The Washington herald., 1917-02-11

Goopb WoIhlnk very Close 10 InGtT
own shells and in occasional danger
from their exceedingly close timing;
dependence upon the fact that the
enemy now is compelled to dig too
deep; dependence upon extreme sc-
curacy Of heavy artillery fire. The
method has for the soul of II perfect
synchrony. Errors measured in seconds
are important: errors measured in
minutes would be disastrous"
A first requisite of 1.-THE new attack Is
complete command of the air. which the
allies hold and hope to retain, for the
most insignificant Photographic details Of
the belt of country to be attacked ars
essential Next an artillery bombardment
Is necessary on a scale unheard of even
a year ago, which requires more guns and
shells than the enemy Possesses. Trenches
must be leyeled, dusouts destroyed. ma
chine gun-emplacements destroyed. Then
the infantry goes forward, not in waves
as in the last campaign. but in small de-
tachments of specialists, each man a
trained expert in his own line. working
together with bombs. rife grenades ami
machine guns, able TO Join and set up
fire of their own which can completely
smash up and destroy a machine gun nest
or even a trench at a distance of a hun
dred yards. / have seen this done in re-
hearsals behind the lines, with astonish-
ing success
Method of Attack.
Behind the specialists" come other
squads who search and blow up enemy
dugouts. and the infantry with the bayo-
net comes last Of all, when the ground
has been cleared, and occupies the
trenches assigned to II. The whole affair
is worked out in advance. There is no
more massacreing Of whole bsttalions by
machine guns, the attackers no longer
suffer heavy losses unless they run into
enemy shell fire, which the artillery su-
periority of their own side ought TO re-
duce to a minimum. But for the defend
ers in the belt attacked, there is no
escape. Rushes of this character. carried
out daily at some part of the zones OF
orfensives, perhaps with the help Of tanks
which when used go first of all, are relied
upon to wear down the Germans until
their lines break or they are forced To
retreat.
The success Of the new tactics depends
upon more men. more guns, more shells,
than the enemy possesses. / have shown
that the allies have more men in the
west than their opponents, and indicated
at what terrific ratio munition-mskinGi is
piling up material in France and Eng
land. Figures for Germany are not to
be obtained: but experts here are conf
dent that her inability to import raw
materials and the great proportion OF
men she has sent into her srmes will
make it impossible for Germany to in
crease her output proportiOnately to the
increased production OF her enemies. Full
credit is given TO Germany's organizing
ability, but the victories she won in the
first two years are ascribed to the fact
that in 1915 and 1916 she soeeded up her
output to its highest possible extent while
the allies were preparing. building fac
tories and machinery. Not only have the
allies already passed Germany. but with
each week that passes the disparity in
their favor becomes greater unless the
greatest munition experts in London are
strangely deceived.
Somme Paved the Way.
1t is the fashion abroad to SPEAK of the
Somme campaign as a relative failure
because the allies lost heavily and did
not break through. Soldiers in France
believe that on the contrary the Somme
paved the way for final victory. or the
i2S divisions in the West Germany has
lol of good material. the others are Land
sturmers and inferior in C3ass. Up to
the middle of December, ninety-six of
these 10l good divisions had passed
through the Somme furnace. losing from
one-third of their electives up. suffering
terribly in morale under the horrible or
deal OF the concentrated fire Of thousands
of guns. The FIVE divisions that had not
been on the Somme last month we're at
tackled and very badly mauled at Verdun.
losing more than half their strength, and
have been withdrawn to reft Conse-
ouently when the 1917 push begins. Ger
/ many will have no good troors I'm the
west whose nerves have not been SUBJ
jected to the bath of blood as the Ger
mans call the Somme. excepting such d.
y ~
the eastern front
There seems every reason then to antici-
pate importsnt allied successes On the
west front this spring, on a scale NOT
hltherto known in the west. which will
compel German retirement There are
TWO points of view current fere aoout the
effect of the anticipated victories
i. Those who desire a peace BY nego-
tiauon now IL Germany will restore and
compensate the countries she has over
run. and who know enough about the
preparations under way to realize that
Germany will be severely punished il the
next campaign is fought out. say in effect,
NO doubt We can make the enemy re-
treat to the Hne Antwerp-Namur-
Mezieres-Metz by the end of this year
at horrible cost to ourselves Even so,
central Europe remains Germany will
hold what she has got in the east. We
NohiOt itHNssl year our eTOrt OF
this year and invade Germany and dictate
peace, or II we can We should ouselves
be prostrate when the victory was won.
A peace of exhaustion will be inevitabl
in a year or two, and whether It is made
now or at the Rhine does not matter. po-
litically, since Germany is ready now to
give up France and Belgium"
2. The other and more prevalent opin-
ion in informed circles. and especially
among the soldiers. is that the superiority
in man power and cannon possessed this
year by France and Britain will result
In German debacle soon as a retreat
in the west is attempted. Once they
get moving, they never will stop"
general told me in France The allied
commanders count upon the greatest VIC
tory in history when victory Goes come.
They believe that they can follow up the
German hosts until they are destroyed or
are driven into the arms Of the Russians,
although, Of course, capitulstfon would
come first, and with capitulation central
Europe would fall to pieces. With their
artillery equipment, the soldiers say
obstacles like the Rhine could not hold
up their armies, and poirt to the precedent
of the Germans crossing the Danube.
When by barrages of fire the country for
several miles on the other side of a river
is made untenabIe, only fire Of similar