Possibly their object is to bait a trap and draw
the French on. That may be good strategy, no doubt, but at the same time there is always a danger of the French doing so well as to be in a position to threaten the German left flank. It would be very tiresome for the Germans if, after having wasted precious days in preliminary operations in clearing their right flank, they had to do the same with their left flank. This, however, is speculation. All that we can say definitely about the war at the present moment is that the Allies have hitherto done all they wanted to do, and more than they expected to do, in getting into their places, have had no regrettable incidents, mid have lost nothing serious in the way of guns or prisoners. On the other hand, the Germans, though their losses, judged by the stupendous standard that we must now adopt, may be comparatively small, find many of their men and guns in possession of the enemy. They have also had an appalling loss in horses. Even if they brush all this aside as "altogether negligible," they cannot redeem their lost days.
