Evening journal., 1918-06-10
OFFENSIVE WAR IS
FAVORED By fOCH
Commander-in -in-Chief OF Al
lied Armies Says Defensive
Campaign is Futile
HUSBANDlNG OF MEN
UP TO LAST URGED

LONDON. June i0-That battles can
be won in the end only by the army
which takes the offensive is the sig
nifcant declaration made by General
Foch, commander-in-chief Of the Al
lies. in an important article contributed
by him to the weekly journal, the Field
In which ne discusses the problem OF
the soldier and the way TO victory.
eModern warfare to arrive at It's end
and TO impose It's viii on the enemy,
saws General Foch. recognizes only
one mesns-destruction Of the enemy s
organized forces.
WAR undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle, which brings
about the overthrow Of the adversary
disorganizes his command. destroys MS
discipline and nullfles his units, so iar
as their lighting value is concerned
our FIRST axiom must be that COM
pletely TO achieve its object a battle
must not be purely defensive. A purely
defensive battle, even well conducted
does not result in victor and a van
oulshed. 10 Is simply a game that must
be begun over again.
From this It IS an obvious corollary
that an offensive, whether started at
the beginning Of an action or whether
n follows the defensive, can only give
results and In consequence must al
ways be adopted at the finish.
TO maintain our position IS not
synonymous with being victorious ana
even prepares for a defeat. II we re-
main where we are and do not pass TO |
the offensive 70 nx the direction Of at
tack. to guard against the plans Of the
enemy and prvcent him from carrying |
out the same maneuver. We must un' /
dertake TO carry on and sustain nu-
merous combats, each with determined |
aim.
but since there remains no doubt /
that decisive attack is the very key
stone OF a battles all other action |
which make up a battle must be enyis- |
aged, considered. organized, provided
with forces in the measure In which
they viii prepare, facilitate and guar
antee development Of a decisive attack
characterized by its mass, its surprise,
its speed and for which. in consequence,
Il Is essential that there shall be the
maximum reserve force possible OF
troops Of maneuver. The reserve-that
is to say, the prepared bludgeon-is or
ganized and kept carefully instructed
TO execute tne single act Of battle from
which results are expected, namely,
the decisive attack
Preserves must be hushanded with
the most extreme parsimony so that the
bludgeon may be strong enough to
make the blow as violent as possible
Let loose at the finish. without any
lurking idea of saving them, with q
well thought out plan for winning The
J battle at a point chosen and determined
reserves are thrown in all together IN
an action surprising in violence and en-
ergy all other phases Of battle, an ac-
tion with proper Observation-Disclosures
prise, mass and speed
"ln this our supreme aim, we must
not be deceived by appearance. Al
though theory fails when accessories
obscure the main principle, history
and reason show us that in battle there
is a single argument which is worth
while, namely decisive attack, which is
alone capable Of assuring the desired
result-the overthrow Of the adver-
sary."