The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-07-05
GERMANS on WEST
FORCED TO DIVIDE
INTO FIVE ARMIES
Ncrdun's DcathlcSs Dcferse Has
Radically Upset Plans OF
German General stan.
EMERGENCY RESERVES
ARE NOW IN ACTION
Principal Military Operations Are
Now Under Eyes OF Two Crown
Princes-GcrrnRns Making stubborn
Resistance.
nN G. r. RE,RTULII.
Resistance


tant fact OF the Picardy offensive.
which is not apparent from the sur
face indications. ia that General Jof-
FIRE, thanks to the deRthless Nerdun
stand and the Somme drive. has
forced the Kaisers western legions
into FIVE distinct armies.
This means that General Won Falk-
enhayn has found II necessary to
prepare for the moment when open
battle shall decide whether he stays
In France or seeks behind the Rhine
refuge or destruction
Half million men commanded by
the Bavnrian crown prince are trying
TO stem the Franco British attack.
At least another half million, under the
imperial crown prince. are committed
to the life and death struggle on the
Meuse. The remaining three Teuton
armies are the Duke of Wurtem berg's
forces, including all the German ma.
rInes, facing lpres; Won Heringen's
army, holding the center line In
Champagne and the landwehr and
landsturm formation In the Vosges
and in Alsace The cream Of the Ger
man armies. as regards quality and
numbers. therefore Is lighting under
the eyes of the two crown princes
heirs Of the Prussian and Bavarian
houses, the mainstayE OF the empire.
1t ~ significant" said my inform
ant, that the dynastic sections should
emerge as the leaders at this supreme
moment of the war. The Bavarian
crowns princes army is the only sec
ton of the German forces on the
western front that has not passed
through the Nerdun furnace 1t has
been held in readiness 10 meet the
"a l-4t.
shatter il. the moment for the gem
eral German retreat will have been
sonlded &or the imperial crown
princes badly msuled- army is not in
condition 10 retrieve the disaster fur
ther north
We have forced the Germans to
echelun their armies in deep columns
They can no longer carry out their
trench warfare az previously. for they
have not sufficient men.
In the Picardy region half q mill
lion troops are extended for one hun
dred miles. giving three men TO the
yard, which is open fight fighting
The moment is not far distant when
the Bavarian crown princes line will
be torn so thin that he will be com
PEELED to muster his troops for a gi-
gantic pitched battle. which will prove
the crowning point of the offensive
Emergency Reserve Brought Up.
Already his losses have been so
severe ana the situation has become
80 critical that. we know, the general
emergency reserve for the whole west
ern front which can be employed
only at the Kaisers orders. has been
rushed in automobiles from Cambrai
10 the Picardy front.
These reserves consist Of two
Prussian guard divisions, 80
The German regirn entail formation
in Picardy is one battalion in the
front Hne, another in the second line
and the third resting According to
Information which | have been I'M
able to verify this third battalion has
already been flung into action at every
point on the merNced line and orders
have been issued to all the troops to
hold on 10 the death
The first magnificent advance OF
the French scaled the Picardy plateau
on which stands Pfonne. the French
lead. and the most important road on
the whole Newport Noyon line. which
hinges on Peronne. The soil In chalky,
with top OF building stone and be
meath numerous quarries which the
Germans have fortified. Every hill
lock has been converted into a fort
ress. many OF the wind mills have
been put in a state of defense hedges
and orchards bristle with barbed wire
among the maze of armored trenches,
bastions, redoubts and concrete dug
outs, some OF which have been cap
tured at depth of fifty feet
'Miltar1ly, IL Ia bad country" a
stan official said. The unduIatdons
and houses everywhere hide the view
II is Hike the Ypres landscape. whore
General Foch followed the November,
1914, battle from a certain tower with
out being able to catch a glimpse OF
H.
Must Re Conducted Wariiy.
The infantry attack must, there
fore. he conducted warily. The Ger
mans defend every village stubbornly
and the bloodtest ffghtang 10 going on
in the fortified cellars OF tho coal
miners houses. entAifing q stipend Gus
situation of grenades.
One OF the fercest of these stru8-
giles occurred at Ffx. but our
Colonials charged so sdper1bly yester-
day that they seized tho village In
fifteen minutes and captured a full
company OF fleeing Germans on the
r1arshy fringe OF the canal.
In the course OF a desperate night
for the stables OF the Thiepval
chateau. the British surrounded the
estate and forced la00 Teutons to
surrender"