Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-09-18
ended, but that her suggestions have
been brusquely rejected.
GENERAL PROGRESS OF WAR

GENERAL PROGRESS OF WAN
Writing in the Chicago Herald, the
associate editor of the Army and Navy
Journal gives the war summary as
follows:
The most noticeable development
of the last three days has been tne
Strengthening out of the line occupied
by the German armies.
From Verdun southeast to the Vos-
ges mountains north of st. Die their
line is almost straight. From Verdun
their line bends to the southwest TOT
forty miles, and then again runs
northwest almost in straight line 70
a point south of Laon. From this
point on to Somme river, being
Amiens and Peronne, the same line
is continued by small separated de-
tachments Of Germans, whose pr1n-
cipal function is to give timely warn
ing Of the approach Of any strong
force of the allies to turn this flank.
This retreat is costing the Germans
heavily in stragglers and losses in va
rious minor battles. While this fight
ing is almost entirely rear guard &C
tions, yet the contact is on such
long front that the fighting is almost
continuous and the losses must
amount to long figure.
This rear7guard fighting is one OF
the customary incidents of a retreat,
and the withdrawal of the Germans
from successive intrenched positions
does not at all mean decisive defeat
in each case. 1t means that the
troops at the rear have held back
the>pursuit long enough for their main
columns to escape, when the defend
ers abandoned their position and
moved forward rapidly to take up
new one and repeat the maneuver.
In a retreat like this the rear of an
army is protected very largely by its
artillery.
The retreating force, having just
passed through the country, has the
advantage of the pursuers in knowl-
edge Of the terrain. They take up a
position from which they can bring
artillery to fire at ranges of $500 to
5000 yards, two to three miles, on the
roads by which the enemy will adj
vance. When such large bodies OF
troops are moving it is impossible for
them to move across country except in
small columns and very slowly. Con-
sequently they will stick to the roads
wherever possible. This gives the de-
fender a chance to catch them in
closely massed columns, where artil-
lery fire produces greatest effect.
A simple retreat and pursuit can
not have great influence on the out
come of the campaign. This can be
affected only by serious defeat in
volving the loss of large part of the
army.
The German retreat seems to be
well conducted in view of the probable
exhaustion of their troops The al
lies left flank seems as yet to be in
sufficiently extended to envelop the
German right flank. This is the time
at which new army for the allies,
coming in from the channel ports,
might have decisive influence on the
campaign
The charge in the headquarters Of
the crown princes army from st. Mon
chould to Montfancan, northwest of
Verdun. indicates the failure of the
fierce assaults made by the army on
the west front of Verdun. This move
would hardly be made except as q pre-
liminary to retreat from their ad-
vanced position.
The French are pushing the adj
vance against Reims. The Germans
will have to depend upon the roads to
the Ardonne mountains for their sup
ply and retreat.
While these roads are excellent in
character they are few in number, as
compared with the rolling country to
the west. Every army corps requires
at least one road for its orderly re-
treat, and should. II possible, have
four, in order to allow the 10000 of
the corps to move in four parallel col
umns. AS each of these armies con-
sists of five or six corps it would be
readily understood that it would be
impossible for them to find then par
allel roads through these mountains.
In the effort to double up on common
roads the corps will be somewhat
broken up, and the supply service dis
organized. The resulting confusion
would give the French an opportunity
to cut off detachments at the rear.
Still more, it would expose the first
and second armies on the right flank
to being attacked from these sides.