New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
Only the Desperate
Hope of a Stand
Like tn at at the
Marine Remains
F Ferdinand to
Follow Albert?
Copyright 1916
The Tribune Ass n.


single throw, and there is every chance
that it may succeed. We can see the i'm
mense possibilities Of the present stua-
ton but, on the other hand, We must re-
call that the French general who directs
Rumanian strategy is pupil Of Joffre
and learned the lesson of the Marine on
the ground
Again, we know next to nothing of what
Russia is doing, save in Moldavia and the
Dobrudja. Only the faintest suggestions
have come to US of Russian operations, al
though we know very considerable Rus
sian forces have been sent into Rumania.
Certainly not all of these have been con-
sumed in the sterile campaign in the Do
brudia or in the defensive stand along the
Moldavian frontier. Not impossibly
new Russian army will presently appear
west Of Bucharest at the Argeu, as Maui
noury's army appeared in front of Paris
at the critical moment in the opening cam
paign OF the war.
Where Rumania Might Stand
Looking at the map, it will be seen that
the Rumanian and Russian armies would
be able to stand in front of Bucharest and
before the railroad that comes south from
Predeal and, passing through Bucharest,
reaches the Danube on the bank of the
river facing the Rustchuk. Both TANKS
would thus be covered, one by the noun
tains and the other by the Danube. Such
position would be threatened only from
/ the Danube east of Rustchuk, where Mack
ensen still holds Turtukan, Silistria and
/ Cernavoda. But if crossing of the river
could be made at any of these points then
Bucharest would have to be abandoned and
there would be new peril of development.
And it must always be remembered that
Mackensen holds the Cernavoda Bridge
thanks to the failure of the Rumanians to
destroy it, failure that may yet prove
fatal.
Such, very briefly is the history and
such are the possibilities of the Rumanlan q.
campaign to date. Already half and more
than half of Wallachia has been occupied.
Already the front Of the Central Powers
has been shortened by several hundred
miles, for the first defensive 'front.' which
! followed the great curve of Rumania.
thrust between Bulgaria and Pennsylvania,
has been transformed into a straight line
crossing Rumania along the Alt from Red
Tower to the Danube, and as the Germans
advance eastward they are still shorten
ing the line Ever if they do not get
! n L IL nnIc IN
trench deadlock before the Rumanian cap
ital, the Central Powers will have i'm
mensely shortened their front, taken some
of the richest wheat land in the world and
probably laid hands upon the oil wells
they need so greatly.
A Second Belgium?
How shall one explain this great
triumph? Chiefly by recalling that the
campaign has been conducted on the Ger
man side by the two great strategists OF
; the Central Powers, Mackensen and Falk-
enhayn. But with superior seneralship
has gone an enormously superoS train OF
artillery. The Rumanian armies have been
defeated, as were the French in Lorraine
and Belgian Luxembourg, by shell fire from
!, guns beyond the reach of their own artii-
lery. They were i'll prepared for such a
, storm, and they have fallen before It as
1 did the French in the first days Of the
war.
) Is Rumana to be second Belgium, an
| other Serbia? At least this now seems
D probable. There remains the possibility
/. of rally, of the application Of the strait
1 egg of Joffre to the Wallachian campaign.
This is extremely unlikely, but il is not
Y yet impossible. Unless there is some evil
/ dence of stand in the next few days this
n possibility will have to be dismissed.
: Mainly, il would seem, the Rumanian
!, safety depends upon che strategy Of the
y French general, Berthelot, and the Rus
a sian troops that are reported arriving.
In the Balance
:, If the Rumanians are driven beyond
y Bucharest, beyond the line Of the Argelu
n before their capital, TO which they are
: now retiring, then they are hardly likely
o to make a stand until they reach tho
j Pruth, and all Rumania will be lost. After
J. that Mackensen and Falkenhayn may
y venture a thrust at Odessa across Bessa-
e rabia but this is remoter possibility.
h To-day the fate Of Rumania is in the bal
e ance, and despite patent possibilities Of a
r second Marine along the Argelu and the
J. Dimbovitza there seems the greater like
= lihood Of another Antwerp and the pass
J. ing of new army into exile, Of the de-
h parture of Ferdinand, also Hohenzol-
e lern, along the road that Albert Of BEL
y GUM, Peter of Serbia and Nicholas Of
n Montenegro have trod.