The Washington times., 1918-04-15

L
was considerably slowed down and
only able to reach q maximum addi
tional depth OF two and q quarter
miles. The front Of attack has since
been further extended and the British
have been forced to abandon positions
to the north and south Of the Lys
and west OF the Lave.
The enemy has made hsadway
along the La Bassee canal to within
the immediate vicinity OF Bsthune.
while other points northwest OF the
city of considerable tactical import
ance have fallen into the hands of
| the enemy.
The enemy now finds himself with.
in forty miles of Calais. The main
lines OF communication to Channel
ports radiate vertically from this
battle front and thus facilitate the
German advance.
During the four days nEhting the
enemy has gained q considerable local
success in this area
We must bear in mind that the enemy
Is waging a battle Of annihllatlon to
achieve victory. He is fighting today
with the sole aim Of annihilating the
British armies. Thus. terrain conquered
counts for little. II the enemy can mus
ter the driving power, he will In all
probability continue his assaults. hoping
that by an "enveloping attack on an
oblique front" to use the classic Prus-
sian definition. he may score q complete
annihilating victory.
While II must be admitted that German
operations since the beginning OF the
present Offensive have resulted in more
than a mere plowing-up Of part of the
allied trench system and the capture Of
local objectives along a wide front.
nevertheless the aim Of the German
higher command to obtain q decisive
strategic success by these assaults has
not been attained.
Turning Point Reached,
The turning point In the west is being
reached. Tho Germans have scored a
distinct advantage which It would be
very unwise to endeavor to belittle. Yet
they have failed in their great purpose
to achieve victory In the neld and will
soon be forced to resume their old tao
tics. seeking to gain limited objectives,
striking first at one point. then at an
other in order to render the allied posi-
ton untenable and give themselves
greater security.
There has been less activity along
the southern nank of the Picardy sa-
lient. Here the line taken over by
the French is now fully consolidated.
After the bloody battles which have
been raging In the area between
Montdidier and Noyon. the enemy,
fearing a counter attack along this
flank of their new deeply curved ga
nent, struck repeated blows to give
themselves elbow room, south OF the
Disc.
Triangle Cleared Out.
The Germans, by stubborn and
costly driven thrusts. were able to
force the French out of the triangular
area formed by the oise, the Ailett..
and the old line stretching from Ia
Fere to Anizy-le-Chateau.
On an approximate tvelve-mils
front the enemy advanced to q depth
ranging from three to six miles. The
French contested every foot Of the
ground were able to check the
enemy's onslaught, and carry our
their carefully arranged plan for the
occupation OF the line which they
now hold south OF the Ailette.
The German high command also
made desperate attempts to enlarge
its gains In the area stretehIng TO-,
Montdidier to Noyon and Improve IN.
position in this vicinity, but they
were everywhere repulsed by tho
FRENCH who hold nrm along this i'm.
portant sector.
North OF the Somme the British re-
their line in the AveIuy
woods and took number OF prIs-
oners.
Later in the week very heavy bonn.
baroments developed in the rerion
east Of Noyon and north OF MontdI-
der
In the sectors where our own forces
are hghting considerable activity pre-
vailed. After protracted artillery
preparation the Germans launched an
attack against our positions north
west Of Toul. Our artillery was able
to disperse the assault ling columps
and checked the attack before our
lines were reached. Our own infantry
attacked and drove OF the
remnants OF the enemy unItA A
number of prisoners were taken. Our
were relatively slight.