The German staff seems to have counted on employing forty-five divisions in the Aisne offensive. Before the end of last week this figure had been exceeded. No essential objective has been attained, and none has been approached as nearly as in the two northern phases of the offensive. Concentration, not dispersal, of effort is the means to a quick decision. If Germany were not pressed for time and could be content with partial victories, she might be satisfied, but Germany is decidedly pressed for time, and only decisive actions now count. The Americans are coming into the battlefront, and will presently be there in force. This front now extends over 200 miles. The superiority of aggressive force given by the collapse of Russia and Rumania is ebbing away. FRENCH OUTNUMBERED The question will have arisen in some minds why, if the defenses of the Chemin des Dames were as strong as I had represented them to be, last Monday's attack should have so quickly overcome them. Detailed narratives are being accumulated which throw light on this subject. I take the case of the division holding the French left a week ago. We all remember its front, which was naturally and artificially of the strongest. It had nearly twelve hours' notice of what was afoot. In the first place, the German artillery preparation, though short, was of infernal violence. The rolling barrage was two miles deep. It destroyed the French telephone wires and filled the battery emplacements and machine-gun posts with various kinds of poison gas. Dust and artificial smoke clouds isolated groups of defenders and hid the waves of assault till they broke with a four-fold superiority of force. Many groups were thus surrounded, but fought on for a couple of hours, causing the enemy heavy losses. Many short counterattacks delayed advances and every line of trench wire was used. But the next most important thing, since reinforcements could not arrive immediately, was that the mass of the division should be held together and drawn back gradually for the defense of more essential positions. These lay beyond the Soissons bridgehead. Reinforced last Tuesday night, the division defended the plateau southeast of Soissons for four days with obstinate heroism. AIR SUPREMACY OF ALLIES It may now be said that the allied airmen have established decided supremacy in the new battlefield. The Germans had a week ago, in this as in other respects, the advantage of their preparations and initiative, and they used it boldly, flying low in numbers, and machine-gunning our retreating ranks. The balance could not be instantly redressed. The airplane seems to be the very type of mobility, but it devours petrol, demands repairs, and, in brief, must carry its camp with it.