El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-29
CContinued From page y

Continued Z
many's strength N tho west. In the
event OF peace with Russia, would be
increased more by these guns than by
the additional soldiers who would be
available.
To aIay any possible alarm ir case
the worst comes to the worst in Rus
sia. there Is one thing that may be
said about the strength OF the allies
I'm the west. IL Germany brings an
her men and all her guns from Rus
STA. SHE WILL BE INFERIOR To
TIE ALLIES IN FIRE POW FIR.
which means that she viii have less
guns and less shells than her oppou-
ents. SIZE WILL HAVE THE WORST
OF 1T N THE AIR. And the possible
superiority in numbers which Ger
many might possess at the start
would not be sufficient TO counter
balance the allied advantage I'm ma
teriaI. would not offset the strategiC1l
through the positions they have won,
while the constantly arriving Ameri-
can troops would turn the scale, even
as regards man power alone, BACK
again in our favor before the end OF
the years campaign.
Position FavOrs Allies.
So much for man power in 1918
There IS another factor. perhaps even
more important, that viii help 90 de-
termine the course OF the fighting
next year IN the west. That IS the
factor OF position.
The desperate and bloody strug-
giles, which appeared failures or at
most indecislve successes when they
" ere fought at Loose, Notre Dame de
Lorette and in Champagne in 1919,
on the SOmme in 1915, at the Chemin
des Danes. Arras and IN Flanders
Little by little. through the long and
terrible years, as each push has fol-
lowed the last. the dominating heights
along the west front have been
wrested from the enemy and have
passed into French and British hands.
One great retreat has been forced. the
abandonment OF the NOy0u salient last
spring. but even this well conceived
and skllfully executed measure only
postponed the desperate position IN
which Hindenburg now finds himself.
Between Nerdun and BelfOrt, no Sc
rious attacks have been made during
the war, and the German positions.
fortified during three years and pEo-
tected by the Nosges mountains, re-
main formidable. As for the rest or
the western front, excluding italy, e
IS not too much 20 say. since the Bat
is shaking.
Hlndenburg and Ludondorf have the
rest or the winter 10 find a way out
OF their difficulties. II they can They
are able strategists. and it would be
rash to say that they viii not succeed
IN discovering some temporary eXped-
lent or some new line that viii serve
for 2 time their stubborn defensive.
All that can be done here IS 90 iudi-
cate the truly critical situation in
which the German armies IN the west
have been placed as the cumulative
effect az three years OF French and
British ouslaughts.
West Front j Pivotal POIut.
Leaving out Of consideration the
gap that leads from BelfOrt by swift
zerlaud into Alsace, IL seems probable
that the front from the sea 10 Cham
payne VIII continue TO be the dec-s-
i've theater OF war, as Il has been
from the beginning.
In Flanders, the Germans are faced
by the necessity Of retreat The loss II
most OF the Passchendaels ridge
leaves them exposed TO British fire
from concealed positions directed
against their exposed lines in the
plain. The nasty Flanders salient IN
their fronts offer possibilities to an
attacking force that the German com
mand cannot afford 10 extend when
the mud dries Up. next spring AC-
tAAAA A-NNAAA 4 III Aa-N III 4 II z - AuA
BACK.
Forty miles TO the south. Gen. /
3yng. by the most brilliant attack or
the war I'm the west has driven q I
salient into the German front before I
Cambria that outflanlcs much OF the I
line TO north and south I
IlVen the winter to concentrate fer .
IN attack here, his situation would be F.
such that the German command viii .
probably refuse 20 face the terrible /.
peril its center armies would be .
placed in II an advance OF a Jew .
niles were made by the British in .
good campaigning weather from the .
lew salient. Here. too. a RETREAT .
sEEMS FORCED BEFORE THE 1918
CAMPAIGN BEGINS.
About the same distance south or
Cambria as Cambria IS south OF
pres, Gen Petain in October. after I.
months or terrible fighting, cleared i
he Chemin des Danes and forced tho /.
enemy back over the Ailette a gap
between the hills to Laon, five miles
way, offers tempting possibilities 10 T
IN attsckinC force
No Local Retreat Possible.
TRAGEDY. FOR THE GERMANS. .
LIES IN THE FACT THAT A LOCAL .
RETREAT FROM ONE OR ALL or ]
HESE DANGER SPOTS DOES NOT
APFEAR POSSIBLE. Last autumn. f
when the French and British drove a .
y NeA-E AAAAN NAAH AAIE ana threatened
5apaume and Perenne in the SOume
lighting, the enemy constructed the f.
line and abandoned the
threatened sector. This was possible .
because, and only because. linden T
burg had in the Chemin des Danes
positions at the southern end OF his
-etreat- and in the Arras and Vimy
-idge positions at the northern end. 7
secure piv0ts which he could be sure
u AolQln6 during the operation.
1t IS perhaps the most significant F
Ind encouraging fact that the war has f
yet made evident in the west that
here are no more such plvots upon .
which to stand fast while dangerous
ialients are given up. In Flanders, f
here is nowhere to stand, short OF a .
temporary line near tho low Thlelt .
'idge, u miles back OF the present {
positions; and this line is open 10 such 7
from the south that many
EXPECT HINDENBURts /
TO GO BACK INTO BELGIUM THIS
WINTER 10 ANTWERP, BRU SSELS
AND NAMUR.
The retreat apparently imposed by 4
he Cambria salient has also no pIvots I
lpon which TO hang. while east OF I
am 1rat lies the open plain OF the
'cheldt, devoid OF defences until the ]
1euse Itself IS reached and northern I
rance given up. The evacuation OF Z
laon would admit the French TO this I
ans plain.
VIII Fight. No Doubt.
IL Is difficult 10 believe that the /
Ierman high command viii clear out /
u Belgium and France. this winter or /
ieNt spring. without a fight. But 10 Is 4