The Washington herald., 1918-10-27

\ to back up on the old battlefelds the
4 attacks of the French and British,
chooses to put them In new area. Is
that by so doing he exploits his grow
| ing superiority of numbers, Compelling
Hindenburg to spread out his avail
able fighting material over vastly
greater area of trench line. Six
months ago there were. between ver-
dun and Switzerland. the equivalent OF
ten German divisions and while II
would be improper to speculate too
closely as to the present situation, II
is safe to say that there are now,
including the forces massed before
the entrenched camp of Metz, close
to five times that number.
Ynnks On Industry Line.
| But there is another reason for the
choice of the southern sector as an
I area OF American concentration. The.
French have always viewed with hor-
ror the prospect of fighting through
\ over the thickly populated industrial
districts of the north, from one Ger
/ man defensive line to the next,
! devastating rich countrysides nrd
laying cities and towns in ashes,
while the invader was driven step by
step back and territory freed that
generations Of labor could not re-
store to its former state.
| Now there is another possible way
\ To- win
! Victories in Alsace and Lorraine
leading to terror In South Germany
at the prospect of a great American
army encamped on the Rhine ready
to pour next year through the richest
provinces of the Fatherland, may
save the nine-tenths OF invaded
France that remains undamaged and
save nearly all Belgium from de-
struction. No doubt at present. II
Hindenburg retreated from the Hin
denburg line through Belgium and
I Frame. he would continue his policy.
sound from a military standpoint
however brutal, of laying every wall
level as he went back. But victories
in the southwestern corner of the
German empire might change all that.
| The allies have talked vaguely
about trying to save French and
Belgian cities by announcing that for
each one destroyed a similar German
town will be deIeted from the nap,
but such talk appears to the Ger
man mere vaporings of despair un-
less he sees that the takers have
the power, as well as the will, TO act.
South Germany Fearful.
South Germany will be in mortal
terror Of invasion, and South Ger
many will insist to Berlin that Lille
and Ghent and Brussels be spared, il
Munich and Mannheim have reason
TO think that American and French
guns within a period measured by
months will be within range of their
own walls.
From an authoritative military
source which I have often been per-
mitted to quote before I have OBJ
tanned the following view of the
general military situation, in which
the American army which we follow
with all our hearts constitutes only
| one place on the chessboard This
expert said:
The deadly thrust against the en-
emy has gone right home. Unduly
optimistic We have no call to be. Yet
when we consider the groundwork of
this success its decisive character
stands out beyond qualification. The
groundwork was first of all the hold
ing and foiling of the German Of
fensive. Let US in the hour of victory
be just to the men who bore the
burden Of those seemingly dark days.
The groundwork was next the patient
and studious and above all thorough
preparation for resuming the Of
That preparation-attaCk wisely re-
serve until our combined forces justi-
fed twas especially designed to
render the offensive. once launched.
continuous. Since July is there have
elapsed nearly nine weeks. During
that period on one sector or another
the allied attack has never paused.
Nothins of the kind has before taken
place in this or in any other war. The
enemy's offensive was by comparison
a thing of fits and starts
Allies Shade Napoleon.
What might not have happened
last March or April had the Germans
proved able to keep their offensive
going for seven weeks without al
lowing us the time to take breath.
They were not equal to such an ef-
fort Despite all that has been writ
ten about their staff work. it could
not approach this allied achievement.
The feat Is Napoleonic; the applica-
ton indeed of Napoleon's principles
and mexims to the conditions of mod
ern war with armies of whose mag
nitude Napoleon probably never
dreamed. Nor Is that all there is to
be said of this mastery in general
ship, and of the INFINITE detail of or
ganization and minute forethought
which have combined weight with
movement No small part of the
mastery consisted IN seizing the tell
ing moment with sure eye. As there
was no unreadiness, so there was no
hesitation. The returning tidal wave
swept back upon the enemy on the
very day on which his offensive was
finally discounted. 1t caught him in
La. E,,Il - LII
He was given no chance to recover.
Much less was he given the chance
to rearrange the lines of his opera
l tinnn To ln u ,unclcr urnn,la ha rnlr,