New Britain herald., 1916-03-30
FRENCH BATTLES
 WON BY RAILROADS
Ability to Make Quick Shifts All
 Important

instance, won by the French rail- roads, and though the German lines possessed certain initial advantages ever them they have held their own throughout the war;" says an officer closely concerned in the mobilization, concentration and displa acement of the French troops
 ''The Germans have had the advan- tage of distance, since the line took the form of a triangle; inside that triangle their points of concentration are nearer to the Yser or any other part of the front than the Allies con- centration points on the other side where it is necessary to turn the angle instead of going across the inside of it.
 JOffre FOresaw Danger
 It appears that General Joffre fore saw the German f1anking movement toward Calais during the last days of the battle of the Marne, and began sending troops to parry it as early as September 8. Between that date and the beginning of October 800 trains three divisions of cavalry northwards
 A review of the military operations beginning with the mobilization shows that the railroads of France have ac- complished everything that was ex- pected of them, contrary to the ex- perience of 1870.
 Military Train Operation.
 The first consideration in developing the efficiency of the military railroad is the maximum number of trains that can be run one after another within a given time. Consequently all mili- tary trains are obliged to run at the same reduced speed, following each ether at very close intervals under the block system; without risk of acci- dent the continuous movement accom- Dllshes more than would be done by high speed which would necessarily Involve increased space between trains.
 In preparation for this intense movement necessitated by the mobili- zation the officers of the railway ser vice of the French army met every year under the direction of the gen. eral staff to study the problems in volved, each officer being placed on the spot where in time of war he would be called upon to exercise his functions. The last drill of this kind was in April, 1914, when the manoeu- vers undertaken supposed the group ing of two armies face to face. Orders for the operations had been estab- lished, taking into account the vicis- situdes of battle and all the needs of the army, so far as possible bringing thelr men lace to face with problems incidents and accidents and conse- quent necessity for immediate de- c1slons such as they would have to make in time of war. That was how the men charged with the transporta- tlon of troops prepared themselves for the mobolization and the inten- sive movement of military trains that has continued ever since.
 Wonderful Planning.
 The plan under which the army was mobolized in 1914 was the seven teenth that had been elaborated since the war of 1870. From the annual census of the resources of the country in men, horses and material, the gen. eral staff had figured out the number Of elem entary enits it could create and the theoretic organization that they might give them. Every corps charged with mobilization possessed its table giving details of all the elements that it was called upon to furnish, where to find it's men, from where would come the horses and material necessary for the constitu- ton of new units; every man had his mo Obllization sheet indicating the corps that he must join; the staff of that corps had his name and address on its rolls and expected him on the day that he arrived Every mayor of | every commune of France under this l system knew exactly where to take 1 the horses of his commune in order 1 that they could be reuuisitioned. i Every president of requisitioning 1 commissions knew the horses that he must choose and the point to which l he must take them. This plan not 1 only involved the uniting of these i elements and their proper distrbu- | ton, but every horse and every man ! found what was necessary for him at the spot where he was to be taken The troops of such a corps, with their l horses and all accoutrements, once equipped and ready, found the train i ready for them at the point of their | concentration, corresponding exactly l iI capacity to the number of men, l horses, baggage wagons artillery
 am bulances, and so forth, of the corps
 to be transported secretly over France
 and disembarked at a point where
 other trains from other points where 1 bringing other troops to form the
 division, the army corps, or an army 1 itself.
 Need for Secrecy
 The necessity of secrecy imposed as
 much care as the necessity of prompt l Concentrati ton, a single accident being l susceptible of creating confusion anC | disclosing the movements of the corps On the 31st of July, 1914, all the
 active troops were in their garrisons
 with railroads carrying passengers i and goods as usual The order fol