The Washington herald., 1917-02-18
Know How to Crush Germans,
Allies Think After Verdun
Astonishing Louvemont Victory Shows French
Troops Have Solved Riddle of Trench Warfare
New Tactics on Big Scale May Win War

Passage. one of the best units in
the French army. Won Kruegers men,
captives in the rear, laughed ironi-
cally at their general. THE old man
wanted his fight" one of them said
He got it!"
OF the five first line German divi-
sions, fifteen battalions of about 5000
men were in the first line when the
storm broke, another fifteen battaIiors
were In the reserve trenches, and the
remaining $4,000 combatants were in
cantonments in the rear. Many Of
them never got into action through
the French barrage. Further back,
resting from previous maulings, were
the Guard Reserve division. the Twen-
ty-first Reserve division, and the Fifth
and Thirtieth active divisions. They
came up during the first night, but
were unable to retrieve the German
fortunes.
Like Boys Game.
crack troops of the republic. The plan of
attack called for the men on the left to
advance only few hundred yards. those
on the extreme right had to move for
ward two miles; in military parlance an
advance plvoting on the left flank, an
operation familiar to boys who have
played crack-the-whip. Accordingly, on
the right wing, resting in front Of Douau-
mont Fort, was Gen. Passaga's Gauloise
division, made up of the line and bat
talions of chaseurs, each unit bearing the
name Of some fierce struggle where it dis
hnguished itself. On Passaga's left was
the hardly less famous division of Gen.
Guyot de Salins. which recaptured Douau-
mont. composed of colonial troops, long
service men corresponding to British and
American regulars. of Zouaves and AL
gerian rifiemen. Gen. GARNER du Plessis
commanded the next division to the left,
which had suffered terribly at Verdun,
eeing driven back under impossible odds
at the commencement of the German at
tack in February and again in April, and
had asked for and obtained permission to.
redeem" itself, although its chiefs told
1t no redemption was necessary. Finally,
the easiest job. the attack upon Vacherau-
vile, the river and on Pepper HILL was
confided to a division under Gen. Muteau
which was taking part in an assault for
the first time, having just been promoted
to the rank of a shock division"
No effort was spared to get these four
divisions in the best possible shape. men,
tally and physically for the ordeal be-
fore them. While the officers studied day
and night the plans Of the battle. plans
that must be interlaced and timed so that
the mechanism of battle would run like
the works OF a watch, the men were re-
viewed in the rear by Marshal Jofrre, in
spired by patriotic addresses, drawn up
in squares to watch the comforting of
medals on heroic comrades, individually
and collectively exhorted by their priests
and DISTINGUISHED generals, made ply
sically At by drills and games and special
fak rn frfn fhaa afrfp col
performances.
Singer stirs Troops.
And, greatest treat Of all, Mile. Marthe
Chenal, the great singer OF the Opera
Comique, whose rendering of the Mar
seillaise has evoked a storm Of shouts
and sobs a hundred times in Paris during
the war, was brought to the billet towns.
Standing on the steps OF a church, the
tri-color draped about her. she sang to
the privileged Soldiers Of the assault"
raising their spirits to the stars; and
then, surrounded by weeping throngs and
sometimes sobbing herself, she stepped
into her staff car and was whisked away
to another village, where the scene was
repeated. until every man OF the four
shock divisions" had heard Chenars
Marseillaise. I have heard her sing It in
the theater. and it brought the tears
even to an alien correspondent. How she
must have sung it within sound OF the
guns 10 the men she knew were about to
offer their lives in one of the most diff
cult operations of the war an outsider
cam only imagine.
The shock troops marched to their po-
sitions. relieving the men holding the
trenches. In the French army the crack
divisions are not used in ordinary rou-
tine trench warfare, they are reserved
for great occasions like this one. General
Mouteau addressed his men while the
guns were pulverizing Pepper Hill and
the village at its foot that they were U
assault. You will justify the honor that
is done you," he told his men, who as
shock troops had yet to win their spurs
He showed them Pepper Hill. where the
wicked enemy crouches, and, unable to
do more. insults Verdun with his lustful
look. Hail to the flag! You will know
how to do your duty as Frenchmen. The
cannon thunders. the artillery does its
work and opens US the road. Have conf