The Washington times., 1915-02-06
KING ALBERT HEADS =.
REORCAN|zED ARMY
Officers Say. He Never viii
Abandon Belgian Soil II Ger.
mans Advance Again.
By WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS.

GRAND HEADQUARTERS. KING
OF BELGIUM. INSIDE BELGIUM
FRONTIER f(via Paris), Feb. 6.-Dog-
eedly determined never to Yield the re-
mainder of his little kingdom to the
Germans, King Albert Is here on the
fighting line directing the movements of
the reorganized Belgian forces along
the User. Officers In close touch with
the King told me today he would never
abandon Belgian soil II the Germans
made another advance.
He would enter the trenches inside
the frontier Of his Kingdom and meet
his end with a gun at his shoulder"
one officer told me.
And he added: THE whole Belgian
army Is saturated with the same spirit"
Belgians Reorganized.
This Is not the same army that fell
back, crushed under the weight of the
kaiser's great human juggernaut. The
Belgians have been completely reor-
ganized. They have been newly equip
ped from cap to boots. They have had
rest--and they needed it-after fighting
like heroes for twenty-four hours a day
In an effort to stem the German tide
that flowed through 1iege and Antwerp
Today they occupy three times as much
of the allied battle line AZ they have
occupied at any other time since the
fail of Antwerp.
the trenches. Belgian officers escorted
me on a tour Of the advance posts. Our
trip took us at times to within 100 yards
of the German lines.
User Region q Waste.
The country along the User Is
tragic waste. The most dismal swamp
would be a Garden Of Eden by COM
parlson: Water stretches across the
fields from Dunkirk to Ostend; from
the seacoast south to Ypres: criss-
crossed by roads built up by ooth
armies and dotted by tiny fsrnSs,ss is,ands; &C.
out like silent sentries In the
Hood.
The hottest fighting is progressing for
these roads and islands. The slaueht
er is frightful: Numberless decomposcd
bodies float about the marshes: rotting
n mud and water. The stencil Is 100
horrible to describe.
The battles hereabout are the queercst
n history, During the day there are
road. from island to island. guns 5elch
shells across the waste OF water.
Attack At Night On Rats.
The cannonading slows up as night
settles over the flooded areas. Then
small bodies of from fifty TO $50 soldiers
'orm surprise storming parties They
,ross the waters to the attack on RATS
and scows drawn by men In hip-boots'
who on the previous night had ex-
olored the flood to hnd the most "aIe-
night glowing with illuminating bombs
which hang In the air to prevent sur
prises of this sort.
This hell hole Is world or It's own.
The battle line where men are nshtins
over firm ground. And the Belgian
soldiers have made a dream world OF
Some Parties Never Return.
They pretend each island in the food !
s a strange country. Their forces. |
they say, are expeditionary forces sent |
10 subjugate the strange lands. 1t is
4 game for boys but the soldiers en-
oy It with all the enthusiasm of boy
hood. though sometimes whole parties |
that set forth on mission OF conquest
% these strange lands never re-
turn.
The outposts are new luxury for the
Belgians They were unable to estab-
ish them prior to the German check, |
n upon them too rapidly. The reserve
'orces are another luxury. The out
1osts. by preventing surprises. and the |
reserves. by taking relief duty, insure |
regular periods OF repose for all.
Men Take Kings Spirit.
These things are working wonders |
:oward keeping the soldiers in fine con-
iition physically and preserving their |
morale. A staff officer told |
ne that the Belgian army was never |
10 effective. so determined, as now. |
king Alberts tenacity Is the thing |
hat has gripped the men, he said. |
He has refused to permit his own |
spirit to be broken. He has imbued his |
men with a fervOr not unlike that Of |
fo1l nf 80 rc