Arizona republican., 1916-06-26

seizure of Matamoras, at the mouth of the Rio Grande and Puerto Mex ico, at the mouth of the Coat zacoalcos river, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as matters of sec ondary importance. In other words the advance of the American armies will take the same course, virtually, as those of Scott and Taylor in the forties
 But CarranZa, knowing that some power other than his own must re- store Mexico to order, has put him. self in much better position to make show of resistance to the northern invader than was the case with the
 unfortunate Santa Ana 60-odd years ago. On the northern border, start l ing at Matamoras, with an unusually
 heavy garrison of more than 1900 men, and widening until a strip
 nearly 70 miles in width is covered.
 running clear to a point opposite
 Columbus N. M., Carranza has placed
 nearly 60,000 men, under the com
 mand of General Alvaro Oregon
 who recently compelled the first chief
 to name him secretary of war.
 In the eastern sector General Lerdo
 is in direct command; in the central part, including the forces at Juarez,
 Gavira commands; further west Gen.
 eral P. Elias Gales is at the head of
 the forces, and in the interior General
 Jacinto Trevino, an intimate personal
 friend of CarranZa, has charge of all
 the 30,000 or more troops which are l being massed so as to be able to
 strike General Pershing's column at
 a moments notice. All these four
 leaders report to Obregon, who is re-
 sponsible to Carranza but who fre-
 quently has repudiated Carranza's s
 authority.
 Mexico's Best Soldiers
 Obregon is the best soldier in Mex
 leo. and he hates the Limited States
 and Americans with a deeper hatred
 than any other Mexican; not even
 the notorious Zapata would do as
 much harm to the northern republic
 as would Obregon if he had the op-
 portunity. The strongest of all these
 northern forces of Carranza is around
 Namiquipa and Colonia Dublan, the
 posts now held by General Pershing
 It is needless for me to say that Gen. eral Pershing has had absolutely nc
 aid from CarranZa in the pursuit oi
 Villa, and that all these 60,000 Mex ican soldiers massed within 70 miles of the border are not there to catcf , one lone bandit They are not at tempting to patrol the country or
 which they are quartered. but are
 held in large bodies at Matamoras
 Nuevo Laredo, JuareZ. Villa Anu : mada, Piedras Negras and othel
 towns throughout that section
 In other words, the American army
 which advances into Mexico from Texas. Arizona and New Mexico, vii immediately have to face an army nearly 90 per cent larger than the combined forces which the United States now has on the border or witt General Pershing in Mexico.
 And this army is no lot of un- trained youths. hurriedly gathered
 from farms and towns; it is composed
 of the best men in the Mexican revo.
 lutionarv armies of the last six years mon who have been fighting contin. uously since the end of 1910, and wht know all northern Mexico as we'll a! I know the streets of my country! canital
 In it are incorporated 1000 men Q | Villas former army, which won al the battles that put Carranza in al : head of the de facto government : Seventy-two per cent of this arm, ? is mounted; in other words, Genera ] Obregon has at his orders more thai . 43,OO0 cavalrymen, mounted on tn s best horses in Mexico and trained b, years of guerrilla fighting. That i ] to say he has nearly as many caval
 rymen as the United States has sol Q diers on the border and with Genera Il Pershing. Ask your nearest recrutin t station how many cavalrymen ther S are in the whole United States army e On May 15, this year, there were s Q machine guns in the army of 5000 n men under the command of Genera s. Jdcinto Trevino in the interior, an : Carranza was constantly shipping hir = more. He has P field pieces-3- inc s guns-and F French guns of smale ,t calibre, which Carranza took from tn fl defenses of Mexico City to send north II, ward for use against the American h At least, they could hardly have bee
 for use against the elusive Villa.
 From Matamoras westward alon l. the border. where the remaining 30 l., 900 men of Obregons various con IF nands are scatter ed, there were al a- proximately p machine guns at tt same date, with r three finch ar ,d even mountain howitzeIs, the latt, being not of much importance becaus ,+ Mexican gunners have not shown = any of their battles that they kno
 how to use ti.em effectively. Virtual
 all the battles in northern Mexic / however, have been won with machiI W guns and of these the Mexican arm
 has, I believe nearly twice as mar ie as the United States. Their gunner however, are not nearly so efficiel IT. as those of the northern republic, b. u the prepondei ance of numbers, in a
 tilery as well as in men, is not to ne ignored.
 eo Series of Fortified Towns ne With the exception of Obregon al oo Gavira, every commander in tt ne north Mexican army has had mi at tary training outside Mexico. and ; 'sf have served through the revolutio ". of the last half decade Most of the C. have had much more actual war e Id perience than any of the Americ;