和訳をお願いします。
A withdrawal that far would uncover the southern slopes of Menin Ridge, which was the most vital part of Flandern position. Rupprecht re-examined the Warneton (third) line and the extra Sehnen line (Oosttaverne line to the British) between the Warneton Line and the Höhen (Higher or second) line and dropped the withdrawal proposal.
Gruppe Wijtschate with three divisions under the command of the headquarters of XIX Corps (General Maximilian von Laffert), held the ridge, as part of the 4th Army (General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin). The ridge garrison was reinforced with the 24th Division in early May. The 35th and 3rd Bavarian divisions were brought up as Eingreif divisions and Gruppe Wijtschate was substantially reinforced with artillery, ammunition and aircraft. The vulnerability of the northern end of Messines Ridge, where it met the Menin Ridge, led to the German command limiting the frontage of the 204th (Württemberg) Division to 2,600 yards (2,400 m). The 24th Division to the south held 2,800 yards (2,600 m) and the 2nd Division at Wijtschate held 4,000 yards (3,700 m). In the south-east, 4,800 yards (4,400 m) of the front line either side of the river Douve, was defended by the 40th Division. The front-line was lightly held, with fortifications distributed up to 0.5-mile (0.80 km) behind the front line. At the end of May, British artillery fire was so damaging that the 24th and 40th divisions were relieved by the 35th and 3rd Bavarian (Eingreif) divisions, which were replaced by the 7th and 1st Guard Reserve divisions in early June and relief of the 2nd Division was promised for 7/8 June.
The German front line regiments held areas 700–1,200 yards (640–1,100 m) wide with one (Kampf) battalion forward, one (Bereitschaft) battalion in support and the third in reserve 3–4 miles (4.8–6.4 km) back.
お礼
なるほど、普通に使っているtheの用法に従えばよいのですね。 特定ではない、一般的に2番目の○○言うのは。。。 等のときはtheをつけずに、 1番目の○○があってそれに続く2番目と言うときはtheがつくのですね。 ありがとうございました。