of going back to the Somme IN
the immediate future
while the British report does not
mention IA retreat beyond Herbecourt, 1t
would seem that the British commander
has reason To believe that the German
main body is falling back to the river
between Peronne and BrIe, bul is guard
ing heavily the approaches to the river
at these points until all of the force are
safely across The Germans, however,
are reaching a point where they are too
close to the river for comfort. There
does not appear to be any reason why they
should try to halt west of the river for more
than short time. There is every reason
why they should continue their retreat
TO the east bank
Further north the Canadians are deep
ening the wedge they have started between
the Sencee and the Scarpe This move,
Il continued will nlav an imnnrt a nj mart