At the end of three weeks of the offensive about 1,500,000 men have been cast into the battle, and seventy-five divisions have become so dislocated as to have to be withdrawn for reorganization. It is therefore probable that the total German casualties up to date approach 500,000. SECOND PHASE SUMMARIZED The second phase may be regarded as having opened March 28 with the entry of General von Below's right wing into action east of Arras, and as culminating with the battle of Armentières, involving the army of General von Quest and the left wing of General von Arnim's army at Ypres, while a subsidiary operation by General von Boehm's army threatened the French between the Oise and St. Gobain Forest. This northern battle began in a much smaller way than the original offensive, with about twenty divisions on a twenty-mile front, and it may have been its initial success that determined its prompt extension. While it may fairly be said to have constituted a confession of failure in the earlier adventure, its development not only creates a new danger, but strengthens the German position athwart the Somme. The situation, therefore, must be looked at straightforwardly and spoken of without mincing words. In the middle of March the German armies consisted of 4,000,000 men at the front, 1,300,000 on the lines of communication and in the interior, and others who can be added to the present effectiveness. From the village of Hangard to Abbéville is about forty miles; from Merville to Calais is the same distance; to Boulogne a little more; from the Ypres front to Dunkirk is about thirty miles; to Nieuport a little less. These are the limits of the allied power of manoeuvre for the defense of the Channel. Caring for Thousands of Refugees Long processions of civilian refugees lined the roadsides in the invaded area during the days of battle--the pitiful hosts of those fleeing from the German guns and the terrors of German occupation. Many thousands of villagers and farmers whose little homes had been devastated by the first German occupation and by the battle of the Somme had been trying bravely to restore their ruined houses and cultivate the tortured soil again. With the aid of American friends hundreds of cottages had been built, heaps of shattered masonry cleared away, shops and schools opened, and French, British, and American committees had formed a nucleus around which new life was gradually growing up. No less than 5,500 acres of the devastated land evacuated by the Germans a year ago were again under cultivation--enough to feed 16,000 persons a year.