Evening star., 1914-10-10
Troops Enabled to Withstand
Terrific Assaults of
Allies.
HOLD GROUND AT FRONT
AGAINST TONS OF SHELLS
Masking of Artillery One of the
Kaisers War Successes-Natu-
raj Screening and Cover.
Correspondence of the Associated Press.

main positions along the western battle
line have drawn military men here to a
study of the German system Of in
trenchment. Since the 18th Of the month
French and English artillery has thrown
thousands Of tons Of shell and shrapnel
against the German trenches. and their
infantry has made many an assault. but
still the armies commanded by Gems.
Won Kluck, Won Hausen and the Duke
of wurttemberg hold the ground they
chose for the defensive. when. septem-
Der 10, 1t became evident that only a
general falling back could foil the tre-
mendous flank movement initiated by the
allies.
Very little is known of the character
Of the German intrenchments-at least
no official information dealing with the
subject Is at hand 1t is certain. how
ever. that the field works Of the Ger
man army are of the best type. and
One has to read the thousands of pri-
vate letters from the front published in
the German papers to CLEAN even the
slightest idea Of what the modern Ger
man trench and redoubt are. But SO
little military information of any sort
escapes the eye Of the German censors
that thorough description of the in
trenchments is impossible.
Trenches Elaborate Affairs.
There are enough illusions to COM
Portable sleeping places In the trenches
to permit the conclusion that they are
very elaborate affairs. 1t is also
known that the trenches are never less
than three feet deep. are generally To-
Gated at the upper extent Of ground,
offering no cover of any sort to the at
tacking enemy, and that barbed wire
entang1ements bar immediate ap-
proach. There are plenty of bomb
proofs and covered Passages from one
section to another.
The artillery. on the other hand, is
buried in the ground completely. Mask
ing of positions seems to be unusually
well done-as may be inferred from
the casual remark of a private that
last night everybody was busy spad-
ing sod on the far side of the hill,
which will be used to cover up the
brown soil thrown from the trenches"
But there is nothing remarkable in
trench that is Of the gteatest impor-
tance. and second only to this is the
ability to lay out the intrenchment so
that 1t will be suited to the ground
It Is in this direction that the German
officers seem to have been at their best
This Is not only shown by reference to
the 1ntrenchments In letters, but proved
also BY the fact that so far none of
the German defensive sections has
been taken and held by the enemy.
System Offers Orderly Retreat.
One system which has proved itself
or great value Is that of a trench
which runs in straight line parallel
to the front of the attack, and into
which run other trenches at a very
sharp angle. making it possible for the
men to retreat foot by foot if neces-
sary' instead of being obliged to break
out OF the ditch in confusion.
The advantage of this is that the
trenches running into the main line
oner every man chance to fall back
niue oy little; keeping up his fire in
tne nope OF driving the enemy Off even
after he has reached the outer trench.
Two cases are recorded in letters from
the present front in which this actually
occurred. The French had in both in
stances broken through the barbed-
outer trenches when a withering fire
from the interior tangents killed or
wounded the last man of them. An
other feature Of this system is that it
makes it almost impossible for the
French infantryman to employ his
thorough training in bayonet work, at
which the heavier German is inferior.
Artillery Masking Well Done.
One hears of "U'' trenches, but SO far
no description of them has been seen
in public print. There is also reference
to a ''V" trench. but what 1t is nobody
has yet learned. 1t seems most prob
able. however, that these are but varia-
tions of the system described above.
The masking of artillery has been
well done on both sides. as countless
letters from both sides attest. It is
known, however. that the Germans do
not make use of the loose rock and
soil taken from the hole in which the
piece is placed. but that. as is re-
marked in a recent letter. 'the battery
buries itself" This method has the
advantage of providing for natural
screening and cover, and eliminates the
fine target the old artillery epaulement
made.
only the most accurate fire could do
much damage to a battery SO in
trenched, because all short" shells
would strike against the crest the bat
terry occupied, and all long ones would
fall behind it.
The reported remarkably low losses
of the German artillery are likely due
to this method of 'burying the bat
terry"