The Washington herald., 1917-09-16

ing. On the other hand. 1t was
pointed out to me that the net re-
suits of the decline of trench fight
ing Is most disadvantageous to the
Germans.
at comes to the question of mo-
rale," my informant said: Germans
VIGOROUSLY fight best in crowds.
Their whole theory of war is based
on the idea of mass fighting. Our
system is the opposite. We depend
on Individual initiative. Consequent
ly the German was at his best in
trench fighting. while we prefer the
open field. His present system he
will ask the world to admire as a
proof of military genius; but he has
adopted 1t with the utmost disgust.
because our shelling forced 1t on
him. His men, in small groups in
shell-holes. do not fight as ours do.
Their training. their subserviency
and reliance on orders. make them
mass fighters. In q general way.
although his best troops often con-
tinue to fight till they die, his new
system increases the number of our
prisoners and decreases the fighting
quality of his infantry"
The British Tactics.
The enemy is trying to hold out
as long as he can; his only strategic
aim on this front is to give the
submarine time to bring England
to her knees. and his hope of
achieving this result must be wan
ing. On our side of the line, British
and French generals are seeking to
carry out strategical plans which
cannot at this time be made the
basis Of speculation: but a mere con-
sideration of allied tactics shows
what progress has been made in the
war. and how much better our pros
poets are than those of the Ger
mans.
The main tactical aim of the al
lied high command is to kill Ger
mans. This is as it was last year,
but enormous progress has been
made in accelerating the killing and
at the same time reducing the cas-
ualties incurred in the process. By
the loss. wrestling away. in cost
Vimy Ridge, the Messines Ridge.
and the Pilkem and Veldhock rid
ges in the Ypres salient, the enemy
has been deprived of observation
over the British positions. and at
the same time subjected to con-
slant surveillance over wide areas
of his own back territory where he
formerly moved unobserved except
ing from the air.
The result of these victories has
been an increase in the effectiveness
of the British artillery, combined
with a corresponding decrease in
that of the German. This has
meant thousands more dead Ger
mans, and 1t will mean additional
tens of thousands. / have seen
from observation points in our lines
the actual flashes, in broad daylight,
from enemy guns compelled to mass
in the plains below the ridges held
by the British and fire under cir
cumstances that must make their
detection and destruction only a
matter of a short time. On the prin-
cipal field of action in Flanders.
thanks to the capture of the Mes
sines and Pilkem ridges. the Brit
ish guns are concealed by the lay
of the ground. and the distress
ing situation which lasted in this
area more than two years has been
reversed.
The Field of Battle.
The battle of Flanders is being
fought by superior numbers OF
British and French troops. the lat
ter a small minority of Sir Douglas
Haig's army, against a very strong
enemy whose morale is getting
weaker all the time under artillery
fire greater than he can bring to
bear. With more men, more guns
and more shells, more aeroplanes,
and with a superiority in all which
is constantly increasing relatively
to the German strength, Sir Douglas
Haig is fighting with all the ad-
vantages of the ground now in his
favor. instead of all against him.
as was the case in the Flanders
sector three months ago.
The field OF battle is an almost
level plain which stretches all the
way across Belgium. The Germans
are on this plain; the British upon
the crests of the slight ridges
wrested from the enemy this year.
Every factor is against the enemy
except one, and that is mud
Only those who have been in it
can realize what Flanders mud means
to the soldier. The constant rain
which unluckily began to fall when
this offensive opened. and has been
coming down with infrequent inter-
walls ever since, has combined with
the unprecedented shell fire of both
sides to make of the battlefield a
morass through which to pass would
itself be an adventure if there were
no war.
For three years the Ypres salient,
because OF mud, has been a night
mare to the British Tommy. DO
you expect US to organize SOUP"
asked a Canadian with disgust, when
his men had captured a German
trench two years ago and he was
ordered from the rear to Organize
the captured positions for defense"
But Ypres mud never in the past has
been so bad as it was during tine
heavy rains this month, after mill
lions upon millions of shells from the
guns of both sides had torn and
churned up the porridge. There is only
one quality which endears the mud to
the soldier; IN the Ypres region cas-
ualties from shell fire are greatly re-
duced because shells on falling in
water or slush are more likely than
not to explode upwards. Such shells
do far less harm than those which
expend the force of the explosion
laterally, as shells are designed to
do, and experience shows that pro-
Jecules which fall on firm ground are
more likely to go on properly.
NO newspapermen have been at the
extreme front Of this battle, or any
Where near 1t. Under existing con-
dltlons to attempt such trip in
daytime would be almost certain
oeatn, and il it were accomplished
at night, the adventurer would find
only shell holes full of water and
men; no lines, no roads, no wire.
nothing but mud and misery and a 4
constant downpour of explosives
but men live out there. and ksep by
some miracle the mud out Of their
rines. The fighting at the extreme