The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-08-07
: - :.
By Leading {. 2: ! { Il: ,.
. Experts and
ri DOpsterS of
the World
Up

can war college had understood that
80 perfectly had every detail of an Of
::ensive campaign against both France
and Russia been worked out by the
German kriegspiel players that the
first blow would fall like lightning
strokes out of clear sky and that
within twenty-four hours after the
declaration of war, or indeed after
order for mobilization, the first Ger
man battalions would be many miles
advanced across both eastern and
western boundries into the enmies'
countries.
It was believed that the only man
ner in which the execution of these
carefully laid plans could be defeated
would be by the interposition to the
Russian legions, yet there has been no
report of battles upon any large scale.
Belief In Invisible Wires.
Consequently the belief is expressed
among military men here that invisi-
BILE wires are holding back the warliSe
movements, and that the full strength
of the military forces on all sides is
being withheld while the statesmen
and diplomats in the European capt.
tails are playing the last cards in the
desperate game of diplomacy in the
hope, not of averting general war but
of gaining individually such advan-
tages as may be obtained through de-
layed action.
After looking over all available
data of Mondays operations, the stra-
tegists were unanimously of the
opinion that the plans of campaign
had not so far unfolded as to admit
Of a guess as to the real purposes OF
the great military leaders. What has
been done by the German army in
the west in the invasion of Belgium is
regarded as precautionary and calcu-
lated rather to prevent a possible
quick dash by the French legions into
fatherland than with the purpose of
beginning a deliberate and progress
sive campaign toward Paris.
The slight clashes reported to have
taken place on the border Of Lorraine
are looked upon as mere feints to de-
velop the French strength in tht quar-
ter. Military maps here, brought
about up to date, disclose an astonish-
ingly large German military force in
that neighborhood. They appear to
be no less than three army divisions
within striking distance Of the French
frontier on a line less than a hundred
miles in length. If a general cam
paign had been initiated, there was
sufficient German force, in the opinion
of the experts here, to have broken
through the French lines at any point
where there were no great fortresses.
Formidable French Force.
Of course, according to these same
calculations, this German advance
might be only temporary, as it is
known that the French army is in
great strength in two fortified towns,
and it would be only a question Of
time before they would fall upon the
German TANKS in the effort to- cut the
lines of communication, isolate and de-
stroy or capture the invading army
before it could bring up it's reserves.
So far as can be discerned here, the
German campaigns in the east are on
a different basis, and at this stage at
least are rather defensive than often
sive in character. Reports have come
from Berlin that German troops actu-
ally have crossed the Russian frontier
south of Danzic, but this movement
is believed to be calculated simply to
harass the Russians and to retard the
organization of the great army of the
car, which finally must be reckoned
with.