Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-21
IDENVES NEW
HERMAN BASTION
Block of Heights on Bel
Jan Border Replaces St.
Cobain Massif
WEAK ON EACH FLANK
Stcnay Gap and Sambre Val
ley Offer Avenues of Con-
tinued Advance by Allies
Special Gable to Erening Public Ledger


COPYRIGHT, 1918, by Ne,c York Times Co.
Paris. oct. 81.
Ostend. Lille. Douai in one day. Rou-
haix, Tourcoing Bruges and host OF
little but precious villages the next.
Towns and positions are falling like
sver-ripe fruit into the hands Of the
Ailies. and every hour sees fresh feath-
ers plucked from the defeated and dis.
credited bird of prey. For France 1t Is
now the traditional "victoiy with song
Of her old poet. and all the world Of
Paris, In spite of October fogs, is gay.
But nobody realizes better than Paris
that the end is not yet, All that has
happened so far is that we have licked
the Germans and got them on the ropes.
The war is already over, SO far as any
doubt about the result is concerned, We
have won and the Germans are defeat
ed, but they are still long way from
the final Knockout blow. which may come
this year, next spring, or even, in the
opinion of many careful judges, not till
the end of the coming summer.
The Germans are in bad shape-worse,
IN fact. than they ever have before
been in---but they have plenty Of fight
left in them yet. and plenty of strength.
They are conducting their retreat with
skill which Is exciting the sincere ad-
miraton of every soldier here whose
opinion is worthy Of respect From a
military point OF view. Ludcndorff is in
a nearly hopeless position. It Is to his
X.I 4..e-
every direction. in order to re-establiSh
further In the rear front where he can
hope 10 stem with some success. il only
for time. the slow but certain advance
Of the Allies into Germany itself.
On the ofher hand, II hp speeds M
the retreat too much he runs terrible
risk of upsetting the people nj home
where morale now has reached such a
critically low poirt, after three solid cal
cndar months of continuous defeats and
change in the war map which Is start
ling to contemplate. that any fresh and
sudden shock would probably result in
the whole spirit of the Cerman resist
ance. both at home and in the army.
collapsing like a pack of cards.
Ludendorr's Hard Task
Ludendorffs task AT the nresent mo-
0ent is extraordinar difficult. The
least error in judgment on his part
simple mistake in calculation. may bring
about his Jena. or a ten times null
tspiied Sedan. or even a colossal Water
100 This fact must have a depressing
enect on the whole enemy forces.
Amid all the shouting Of the last
triumphant week and the confused vision
II has brought about in the minds Of
= great many people. the main facts of
the situation as it stands today. emerge
cutie clearly. The real factors Of I'M
peffance now are not the spectacular
events occurring i'm Belgium but those
c91ected with the center Of the battle
mont. Just what these factors ere ,,uzt
be clearly understood or we shall be
1ulled into false optimism through
nlistaking appearances for realities The
main point Is that the center Of German
resistance on the western front har now
been transferred from tho powerful
massif of Laon, since its reduction by
the Allies to an almost equally strong
natural bastion directly in the rear
which is known technically as ;h, mas,if
OF Ardennes. II is now obvious that
It Is on this bastion tho enemy has de-
cided to make his next stand
The Ardennes bastion is eminentlv
suitable, by reason Of it's natural con
stftution, TO aid the German mans
IT consists of a large number OF Forest
clad plateaus, sharply broken UP with
deep ravines and narrow valleys. and
constitutes a formidable series Of do
fensive positions. It's great weakness.
however. lies in the fact that on each
side the country affords n way through
which the whole bastion may be turned
from the northwest or the southeast
On the right OF the enemys new center
II the valley of the Samhre. directly
north Of St. Quentin. through which the
Allies may strike into the heart OF Bel
giurD at Namur on the Meuse on his
left II IL the gap of Stenay. the natural
corridor of comparatively easy country
through which the Allies might strike
across Luxembourg into III, Rhine
land provinces of Germany. The bril-
liantly successful advance Of the Allies
in Belgium therefore. extremely valuable
Y a. II Is. may be set aside for the mo-
rnent and close attention be devoted 20
the center, where the real interest now
lies