Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-02
ALLIES WILL GUST
FOE FROM BELGIUM
Fall of Hindenburg Line and Cities
Back of it Means Warm Homes
for Our Men in Winter.

| Washington. Oct. "a noted war
expert writes regarding the lastcst phases
| of the war:
There is ut least one prime motive in
the general attack which the Allies are
| carrying on against the German line
| from Nerdun To the sea Behind the
| allied lines there rs a desert waste. There
| rs not house or n cover of any kind
To large extent the allied forces between
Arras and st. Quentin are in tents, and
! must remain in tents, unless the fortunes
| of war can bring about material change
in the situation
Within the German lines thing. are
very different. There are hundreds Of
undestroycd houses which serve as ex-
| ccllent billets for the soldiers. The
| Hlndonburg line, in addition, IL made
! up of numerous concrete tunnels and
| dugouts, carefully built, in which the
| soldiers can live in relative comfort dur
ing the Winter. There are the large
| cities. where thousands can be well
housed. As compared with the British
position they can be in luxury. There is
but one way in which this can be RENE
| died, and that Is by crossing tho Hin
| denburg line and putting the existing
convenicnNss of the Germans at the dis
| posal of the Allies. This is one of the
reasons why the Allies are fighting so
hard To cross this line before Winter.
HUNS PUNISHMENT TERRIBLE.
There is in addition the desire to forcr
German retreat and tn iniiict the
| maximum possible punishment upon the
German Army. This army Is being
punished row nj n rate never before
reached since the beginning Of the war
The losses ut Ncrdun and in the battle
of the Somme are no thing rs compared
with what is gong on now. During the
last two months Germany has lost IN
prisoners alone half rs many men as
the total casualty list OF the Somme
battle. This is where the shoe pnches
hardest
once again the time is rapidly ap-
preaching when Germany must shorten
up her lines This is enforced both
because her strateRical position is such
that she cannot remain where she IS
and because of tho impoSslbllity Of hold
ing her Inc with available man-powcr.
GRIT on uELcIUN roosENs.
To begin with the most northcrly bat
tlefront. the situation IN Belgium could
not we'll he worse II is almost impossible
for GERMANY to cling on whore she Is
now The Houthulst Forest is the key
10 the continued possession Of Flanders.
IL was the main object of all of the British
offensive IN the Summer of last year.
since il covers all Of the high ground
Of the Paschendacle Ridge and the
vital railroad line from Nenin through
RouCrs to Ostcnd This road is cut
in several places, or il not actually sever
cd. Is within easy rifle range of the Anglo
Belgian lines The Belgian report states
&ka4 - H,.~h,.,.- 4 - ~.
has cen crossed in several places and
this must involve the railroad.
RITTER rILL FoR kAIsrR.
The net result must be retirement to
moro favorable position This would
involve most OF the Belgian coast. so
that it would not be surprising If in
less than two weeks time We should see
German retreat IN this section. This
will be most bitter pill for Germany
TO swallow. rs this coast is one of her |
treasures 1t is something she has stood |
up TO retain after the war 10 offset the |
mouth of the Scheldt For this reason
she may cling on longer than the mill |
Itarv position would indicate was adj |
Visable But II must be remembered |
that the northern section Of Flanders Is |
poor territory IN which To carry out cx-
tensive troop movements III Winter. |
In addition to this, Lille Is becoming |
endangered. The allied lines are IN idy |
being thrust forward east OF the city on !
tho north On the south, between Douai |
and CANT raj. the British advances are |
encirclIng 1t. though at some distance. |
In neither case will the advance have 10 |
be carried much further before Lille is |
involved At Cambria itself the Ger |
man situation Is desperate. This is the |
most important of the German chain of |
bases south of Lille. V reason of the |
number Of railroads passing through the |
city. The British are IN the town. while |
to the north and south of il they are |
pushing their lines we'll 70 the eastward |
CAMBRAI LINES n HAIG's HANDS.
Cambria is guarded on the west and |
south by the Scheldt Canal. But the |
British are across this defense from Pro |
vine to Crevecoeur. although they are |
held on the western bank south OF the !
latter place But the more important of |
the railroads have either been crossed or |
are under close FIRE so that their useful |
ness Is gone. One OF these roads Is that |
TO Douai. a section of which north of |
Cambria Is In British hands Another !
which runs northeast passes 10 Lille and |
Nalenclennes. The British are within a |
mile of thls road. A third runs south |
east TO st. Quentin. and Is the only one |
which can be put 10 any extensive use, |
it. too, is under fire of artillery. |
Cambria, then. may be regarded rs |
out Of the strategical game. It's capture |
is a matter of hours With Cambria in |
British hands, the entire chain of bases |
is denoralized and the entire linden |
burg line placed ia Immediate jeopardy |