The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-08-13
The Week in the War

on Thursday il has grown in magnitude until it
has become little il anything short of complete
rout of the foe Greatsas was the victory in the
to equal and to ovetshadow it although it must
not be forgotten that il was the complete victory
from Scissors to Rheims. that rendered possible
the new battle which is still raging with the Allies
in the ascendant along front Of more than fifty
miles.
Indications contained in the news up to yester-
day afternoon were that the foe will be forced to
retire to line closely approximating the positions
held before the launching of the Supreme Often
sive" last march 1t is true that when the retire
ment is completed and the Teutons take up their
new line of defense they win probably occupy the
Chemin des Danes ridge which the Allies held in
March, but the gains achieved in all of the earlier
stages of the German offensive will have been al
most entirely annihilated.
I. On Monday the lighting was chiefly along the
Vesle and confined mostly to actions with the Ger
man rearguard which was covering the further
retirement of the main army of the crown prince
The Allies advanced but had to fight mud as wei
as Huns blowing through veritable quagmires
There were signs apparent that the battle was ex
tending and it famed up at several points to the
north. .,+asE,.
Apparently anticipating an offensive by the Al
lies on the Somne front the Germans on Tuesday
sought to learn the point or points Of attack fol
they struck and thrust nervously and without ap
parent definite objects at point after point. Mean
time it became evident they were trying to estab
lish new lines in the rear It was the turn Of thC
! Hun to guess instead of to keep the Allie:
guessing. .,/
Wednesday was devoted by the Allies to wori
that was preliminary to the concerted offensive
that was to be launched over long front. Th'
Americans crossed the Vesle at other points Th'
Britons struck and cut deep in Flanders and be
tween ON the Lys salient and the, Ancre salien
the British and French attacked. The Germans
then sought to avoid disaster in retirement bu
were too late Without giving the enemy time t.
reorganize, to regain breath and to strengthen po
sitions, Foch struck again, on Thursday and Ger
man retirement was started only day in advance
Rupprechts forces were shattered and smashed
Thousands of prisoneFs and much booty wer
taken from them, so many prisoners, it was diff
cult to dispose of them. An advance OF six mile
along twenty eight mile front was achieved wit
losses so comparatively insignificant as to surprs
the Allied commanders.
In sweeping curve from east Of Morlncour
to Avre the Allies pushed onward throughout Fri
day. Saturday and yesterday morning and by Fri
. day night it had become apparent that the Ly
salient and Montdidier salient were lost to tn
enemy and long retirement essential. O
Saturday Montdidier fell to the French and to tn
south OF that point pocket was being close
about the foe. Yesterday, at the center of the lin
the advance proceeded beyond Chaulnes and fur
ther south the French advance had carried t
about seven miles east of Montdidier SO rapi
this advance that the Teutons are forced t
exert every energy in an effort to halt the advanc
along the road to Noyon and the road from Noyo
to Ham was under the guns OF the Allies. Los
. OF the important center of Noyon and a great re
:. trement, probably accompanied with tremendOu
s losses of prisoners in killed and wounded seem
inevitable. Most of the artillery of the enemy
this broad sector seems destined to fall into tn
+ hands of the allies
Immense as seemed the disaster which met tn
Austrian offensive against Italy, 1t has aread
sunk into semi-obScuTity before the greater d
asters that have befallen the German arms. TT
Austrlans were al worst able to tall back upO
practically their old positions but the Germans al
driven from terrain which it has taken month
Of time hundreds Of thousands of men and billior
4 of marks Of ammunition to secure
/. 1t was growing apparent a week ago that tt
Germans have probably launched their last grei
offensive. That indication came from the result
OF the second battle of the Marne the Allied Offer
sive in the AsneM Marne salient. Those indie;
tons are now multiplied by the new offensive
Since last March the Germans have lost hui
\ dreds of thousands. The French and British ais
lost heavily but not so enormously, but the Ge
w had 10