Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-11-03
WAR WILL LAST
2 YEARS MORE, IS
BELIEF OF BRITISH
Officers Say Allies Will In
crease Pressure More and
More Until Break Comes in
Germans Defense

Germans Defense
LONDON, Oct. Correspondence
Of the Associated Press.)-"You will
have to ask Germany"
This was the answer OF distinguish
ed English officer recently back from
The front when the familiar query was
put to him: when Will the war end?
1--WE know what we can give them"
ne continued, put we 40 not know as
y ct just how much they are prepared
40 stand, or are willing TO stand. In the
meantime we will increase the pressure
more and more until the break comes.
With the turning or the tide on the
estern battlefelds there was natural
az a disposition here to feel that hos
ilities soon would be ever. The officers
and men of the army do not share these
views, however, and are constantly eau
tloning the people at home against the
IDEA that the issue will be settled with
it, the next few months.
From conversations with scores OF Of
icers familiar with the situation at the
ront it can be stated that they do not
expect war to enc at the earliest be-
ore next autumn. There are many who
telieve there are two more years Of
Eghting before the allied nations.
I'VE have got a long way TO co. said
General Sir William Robertson, Kltch-
ener's successor, q lew days ago. And
we must be ready to go all the way"
ne added. Flight TO a finish is the
order There must be no siaCkening
Cff. On the contrary. there must be
sreat tightening up"
No good soldier will make definite
prediction as 20 the end of the war
SEES ONLY THE MAP.
1--WE must be prepared to so on for a
period of time which it is impossible to
estimate" said Sir william. And that
expresses the opinion of the army There
may be various influences at work which
they know nothing of, there is the con-
slant talk heard here of internal trou-
pies i'm Germany, but the army officer
only looks at the map" He still sees
a long road anead before the victory
he has in mind can become reality. The
military defeat of Germany, and that is
the only defeat the army looks forward
to, means an invasion of the German
empire. General Sir O'Moore CreaGh,
the distinguished Irish V. c., has said :
THE Indian .ancers may never ride
through the Brandenburg gates, but the
end of the war will not come until ii
is possible for them to do So"
Things are going SO well at the west
ern front that it is difficult even for an"
words of warning to dull the spirit of
citation in London. With Germany on
the defensive it is felt here that the enc
my is no longer lighting to retain all he
seized in the first great onslaught OF
the war, but is rather struggling to hold
as much as possible until peace shall
come. There is the predicted shorten
ing of the western line" which London
ers confidently look for from day to day.
On the other hand is the statement of
General Foch, the French commander,
who declares tho Germans are 50 tightly
held in the west it is impossible for
them to either advance or to retreat In
any great number.
1--WE are on Them" he said, like o
corrosive acid. We have eaten into their
TANKS and they can't throw us off. You
cannot always see acid at work, but the
disintegrating process is going on all
the time"
The artillery of the allies on the
Somme. where the great armies of the
,elligerents are massed, commands such
an Overwhelmingly influence as to pre-
vent 4 retreat, 1T is said. The Smelling
behind the German lines is just as in
tense as 1t is in front. The expenditure
Of English and French shells has frank
ly amazed the Germans, the military
critics here all agree and the artillery
activity has brought about a distinct
new phase in the lighting. 1t has driven
the once closely locked trenches further
and further apart. IT has solved the
rroblem OF dealing with a dug in" enc
my. 1t has been discovered that the
way to successfully take a trench is to
cbliterate 1t, to flatten it out with she'll
fire. Recent allied advances have been
bought with ammunition rather than
MT InI arf
the German critic, to write the Berliner
TIA geblatt:
Every German killed cost a fortune
20 the French. The enemy is devoting
an of his attention to artillery. The
whole concentrated experience Of two
years finds expression in shells and
more shells. His infantry is used only
to test the bridge made by shells to the
German trenches. Infantry fighting is
no longer man against man. The trench
is only rushed by infantry when it has
been blown to dust. 1t is a confession
by the enemy that his infantry is of
poor quality"
TRIBUTE TO ARTILLERY.
This fling at the infantry, according
TO British officers, is merely put, i'll to
cover up the real. tribute to the artillery
of the allies. The military authorities
here have been somewhat surprised at
the deep impression the artillery has
made in Germany. They We're quite de-
lighted with a report by ~ German mill
tarv expert quoted a having said
British infantry 4ever had any val
Iue. The French infantry now is only
q miserable shadow OF what it was two
wears ago. The French infantry nova
DAYS attacks only when the artillery
/ has done its work so perfectly that
they have only to occupy the shattered
trenches"
Those officers who believe the war
will go on for two years longer say il
has taken two years to put Germany
really on the defensive and they antici-
rate it will take two more years to
/ make her acknowledge the defeat which
( the allies believe is inevitable. As to
Internal conditions, the army man takes
| II into consideration only as to its ef-
feet upon the moral of the fighting men.
| 1t is undeniable that great sacrifices are
being demanded Of the civilian popula'
/ ton in Germany and it is contended M
! army long remains wholly superior tC
home influences.
Those who believe in an earlier end
| ing Of the war base their belief--or per-
| haps their hope-upon the military as
sumption that an army cannot offer the
same resistance in third or fourth or
| dfth line trenches that il aid i'm the first
| line. They declare that when the French
aud Tho English were retreatinE at the