New-York tribune., 1915-03-18

from his old back-thought, MS olu' hlu
den fear, of tho Prussian superman.
This. however, is the story OF tht
English army; it must ignore tha'
series OF actions from the Nosges tC
scissors wherein the French locked
tho line for 400 miles against the Ger
man counter attacks and fenced the
enemy of from the fortress OF Yer
dun-"ten Waterloos week" some
one has called it. After two days oi
uninterrupted rear guard fighting the
Germans made their stand at the
Aisne. A series Of actions moro OF
less severe proved that neither the
English nor the French to right and
left could make present headway
against the strong German intrench'
ments. From the Vosges 70 Lille the
line locked tight; It was no longer
open warfare; il was siege. AS Cen
eral French's dispatches show, the
English felt the German resistance set
tling down TO defensive tactics. The
part of the limo running 70 right and
left of scissors became no longer I'M
portant.
Iron Ring Incomplete.
But there was fighting OF sorts to do
far to the left, and early in October
the whole English army yielded ItS
trenches to the French reserves and
moved over toward Calais. IL was their
first relief from continuous battle
The army, I believe. has discovered
genius in Major General Robertson.
who had charge Of transportation and
commissary. So expeditiously did he
work and yet so quietly that the hrst
German officers they took prisoners
expressed surprise, not so much at their
capturc as at the fact that they were
captured by the English. I'VE thought
we were fighting the French terri
torials," they said.
To understand why the subsequent
operations became so vital to the whole
campaign YOU must understand the
situation on October II, when the Brit
ish re-established touch with the
enemy; it is a matter OF recapitulating
old history in n new light. The allied
lines reached TO Lille. fifty miles from
the sea. and Near the Belgian border
On this end of the line French and
Germans alike. first one and then the
other, had been outflanklng ringing
each other with artillery and earth
works like one Of those representations
of mountain chains which we used to
draw in our school maps. That line
was lengthening northward and west
ward day by day. But the fifty miles
from Lille 10 the sea lay open. This
gap commanded the routes TO Dunkirk
to Calais. to Boulogne to all the i'm
portant French Channel ports. 1t com
manded also an easy and most accom-
modating route to Paris. If the Ger
mans left open that gap, it was because
the fortress of Antwerp still menaceC
their western line OF communication
But on October 3 Antwerp fell-fel
so suddenly that division of English
troops, under General Rawlinson, sent
to assist the Belgians in holding the
outer defences, did not arrive until The
Germans had gained ground to emplacC
their az centimctrc siege howitzers anC
had made further defence of the for
trcss a mere technicality. Rawlinson''
division joined what remained OF tht
Belgian army and retreated with then
down the coast, past Zeebrugge, pas
Ostcnd. The Belgians took up fina
position at the User River. where they
stood TO defend the last silver of theil
territory. Rawlinson, roughly joining
forces with them on the right, extend
ed his lines toward Ypres.
Disaster in Sight.
Al about this period the French com
munique lifted for moment the vel
over these serious operations, so vita
to the whole war; and the glimpse SEN
chill through Paris. Dense masse,
of cavalry" it reported, "havc appeared
on the Turcoing- road
screening an important new force o.
the enemy" This was the immediat,
bid of Germany to pour through tha
gap. The French, outhanked. rctireC
the left of their line from before Lii,
TO the town of La Bassee. The Ger
mans took La BaSsee; on the height.
before that hamlet, grown suddenly
important in history, the French mad,
stand and dug in.
The gap between La Bassee and tn,
sea remained, to all military intent!
and purposes. open and dangerous. Tht
Allies plugged il by various devices, a!
an engineer builds a dam Of earth be
fore he prepares his steel locks. They
overstretched the line of the Belgians
They threw in the French Territorials
men in their forties, and, therefore, b.
mental and physical condition, inferio
as soldiers TO the young, perfect,
trained first line troops. The heavie
masses of the German advance wer,
not yet upon the allied line; so it die
not break, but it bulged terribly; tn,
campaign at this point became a back
ward fight. The long battle on tn,
western front was now like a rubbe
bladder with weak spot. Blow il up
and the bladder bulges in that spot
Blow it little further, and the bladde
breaks at that spot.
The breaking point was near when
on October II. the first of the mail
British force detrained at St. Omer
Not only the German outposts, bu
even strong forces of the main bod
had reached in some places as ia
south as a line drawn east and ives
from Calais. The Belgians and tn
French Territorials resisted with wha
force they had; but their resistanc
grew irregular. "1t's guerilla warfare
that's what il is" reported "sniping
! Canadian correspondent, who, in carl
October, got out TO the lines and mirac
ulously returned to Calais unarrested.
Accomplishes Tremendous Task.
The English army found its task Gu
out for it. They must drive the ad
vanced German forces back to a lin
already established in the minds O
their strategists complete that all
important operation OF closing tn
siege OF Germany. They must keep il
touch with the French at La Bassee
they must establish touch with tn
Belgians and Rawlinson's division o.
the west. The second corps, detrain
. ing at st. Omer on October II. wen
Immediately into action at the TOUCHES
point In the whole campaign L
Bassee. That village held out agains
every British attack-it is holding still
II became, as the campaign went or
only a pivot from which the Englisi
forces turned the Germans back from
France and Flanders. For week tn
pvf.f-h Ia.