For the purpose of recapturing the Chemin des Dames, the Germans have recommenced on the Aisne a series of those reiterated attacks in mass-formation which had cost them so dear at Verdun in 1916, and which are now no less costly and unsuccessful.
The Military Situation in October, 1917
Two great facts dominate the situation to-day.
1st. The great success won at Verdun in August, 1917, by the French, who in two days retook the positions that had cost the Germans five months of ceaseless assault and enormous losses in men and material. It is indeed a most remarkable success, considering that the German General Staff, in the defence of the ground so hardly won, employed every means known to military science.
The last battle of Verdun evidences the superiority that the French artillery has gained over the German artillery.
2d. The recent victories of the British Army and those of the French Army under General Anthoine in Flanders. Both French and British have made continuous progress despite most unfavorable weather conditions—fog, rain, and deep mud. The lines of communication of the Germans with the Belgian coast are threatened, and the occupation of the Belgian coast by the Allies will put an end to the hopes Germany has based upon her submarine warfare.
The significant feature of these latest French and British victories is the fact that the German armies now find it impossible to react in time—or, in other words, to check an assault by launching prompt counter-attacks.
The difficulty that the two Crown Princes experience in finding immediately and on the moment troops sufficient for energetic attack, proves:
1st. That notwithstanding the withdrawal of various contingents from the Russian Front, they are short of reserves;
2d. That the quality and the morale of their troops have declined, which is also evidenced by the large number and inferior fighting-value of the prisoners taken.