Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-14
BATTLE DW|NDL|NG
SAYS WAR EXPERT
German Armies Must Go Back
to Their Old Lines, He
Declares.

Washington, Aug IA military
critic, summarizing the conditions on the
war fronts, writes:
"The allied progress still continues IN
the battle of Picardy, but on much
smaller scale. As was stated yesterday, the
battle is one of limited objectivcs in so FAR
rs each individual attack is concerned, All
of these attacks, however, are centercd on
one main objective and have but one pur-
pose
This is particularly true OF the southern
wing of the fighting front, where the
French are struggling toward the Oise,
with the object of thanking the Germans
out of the territory south of the lassigny~
Noyon line IL was here that the greatest
pressure was again eXertcd yesterday.
The German position Is not comfortable,
as IT is open TO vital attacks from several
directions A French offensive on limited
front east of the Oisc River will bring con-
siderable difficulty; the present attack
driving eastward from the neighborhood
of Lassigny will also produce complications
while an attack from the south on the west
bank of the river will have the same result.
GERMANS MUST vACATE.
at may be expected that the Germans
will sooner or later yacatc thus region Tor
two reasons One is that they may have
to- Another is that il is no longer OF any
value TO them. This territory was gained
rs the result of an effort to reach Com
piegnc and link up the fighting front at
Montdidicr with that along the Marnc.
1t is sufficient to note here that since the
failure of the NIarnc drive through the
allied offensive the ground gained by the
Germans in the Matz Valley has but little
value.
1T has, il is true, given them more ex
tended use of Noyon as base. but this IS
relatively unimportant since the railroad
line which runs through Noyon was cut by
the French where their line crossed IL south
of Ribecourt II may, therefore, be ex-
pected that the Germans will vacatc thIs
territory just rs soon as 1t appears that 1T
is dangerous for them TO continue 10 hold
il. As this time appears to be rapidly APP
preaching. due to the French advance on
the mort h. the retreat may be IN process OF
preparation now
AS to the possibilities in the north where
the British lines cross the Somme, II IS
noticeable that the fighting has died down
there to a point of relative inactivity, This
is caused by several things. The Germans
have placed very high value on their po-
SlNipS llOIliI VI tit tNtt SiiiAt 1IA't
At the time the battle of the Somme
began in 1916 they held very awkward
angle over much the same ground rs that
now occupied They clung to this stub
bornly all through the battle and never
did evacuate it altogether until the
great retreat on the Spring Of 1917 began.
The territory which the Germans
hold on the Northern bank of the river has
been bitterly contested during the present
offensive and has been in the main sue
cessfully defended In spite of the Allied
gains south Of the stream, the Germans
have held their positions generally, the
British being able to push forward for
but short distance The fighting,
indeed, due to the type Of the German
resistance. has been brought almost 10
q complete stop.
ARRAs STRONG DEFENSE POINT.
One Of the main reasons can be found
in the situation about Arras. Arras has
been the bulwark of the allied defense
in Picardy for the last wear The high
ground OF Nimy Ridge has proved its
value in a most substantial way The
only point al which this can be reached