The Washington herald., 1915-09-29
No Biz Drive.

To refer to the recent operations the west
front as the beginning of the "big drive" is simply
to mislead people into looking for something that
cannot under any conceivable circumstances hap
pen. A drive" in the sense in which the Germans
may be said to have driven the Russians out of
Galicia is possible only when armies are fighting
in the open. The German line on the west front
is in reality huge cntranched camp. In some
places one or two trenches, few yards of barbed
wire and handful of can hold the position
with safety. In other places more open to attack
a dozen trenches will be dug one behind the other
and as much as quarter of mile depth of barbed
wire will cover the ground between the advanced
trench and the enemy's line When An. official re-
port speaks of the enemy's advanced trenches hav-
ing been reached it means the nearest of three or
more parallel trenches running anywhere from FIVE
to fifty yards apart. Such trenches when occupied
the result of attack almost always aban-
doned again. They cannot be held as rule be-
cause the men in them cannot be REINFORCED pro-
visoned But when the report speaks of the cap
ture of the enemys first line of trenches and an
advance of some thousands of yards it means that
a whole line of parallel trenches has been occupied
and there is nothing between the attackers and the
enemy's second line of trenches which will COM
mence anywhere from half mile to five miles
more behind the first line.
After sufficiently heavy artillery fire attacking
infantry can usually pass what is left OF the
enemy's first line of trenches and occupy the
ground beyond up to within range of the enemy's
second line which is of course intact This may
represent gain of anything from 1000 yards to
six or seven miles. There the infantry must dig
in, CONSOLIDATE the position against counter-at-
tacks and the enemy's artillery fire.
Tlax = A. r. T.
may take days to bring up the artillery establish
range-hnding positions and communication and
prepare to do to the enemy's second line
of trenches what has been already done to the
first. Meanwhile the enemy is digging lines
heavy artillery on his lost positions
an artillery fire equal in severity to that OF the at
tackers it is draw for the time being.
1t is obvious that if both sides can concentrate
an equal number OF men and guns on any po-
sition the thing is deadlock But if side is
limited in artillery shells their line can
be worn thin to the breaking point. Men the
chief need, to defend the second line that has
not yet been subjected to artillery fire. That is
he point where the attackers advance stops, but
t will not stop unless there to stop it.
1t require about 600, 900 men to man the
German line on the west front. If that number
ever gets whitfield down to say 100000 less there
will come point when the allied infantry, charg
ng over the destroyed first line OF trenches, will
ind the second line so weakly held that they can
20 right on through. The German line will have
@ be pretty thin before that happens and it may
axe some time, but the allies figure that in the
course OF time it must happen. And once the line
Of men is to nothing and the hole cannot be
plugged it is obvious that no amount OF barbed
wire and trenches prevent the Germans from
having to shorten their line. That they only
10 by retiring their frontier and even there
he line will be nearly as long as it is
Ii it is true that the result of the last allied
attack the Germans have tSeen compelled to send
700 900 men from the cast front to strengthen the
inc in the west it would if their position
we're none too strong. For the situation the
last front is not such would to allow of
heir withdrawing five army corps for use else
where.
Speculation on this subject is improbable
Meanwhile the allies in the doing the only
hing possible, to-wit, attacking wherever and
whenever they They trying to the
inc thin.