Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-21
WILL GIVE GERMANS
A GREAT ADVANTAGE
Claimed Entente Forces
Will Suffer Enormous
Losses While Digging
Themselves in Again
Abandoned Territory Is
Made a Wilderness.
BY JOHN GRANDENS
lited Press Staff Corresponds

Berlin, March 21.-(Wire-
less)-Ge1many is retreat
ing to a victory; another
master stroke has been
achieved by Field Marshal
Won Hindenburg and the en-
tente's plans for great
spring offensive have been
destroyed.
This, in brief, is the Off
cial explanation given for
the first time today to the
United Press, of Germany's
retirement on the western
front.
NEWEST LESSONS IN WAR.
Germany is retreating to a victory
because her armies are taking their
places in new positions, long prepared.
Those positions embody the newest
lessons Of the war. They will force
the enemy to learn their trade all over
again. They would astound tacticians
if their fun details were revealed, ac-
cording to German officials.
They may effect a formation
Of tho entire character of the war.
WHOLE COUNTRY CLEARED.
In the meantime Germany has been
clearing the whole country in front of
these new positions. They are miles
back of the present line. The whole
country intervening between the old
German line and the new one has by
necessity of war and necessity of the
new German plans been made Il Wild
erness. Roads have been destroyed:
the whole terrain has been made diff
ficult of passage. All means of COM
munication have been effaced. Some
villages have utterly disappeared.
In their new positions the German
forces. will face an enemy either hur-
riedly brought up over this difficult
wilderness and because of this hur-
ry, insufficiently supplied, or an enc
my which has come forward very
slowly, because Of necessity of build
ing up the country. In either event
the enemy viii be at disadvantage
Months Of tol by million German
soldiers have been expended in per-
fecting the new German line. The
the strongest possible defenses. pro-
tected by forests of barbed wire en-
tanglemcnts.
GUNS CAREFULLY RANGED.
A free fire zone in front will give
them clear view of the enemy. Guns
have been carefully ranged over all
this foreficld The enemy must come
up: must dig itself in; must arrange
transport of millions of tons of ann
munition. of food and of supplies over
the wilderness left behind by the Ger
mans in their retreat. The allies will
face German forces prepared for every
contingency and protected as an army
was never protected before by long
preparations.
1t has been impossible to carry out
this program OF a retreat leaving be-
hind n wilderness without severe
hardship to the French civilian inhab-
.tants. But the move is demanded.
Officials also point out that the new
line selected by the German army
chiefs is not one picked haphazard.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES.
The new line lies in the position
where engineers and strategical ex-
perts have chosen every feature of
topogra phical aid. All natural advant-
ages have been utilized and developed.
All this change comes at the very
point where Germany's enemies had
planned a new spring offensive
and an offensive backed this time with
redoubled power. The French ana
British had planned to take the ini-
tiative from the old positions. which
they had perfected.
The German withdrawal secures for
Germany the initiative for the fighting,