El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-11-22
FAMOUS HlNDENBuRG LINE
SUPPOSEDLY IMPROBABLE

From st. Quentin to the Scarpe is
80 miles. The British drive covers a
part of the field Of last years Of
fensive on the Gomme and the Sec
ton Of the Arras battle front south
Of Arras. The British center in this
thrust is nearly opposite Cambria,
the important German base and rail-
way center from which the British
line on the Baupaume-C ambrain road
was about nine miles distant as 1t
had stood for several months past.
The main force of the push just
launched is apparently aimed at Cam
brai along this road.
What is known as the Hindenburg
line was established by German com.
mand last spring when the famous
strategic retreat on the Somme' front
was carried out. It was a supposedly
'impregnable barrier. The British
French, however, showed in the Arras
battle last spring and in the French
drive on the Aisne front, that the line
was by no means a bar to their prog
ress and serious inroads were made
upon 1t in various attacks on both
these fronts.
No definite break, however, suffi-
cient to permit the penetration of a
large force which could rebouch for
large field operations had ever been
effected. The British movement in
it's early phases gives the appearance
of being the most ambitious that has
been undertaken by them on the
western front since the creation OF
their new armies gave them the
power to strike effective blows. The
attack came almost without warning,
the only premonitory symptoms be.
ing a series Of somewhat elaborate
trench raids. Even the rather extern
sive operations in this sector report
ed last night by the British office,
which the German staff announced 1t
had taken measures to meet, gave
a hint that a push in any such
force or over such a wide extent OF
front was In prospect.
There has been little speculation
the possibility of a British at
tack in force on the western front
this fall in any area other than that
of Flanders where the main British
efforts for several months past has
been expended. Even here the late.
ness of the season and the difficult
Of the ground at this time Of
the year particularly seemed to give
basis for expectation Of any
thing more than local strokes. 1t
has been apparent, however, that
German attention was largely center.
ed on the Italian front, where the
military move in force intended to
crush italy is now in full swing. Ad-
mittedly, numbers Of German troops
had been sent to the Italian front, but
the assumption has been that these
had been largely drawn from the Rus
sion front, where the collapse Of the
Russian military machine had made
It unnecessary for the Germans to
much more than trench gar
1t is considered possible,
however, that the British secret serv-
Ice had knowledge of a weakening of
the German front in the west by the
withdrawal of highly trained, expert
enced troops to give backbone to the
push in northern Italy an opportunity
thus being afforded to catch the Ger
mans unaware and hit them a crush
ng blow while their strategic reserve
the Franco-Belgian war area was
depleted.
The element Of surprise the re-
ports reveal was a large factor in the
initial British success, as contrary to
ihe almost invariable rule In this war,
here was no advance preparation by
he artillery the troops going over
he top and falling upon an enemy
apparently without any expectation