Daily Kennebec journal., 1917-03-21
Destruction Explained

OBSTRUCTION Explained
Just as q month ago the Germans
evacuated an important sector on the
Ancre. but kept the fact secret for
week while the British bombarded the
empty trenches, so todays report shows
the most important development of
1917 On any front The sector including
the evacuated cities virtually covers
he great Somme battle front Reports
from this section of the front tell of
effective work of destruction carried
before the occupied land was given
back TO the French and the British, SO
that il will avail them nothing as cap
tured soil, according to views expressed
here.
Ends Trench Warfare
With the fronts as long as they are
in this war and with the enormous
amount Of territory held by our
troops" said "A high German military
authority today. there is no particu-
lar military significance attached to
any especial section Of the enemys
territory. Therefore we can give up a
portion of the western front secure our
troops that freedom Of movement need
cd. and erd trench warfare That is
what this really amounts to. We are
now getting the enemy out Of their
treLches.
Plans Laid Awry
THE giving up Of this portion Of our
front puts an end to all their finely laid
spring offensive plans. Ever since
November hundreds of thousands of
men have been at work building
trenches. munitions depots, railroads
and cable lines to prepare for the big
gest spring offensive of the war. Now
at one blow that has gone for nothing
/, In the face of our withdraw wal all this
rs useless. -Four months work of millions
upon millions of dollars in value has been
rendered useless and valueless. while.
more important still. all the enemy plans
are likewise of no worth They must
make entirely new ones to cope with the
new situation. This is a difficult mat
ter. entailing weeks-yes, months Of work
and requiring an enormous quantity of
new observations. Meanwhile the enemy
is left at the mercy of our plans.
Strongest Positions
1T is most important to remember tha.
the new positions we are taking up back
of the old front are built with the aid of
and "A half years of warfare. The old pc
sitions were the result of the breaking
off of the unfinished offensive toward
Paris. Many portions of our positions
were held only with the greatest diff
Guilty. The trenches were difficult to
maintain and the artillery observation
points. so important in this kind Of war.
fare. were few.
The new positions are laid out In the
best possible locations, with the finest
Of observation points and deep concrete
shelters for the battery positions. While
The enemy is coming up to them he will
hc i'll the greatest possible difficulties
himself in the devastated battle field.
81 regret exceedingly that this move
is forcing a great destruction of a beau
tful part of France. Yet the destruc-
tion is not so great as the devastation
inflicted by the British and the French
on the Somme battlefield, and when the
Entente refused our peace proposal it
took the responsibility of this destruction
upon itself 1t is war measure. We
are compelled to take it to carry out a
military plan to meet the big offensive
the Entente had planned. We have de-
stroyed nothing except out Of military
necessity
I've have saved everything we
could. We did not wish to destroy
homes or other structures which offer
ed no military advantage to the enc
my. hut we had to make battlefield
out of the territory we were giving
up, for in It fighting will take place
and we could leave nothing in the
hands of the enemy So we were forced
to destroy roads. railroads. wells,
buildings of value for military pur-
poses. depots, even whole cities. 1t has
been hard, too. for the French popu-
lation but that is the fault of their
Government All the men of military
age we took back with us. The re-
maindcr we have turned over to their
countrymen and they are now in
French hands.
Fault Of Entente
Il know we will be accused of bar
barism. but we are fighting for our
existence We were compelled by the
refusal of the Entente to make peace
to defend ourselves against their
promised offensive. We have done
everything we could to avoid needless
suffering. but what happens is their
fault, not ours.
I'VE expect the Entente to claim all
This as a great victory. They will say
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