The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1918-08-10
PROGRESS OF THE WAR
From Sundays Salt Lake Tribune

General FOch's second battle OF the
Marne has been a work of art accord
ing to the best military. standards.
Like a play a battle has a beginning,
a middle and an end. We do not
know yet what the end will be, but
we have seen the beginning and the
various climaxes of the unfolding
plot, and we recognize that all the
honors are on Foch's side.
Some have wondered why it was
that Foch a unable to br eak
through on a grand scale, capture a
hundred thousand or more prisoners
and swiftly beat the enemy back to
some remote line. They hal. in mind,
of course, the German rushes in the
| Spring, and the battle w the verv
ground which is now witnessing the
the concluding phases Of a battle
which may rank as the greatest in
the worlds history. The answer is
simplicity itself.
When the Germans attacked along
the Chemin-des- Danes front, begin
ming on May 81, they had a million
men ready for their offensive. They
struck a line that was defended by
not more than 100, 900. The result
was a complete break-through.
The circumstances of the present
battle are utterly different. 1t be-
gan with a German offensive, a mil
lion men being engaged or in reserve
ready to participate. 1t was neces.
sarv for General Foch to stop the
offensive before he could begin ar
offensive of his own, and this could
be done only by employing equal or
greater forces. 1t is evident that his
task was out of all comparison greater
than the task Of Hindenburg and Lu-
dendorff toward the end of May.
Few imagined that General Foch,
when he launched his counter-offen-
sive on July IS had such a grandiose
plan of action as has since developed.
AS a matter of fact, everything de-
pended upon Developments. 1t is
true he had made every necessary
preparation, but he could not con-
lecture the result. He was forced
to act up to the full measure of his
preparations and then be guided by
the developments of the battle.
The first rush of the counter-offen-
sive was advantageous beyond ex-
pectations, and the allied generals
simo proceeded to exploit his gains
to the utmost. Although General
Lu%dendorff saw the impending neces-
sity of retreat and no doubt had pre-
pared for it, he decided to throw
in reinforcements and try to stem
the allied tide. He withdrew only a
part of his forces which were south
of the Marine. The rest remained
south of the river on the offensive
and defensive for two weeks. 1t
was not until eight days ago that he
gave up hope of turning the tide
against his great rival. Then he
suddenly retired from the river line
a few miles and tried to form a new
front.
The pivotal points of the new line,
from west to east, were Scissors,
BuZancy, Oulchy-le Chateau, Fere-en-
Tardenois, Ville-en-Tardenois and
Rheims. The first of these pivots to
give way was Oulchy, about six miles
west of Fere-en-Tardenois, and the
enemy's grip on the latter place was
thereby weakened. The fighting,
however, settled down to furious at
tacks and counter attacks for indi-
vidual positions. 1t seems as if Lu-
dendorff would be able to stabilize
the battle and make his line perma-
nent. For three days his chances
appeared to be more or less favor
able. 1t was the Americans, oper-
ating with the French, who rendered
his position untenable. They crossed
the Ourcq river, captured Fere-en-
Tardenois, Seringes, Sergy and