The Washington times., 1918-03-10
By HTLAIRE BELLoC.

ospyriFht, 1919, Abe Tribune Assooiation-
During the continued lul before
the opening Of this seasons lighting
the lull every moment OF which IL
aIled with preparation for the great
coming struEEle-it is Of value to
learn to appreciate the Importance OF
certain geographical facts which are
and will be closely connected with the
last stages of the great war. fhey
should be especially interesting 70 the
American public, since the M mes Of
most Of the points iRvoleyd are al
ready familiar to Il from the press.
But the geographical meanings OF
these places and their importance In
military mGneuyers are still not ~
derstood by that public. and unless
they learn to understand them during
thIi time OF waiting the movements
Of the war which will soon begin VIII
be difficult TO follow.
Allied Air Attacks.
First, as to the points the lombard
nent of which from the air one reads
Of almost daily in the present Develop
msnt OF the aerial offensive by the
aIiIes-whIch, by the way. Is proving
the increasing superiority, OF the
allied air navies. TreveS, on the Mo-
selle: the railway functions outside
Of Thionville and Metz; Mannheim and
Lu6wigshaven opposite; the air
dromes behind the Belgian towns near
the North sea coastal these are out
side the actual war zone, but the
points which most concern us.
The bombardment OF the airdromes
behind the Belgian coast has for its
principal object interference with the
German air raids on London and on
other points on the coast OF southern
England. The craft used by the Ger
mans for these raids over the sea
start their expeditions from very
large concentration points, where
they are stabbed. These are not nu-
merous and are thoroughly known to
the British. The perpetual harassing
OF them by bomb dropping interrupts
though Il cannot as yet put q com
plete end to the air offensive against
the civilian centers Of Britain. 1t is
really, although civilian imaginatiouS
are slow to seize the fact. much the
best defense that London has against
attack from the air.
Great SIuaItIoa Cea1sT.
Mannheim and. LudwiEshayen.
apart from the great HsanufsetOFiss
OF war material which are located
there. form a point of great Impor-
lance fol two reasons. The first Is
that one Of the chief crossings OF the
Rhine IL there The second is that
from the very fact OF It's being prin-
cipal crossing, six lines OF railway
converge upon. it. Unfortunately
Mannheim Is not far from the ex-
treme limit possible for successful air
work on q large scale at the present
stage of development II represents
q radius OF approximately $50 miles.
Individual machines can. OF course,
20 many times that distance and
drop a bomb or two on their way.
We have even had one case OF an
air man flying from France to very
nearly beyond the German lines in
Russia; but for engine troubles he
would have crossed those lines ard
landed on f-ieNily soil. There was
another case OF a Frenchman flying
from behind the trench lines in Lor-
raine, passing over Munich. where he
dropped bombs su, ;essfully on the
railway station. and landing safely
behind the Italian lines in the Vene-
tian plain. But for continued raids
ny many machines carrying con
siderable weight OF explosives Mann
keim represents. not indeed the last
limit OF possibly effective radius, but
still a lengthy one.
II. r. junction Points.
The two functions outside OF Metz
and Thionville are more important,
though the work there is mulch more
delicate. because the French naturally
desire to spare these :wo chief towns
OF Lorraine as much as possible.
Luckily for the allies, the railway
functions st both places are we'll out
eide Of the densely populated area.
The Importance OF these two juno
lions Is this: That IL both can be
interrupted there will be
no direct railway communications be-
tween the German bases and the Ger
man front over a gap of something
like seventy miles. As points for the
OF German troops, eth
Pr in support OF their front lines or
during rest periods, they are also OF
great Importance.
But although less understood be-
muse the place Is OF comparatively