Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918: A Monthly Magazine of the New York TimesVarious
History
Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918: A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times
Various
World War, 1914-1918
There has been no serious attempt on the part of the Turks during the
month to oppose the expansion of General Allenby's front beyond
Jerusalem or the triumphant march of General Marshall up the Euphrates
and the Tigris--on the latter river now sixty miles below Mosul,
Marshall's obvious objective. The objective of Allenby is Aleppo, where
there is said to be a single division of German troops in addition to
the Turks, who have been forced north from Jerusalem. Allenby and
Marshall are advancing along parallel lines with a desert space of about
400 miles between. The Turks and their ally still have possession of the
caravan trail and the partly built and entirely surveyed Bagdad Railway,
which intersect the prospective parallel paths of Allenby and Marshall,
whose lines of communication already reach hundreds of miles to the
rear. But while Allenby has a lateral sea communication with Syrian
ports, no such advantage is enjoyed by Marshall, who must get all his
supplies from the head of the Persian Gulf, 450 miles to the south.
Whatever be the force at the disposition of the enemy, it is evident
that he will continue to possess a predominating tactical and strategic
advantage until he has been decisively defeated at both Aleppo and Mosul
or a junction has been established between Allenby and Marshall, or
both.
[Illustration: SCENE OF LATEST ITALIAN FIGHTING IN THE ALPS]
The former's line, which is a sixty-mile front, extending from Arsuf el
Haram on the Mediterranean east to the Jordan, took Es-Salt with
thirty-three German and 317 Turkish prisoners on May 1--twenty miles
north of Jerusalem--which was first occupied by Allenby early in
December.
Marshall's advance has been much more rapid. In the week of May 1 his
cavalry, in pursuit of the fleeing Turks, advanced twenty miles and
captured 1,000 prisoners. On May 7 he was 80 miles from Mosul; on May 10
he was within 60 miles. Allenby is 300 miles from Aleppo and 110 miles
from Damascus.
ON THE ITALIAN FRONT
Without any large movements of troops taking place, several things have
occurred since April 18 to invite attention to the Italian front, and
much speculation by military men has been indulged in as to whether the
resumption of the Teutonic offensive would be from the Piave or south
from the Astico-Piave line lying across the Sette Comuni and the Brenta,
or from the west of the Adige and the Lago di Garda, in an attempt to
reach Brescia and the metallurgic centre of Italy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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