Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-29
GERMAN FLEET CAN
BECRUSHED FROM
LAND, EXPERT SAYS
Japanese Tactics at Port Ar
thur Would Destroy, or
Drive to Sea, All kaiser's
Ships.
LONDON. Sent %


ish navy is sufficient reason why that n,
Germany should seek refuge in barho-.
and within the Kie Canal. In those o,.
cumstances a great sea conflict betvee,
the two is most unlikely: but if the viau,
of Lieutenant Colonel Roustam Rek
prominent Russian officer be correc,
there is possibility OF the Kaisers aeo,
being destroyed by bombardment fr,,,
the shore.
Writing In the Daily Express. the Rus
sian officer presents an aspect of the sit.
uation which Is decidedly new and as de.
cidedly interesting. During the Russo.
japanese war there was given. he sav.
an example which 1t were we'll To hons
III mind now. That was that tho Pms
sian fleet in the bay of Port Arthur wa,
completely destroyed. not by the enemy's
hattlcshps or by torpedo boats, but sim.
ply by the fire of 11-inch mortars fro,,
the shore. 1t was not cowardice tba,
kept the Russian fleet in the harbor b,.
the certain belief that the Japsnase cont,
not destroy 1t and that it would remain
intact until reinforcements arrived Prov,
Europe. But, Colonel Bek points M,
the Japanese showed that this suppos,-
ton, based on old doctrines of stratscy
was a false one. After the capture T.,
November of 203 Metre Hill, the .iananos.
used the hill as a fire control station fo-
the mortars placed some distance fpr.
ther away from the harbor and abso.
Iutely destroyed all the Russian bott,..
ships in the bay
NIGHTMARE FOR THE KAISER
According to Colonel Bek, this historica,
example has become nightmare for
the Kaiser within the last few weeks
and he fears for his fleet a fate similar
to that which obliterated the Russian at
Fort Arthur. He never supposed that
the Russians would change their con.
'servative strategical methods and tak.
the offensive. Since the army of Cen.
eral Rennenkampf invaded the province,
OF East Prussia with great success and
enormous speed the fear of a repetition
OF the 2o Metre Hill process has been
continually with the Kaiser. He real.
lzed what great danger could arss
from such an advance by the Russians
Who being masters of Memel. Koenirs.
oerg and Danzg, could without mucb
diincu!ty continue their march along ths .
shore westward, beseging the most i'm.
portaht ports of Germany and cutting
on on the German navy alike from its Bal
Tie bases and from the army.
Supposing," continues Colonel Raj
llht the russian north 1rrnv
succeed IN accomplishing this task, what
would happen then? Great siege NOR
tars of large calibre cooperating with
aeroplanes, which are numerous in ths
russian army, would force the German
navy hidden in the harbors to leave them
ana put to sea, where 1t is anxiously ex-
pected by the brilliant British fleet, and
undouotedly an engagement, with all it's
deplOfabie consequences for the Ger.
mans. would take place
That part of the German navy which
'as IN the Baltic Sea would be cut of
trom the North Sea by the British fleet,
ana IN case of losing its bases and coal
ing stations. would be Obliged either to
chalIenge the Russian fleet or TO reach
the neutral ports of Sweden and Dem
mark. but there / think the commercial
lntrlgues Of Germany, such as succeeded
with Turkey, would not be so easy to fix
up"
'
TO aunt that these are only suppositions
which can be raised for discussion but
the energetic measures which the Kaiser
- taking to clear East Prussia of the
russians show that the War Lord I!
places high value upon the coasts Of
the Baltic Sea
Silesia has been gradually invaded by ,
thc RUSSIANS, and soon the invaders will
be IN possession of the richest coal mines
or Germany. Austria's Galiciam oil
pialhS are already Russian property, and
these lactS must produce some effect on
the supply OF the German navy with oil
ana coal In any case. the situation 10
becoming very serious for Germany.
NO FANTASTIC PICTURE.
In this article" Colonel Bek con.
tinues' Il do not try to indicate ths
future operations OF the German navy
or the measures which the British and
Russian fleets will take against the =
enemy. simply draw picture Of a =
possibility of military cooperation which /
should think is not a fantastic one 2
Besides that Germany must not forget .
that In the Baltic there is quite a new
Russian squadron, with numbers of sub- =
marines and torpedo boats, all under the !!
command of experienced officers, who
with their own blood and the lives OF 2
thousands OF their comrades have pur- !
chased knowledge OF sea fighting and =
naval strategy. Nobody can understand
how much, morally, the young Russian
naval officers suffered after Port Arthur
and Tsushima, how hard they have
worked since. and how much progress
they have made I'm the last 10 years,
creating the new navy based alike on
modern scientific principles and old ira
Gttlons of the Sebastopol heroes, OF Ad
mirals Nahmon and Korniloff-the prin-
ciplcs Of self-sacrifce for the Mother-
land"
THE RUSSIAN NAVY
In Colonel BCk's opinion Germany does
not realize what resistance she will meet
On the sea from the small but strong ana
Russian navy. just as she had
never expected to meet the Russian army
on her territory marching on Berlin.
"l do not think" he says in conclusion,
that I'm her present condition Germany .
proposes to ny again an offensive marcp
into Russia march on Moscow, as lhs
Kaiser said 10 his legiOns. IL Is too lats,
and If such move By the War LORD has
been intended 10 divert a consideTapls
portion of the Russian forces now CpeI'
ating in GaliCia, he viii get them oe-
Nause part Of the Russian troops are Ies