Around Ypres the fighting has been more than usually fierce and
desperate. Blow after blow has been struck, first by one side, then by
the other. Both German and British have admittedly suffered enormous
losses, but the positions of their respective lines are almost unchanged
from those occupied a week ago. The German gains of last week in the
vicinity of Steenstraate produced in the British lines around Ypres a
sharp salient, and it is against the sides of this salient that the
Germans have been hurling their forces.
The town of Ypres is now in complete ruins, and, although it would
normally be of importance because of the fact that it is the point of
crossing of a number of roads, this importance is destroyed by the fact
that it is entirely dominated by the German artillery. As long as this
state of affairs exists the town has practically no strategic value. All
that the Germans can accomplish if they take Ypres will have been a
flattening out of the British salient.
Germany cannot be content with occasional bending of the Allies' line.
The process is too slow and too costly. Germany has almost, if not
quite, reached her maximum strength, and the losses she now suffers will
be difficult to replace.
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