El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-28
IS
GHiHGINGPLAN
Of WAGIN6 WAR
Joffre, Frances Great Com
mander, Uses Autos to
Visit the Lines.
CANNOT NOW ADOPT
NAPOLEON'S TACTICS

ORDEAUX. France, Nov. Is
Never did the greatness of Gen.
- Joffre shine more clearly than in
that black hour near the beginning OF
+be war when it became necessary to
,ro,- the careers of five generals who
rad shown weakness in their maneuN-
aTS He did not hesitate or compro-
mise All of them went.
II has been declared that Jo1Ire
ie of the school of Napoleon. rms
must be accepted only with the great
reservation that nothing could be Iur-
tber from the wasS of Napoleon man
! the great battles Of the Marine ana the
Alsne. me-,
In themselves those battles do not
present anything like the tactical IN
terest of those examples OIL mllllaI
skill of a hundred years ago. anu anu
the aeroplane is responsible. II sees
e1-ervthing from its elevated vantage
point; from it nothing is hidden II
looks behind the screen OF cavalry
masking the enemy's front; 1t sees
troops on the march or being carIleu
in trains: it notes the numbers OF
different arms. and all the details OF
2 vast machine.
Thus the art of war has been roDpeq
of that element Of surprise Whlch
? afforded Napoleon dramatic oppor-
tunity for the display of his genius.
His object was to discover the Weah
spot in the eenmy's lines, and, haYln8
discovered it, to hurl upon 1t all the
forces at his command His success
depended upon the speed and sureness
with which the great blow could pc
struck. A premature revelation "ouIo
have spoiled all
Surprises Not Possible.
But a corp of thar sort is no longer
possible for a maneuYer on the one
side is met, instantly, by maneuFeI
on the other. War now consists IN
a series Of parallel movements; its
art has changed. 1t would scarCeIy
be exaggeration to say that II Goes
not exist. The two armies turn about
each other like boxers in the prellInlh-
ary phases of a fight. They pivot
clumsily to catch each other at a olS-
advantage, and that is practically al
the art of it. -
resistance, of mardhing and counter
marching Anything less like Napo-
lecn's way of making war 1t WouId
be difficult to imagine. II is IKE
plaviDg bridge with your opponent
locking over your shoulder He knows
when you are finessing and when you
arc playing for an opening In these
conditions, how is it possible 10 gam
a brilliant victory by great crushing
blcWs. having calculated the psyche
logical moment%'
This is as far from present reaIltles
as Napoleon's canter on his white morse
along tbs line on the eve of battle on
not imagine Joffre cantering from
Dunkirk to Belfort before breakfast
at the moment Of beginning the battle
hich lasts weeks and not merely q
single day.
Conditions Changed
Thus, all the conditions OF warfare
have changed, and with them the mem
tality and methods of COMMANDERS
Joffre is rarely seen on horseback,
but he has much the figure or the
Corsican-shOrt and stout and glvlng
the impression of power lie spends
a part of each day in a long, low
rapid motor car visiting the lines. II
is impossible to visit all the points
much must be left to the corps com
rnander after the general plan is set
tied; this rObs a generalissimo OF per-
sonaI contact with his troops; he IS
more or less unknown to them, ana
Joffre probably has to show papers
to his sentries. He wears out two
chauffeurs a day in his rush from
point to point
But beyond that Joffre must hold
the wires in this tremendous systeSn.
You have to imagine him passing long
hours in an unpretenuous room with
a receiver to his ear. His assistant
generals bend over maps and examine
attentively the lie of the country;
Joffre has no need of that; rivers
mountains, valleys are engraved deep
ly in his brain
His chief characteristic is calmness-
He is as calm in war as in peace
And that quality has bred confidence.
He has confidence in himself, and mas
given confidence to others. His starr
never for moment doubts his capac-
ity to win, and that conviction has
percolated through to the masses OF
the troops. 1t has made him popular
though ne has done nothing to en-
gender that; on the contrary, he es-
chews popularity.