New-York tribune., 1914-12-21
ALLIES DYNAMITINC
THEIR WAY AHEAD
High Explosive Shells and
Mines Used to De-
stroy Defences.
SLOW PROGRESS DUE
TO ENEMY'S CUNNING
Slight Gains, However, Mean
Much, Especially in Trench
Warfare, Says Expert.

London, Dec. 20.-The great difhcu'-
ties under which military operations
in France and Belgium are being con-
iuc-ed are described in a narrative ol
recent developments written by an Oh
fetal observer attached to the British
headquarters and made public to-day
b. the Official Information bureau
The recital brings the story OF war;
as covered in these eyewitness re-
ports, up TO December II.
"The opposition now being encoun-
tered resembles to some extent that met
with by US in the beginning OF Octo-
Der. when we first reached the Franco
Belgian frontier. and before the Ger
mans brought up their full force ana
assumed the offensive" says the re-
port. at has one great difference
however, and that is that the enemy Is
in much greater force and his posi-
items are much stronger and better
organized than they were two months
ago.
at that time an advance on the
eastern end of the line implied a move
ment across a very difficult country,
as it does still, and for US 1t meant
an attack on skilfully but hastily
fortified strong points or villages, held
to a large extent by cavalry and Jae-
gers.
with the large proportion Of ma.
chine guns that we have in front OF
Us to-day, il is no longer a succession
Of isolated points. There are stlll
such points, and some are the same,
but they are stronger and form part
OF a practically continuous defensive
zone, consisting in some places OF sew
eral lines of cunning!y slted and care
fully constructed works.
A Maze of Trenches.
This zone really amounts to a maze
Of trenches and obstacles. Every known
form of obstacle is used. Entangle-
ments-to select the most common
form-vary from loose coils Of wire TO
securely staked net works Of from
eighteen inches to nearly six feet in
height and of different widths.
"These measures of defence are only
such as are 20 be expected from troops
which are we'll trained and have ample
resources and time. There are, or
course, ways in which they can be
overcome. but where these methods are
applied the rate of advance is neces-
sarily slow. When ii is reported IN
laconic terms that ground has been
gained at a certain point 'topograph-
ically the gain may amount TO only
few Yards. Tactically, on the other
hand. the progress implied by even
such a sr,all step forward may he i'm
portant. for d trench, a cluster OF
trenches, the edge Of a wood, build
ing, a village or a knoll may have been
reached, possession Of which VIII IA
cilitate further operations.
"Siege approaches, such as saps, help
the attacker to advance under cover
and so to minimize the losses, but they
do not and can not obviate the llabll-
ity TO a surprise reception OF the nat
ure indicated when once the enemy's
works are gained. The only certain
method of preventing this is by pro
longed bombardment with high explo-
sive shells until trenches, mines and
machine guns ere reduced to scrap
heaps. or to mine under them and blow
them into the air.
The report Of .he actual fighting is a
repetition of what has appeared in the
daily French official statements telling
Of the capture Of German trenches, OF
sapping and mining operations and
heavy artillery duels. Concerning the
latter, the observer says that the Brit
ish artillery on December II obtained
l. srhp n n
the German headquarters. The narra-
tive confines:
Thinks Germans Discouraged.
"From a prisoner captured on De-
cember Il it has been ascertsined that
both the 23d Regiment and the Jaegers
suffered enormous losses on November
(. The same man described November
as "A terrible day, saying that he had
never before seen such mud as that in
which the Germans were operating,
and that the troops were suffering
very much from the presence Of water
in the trenches. The shelling that he
went through on the l4th Of this
month, he states, exceeded anything
which he had experienced previously.
ave have reason to believe, from
the evidence obtained from prisoners,
that many of the Landwehr are
heartily sick Of the war and resent the
harsh treatment Of their officers. They
have been persuaded that the British
III treat their prisoners. and but for
this some would be willing to sur
render.
"The Germans appear TO be discard
ing their helmets, the pickelhauben,
with which they have for fifty years
been associated in the eyes of the
world Many variations in their uni
forms are now TO be seen. Some Of the
troops are wearing their peace cloth /
ing, which is of brighter color than
the gray service dress. There is evil
dence that certain of the units facing
us are much under strength"
Concerning the offensive movement
of the Allies the observer says:
ain conjunction with the French, T.
who also are pressing forward
movement has been started which has
resulted in small gain of ground"
The narrative then records gains made
by British and Indian troops near
Ypres and south of the Lys, which al /
ready have been reported.