Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-02
New "Concentric Fire"

| sion OF a train dispatcher handling
his passenger runs.
New "Concentric Fire"
| The new "concentric fire" will be
used upon the German trenches, of
course. By this plan at given mo-
ment shells from guns massed deep
will be poured upon perhaps a mile
wide of the German front. At Verdun
the Germans have at times used so
many guns that If they had been
ranged hub to hub the line must have
| bent in the form of a bow to accom-
modate them all: Upon given mo-
ment the shell fire ceases. The terrain
on which that steel torrent has poured
has been simply torn to bits. 1t is as
though it has been shaken through n
giant sieve. few stunned and terror
stricken men may remain alive in the.
few dugouts that have not been blown
in by the conclusions. but not many.
A whistle has blown in the other
stopped and the attacking party has
raced forward to occupy the new
ground. There is little fear of efec-
tive opposition. The men who held
that ei oui:d are for the most part only
tor. pics of old clothes that i'll SOME
ny. crious manner Rave los- much OF
then selnhl:nce to humanity. The
attackers fall to with intrenching
tools in feverish haste to dig III"
against the enemy'S ret i-n shell fire.
Cleaning the trenches ~ such 4 TINE
there is little chance for quarter.
Meanwhile the artillery has lengIhcned
its range. to work upon the section of
enemy trench which lies back of the
captured portion, and to sea-ch .cr the
enemy Sun positions. whi:. have :,Aen
located during the battle by the
fiers. who have themselves fought in
mid-air against the hawks who defend
their eyries.
to break the enemy's line has been
sufficiently demonstrated in the past
The English broke the German line
at Neuve Chapelle. but their own ar
their guns into their own men. This
useless loss stopped the English Of
fensive for the time. and the Germans
had time to reorganize. At the first
battle of Ypres the Germans tore. a
hole through the English line. but
lacked the strength to carry on. In
Champagne one regiment of French
troops actually got seven kilometers
on the German side of the Germans
again. At Verdun the Germans one
day had gap bitten through, straight
for the city-but they didn't know it
in time. One might continue.
Weakness of Previous Offensive.
The weakness of every previous Of
fensive has been that the men and
supplies were lacking when the climax
of the drive was reached The trans
portation lines had been cluttered up
Time was required to take the wound
ed to the rear and bring up fresh
troops and munitions. That time gave
the enemy a chance to make. good his
losses and patch up his holes. When
the offensive was resumed it was not,
in fact. resumption, but was more
truly an entirely new drive directed
by weakened force against a weak
ened defense. The defense always has
the best of it, The Germans have in
the past had particularly the best of
it because of their railroads. They
could clean" their rear in day better
than the allies could in three.
The theory is that it will be diff
ferent this time. 1t is because this
is the theory that the preparatory op-
erations have been conducted with such
a massive hardness. When the move
starts the hope is that it will keep
on moving as irresistibly, if as slowly,
as glacier. The British can with
draw exhausted troops and replace