Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-06-10
Allied Commander in = chief
Says Battles Can Be Won in
the End Only by Force
Which Takes the Offensive.
DEFENSE BATTLES DO
NOT BRING VICTORIES
They Are Simply Games Which
Must Be Played Over Again.
Learned General Discussed
Problem of Soldier.
nv MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED WIRE

Wv moFShs JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED
London. June 9.--The battles can be
won in the end only by the army
which takes the offensive Is the sig
nificant declaration made by General
Foch commander-in-c of the al
lies, in an article contributed by him
to the Weekly Journal, The Field in
which he discussed the problem of
the soldier and the way to victory
Modern warfare to arrive at its
end and to impose its will on the
enemy" says General Foch, "recog-
nizes only one means-destructio of
the enemy's organized force.
War undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle which brings
about overthrow of the adversary dis
organizes his command, destroys his
discipline and nullifies his units so
FAR as their fighting power is con-
cerned
Our first axiom must be that com
pletely to achieve it's object, a battle
must not be purely defensive. A
purely defensive battle, even well con-
Quoted, does not result in a victor and
vanqushed 1t is simply a game
that must be begun over again.
Defensive Fighting Needed.
From this it Is an obvious corollary
that an offensive, whether started at
the beginning of an action or whether
IT follows the defensive, can only give
results and in consequence must al
ways be adopted at the finish.
To maintain our position is not
synomous with Deing victorious and
evon prepares s@r defeat If we re-
main where we are and do not pass to
the offensive to fix the direction of
attack, to guard against the plans OF
the enemy and prevent him from car
rying out the same maneuvers, we
must undertake to carry on and sus-
tain numerous combats, each with de-
termined aim.
But since there remains no doubt
that decisive attack is the very key
stone of battle, all other actions
which make up hattie must be en-
vlsaged considered, organized, pro-
vided with forces in the measure in
which they will prepare, facilitate and
guarantee development of a decisive
attack characterized by its mass, its
surprise, its speed and for which, in
consequence, it is essential that there
shall be the maximum reserve force
possible of troops of maneuver
Use Made Oh deserves.
THE reserve-that is to say, the
prepared bludgeon-is organized and
kept carefully instructed TO execute
the single act of battle from which re-
suits are expected, namely, the de-
csive attack.
Reserves must he husbanded with
the most extreme parsimony so that
the buldgeon may be strong enough
to make the blow as violent as pos
sible. Let loose at the finish, without
any lurking idea of saving them, with
a well thought out plan for winning
the battle at point chosen and de-
termined, reserves are thrown i'm all
together in an action surpassing in
violence and energy all other phases
of battle, an action with proper char |
acteristics-surprise, mass and speed. !
All our forces really participate. either
by preparing it or by carrying it out.
''In this our supreme aim, we must
not be deceived by appearances. Al |
though theory fails when applied by
feeble hands and when accessories OBJ
scure the main principle, history ana
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 de"
sired result-the overthrow of the ad-
versa rV"