The Washington herald., 1918-07-26
The Trap to Be Sprung?

Inc Trap 70 De sprung!
The world is on the eve perhaps, of the shat
tering of the Prussian Behemoth in the West
Over the wires at any moment may be flashed
the that the steel trap of Foch has been
spruAg-that the Germans south of the Vesle have
been caught like rats in a hole"
Ludendo-f may yet avert what appears to
be certain disaster But for him there is hardly
more than bare hope that his reputation and
huge portion of his proud army will be ensulfcd
in debacle comparable to Tannenberg the Dona-
jee, or the Isonzo-possibly, some enthusiastic
prophets suggest, to Sedan to Waterloo.
4 Within the last twenty-four hours the situation
has changed radically Instead of the apex and the
two flanks of the salient being Stabilized" as
some experts surmised it has become clear that the
allied forces are still advancng-and at some points
advancing swiftly. For instance the Franco-Amcri-
can forces are enough to level their artillery
at Fere-en-Tardenois, railroad junction point
which is a bastion of the German position on the
west flank.
And on the east flank, what do we find? That
the British have found the Teuton defense soft and
flabby between Rheims and Marfaux and are ad-
vancing Fismes at a rapid rate Fismes is
new name in the battle, but every hour brings it
forward in flaming letters. If Fismes falls like
ripe apple into the British lap, then indeed the
crack Of doom" has sounded for the crown princes
army If Fismes, short of capture, can be domnat-
ed by British guns, the disaster will be almost as
great.
The neck Of the bottle is now only twenty-five
miles wide. 1t is narrowing swiftly. On the west
the Franco-American advance had been halted
brought almost to dead stop, because of reserves
that Ludendorf hurried into action. The German
commander succeeded in stemming the Foch
thrust there just in the nick of time but he has
been caught mapping south of Rheims. The sue
OF the British and Italians on that front has
caused our hopes to leap upward to the sky, for
the air is vibrant with the thrill of impending vic
tory-of victory such as allied arms have not
since the war opened.
There are nearly 100000 German soldiers des-
peratey trying to get out of the bottle before it
is securely corked. Even if the allied forces should
not advance another inch, on the present bat
tic status, the capture of large slice of the Ger
man army caught in the triangle appears inevita-
Bile. Only some powerful stroke by L.udendorff
can avert it. And military experts seem to agree
that reserves in the north cannot possibly be
brought into the battle in time to affect the re-
suit, ii the existing German lines Gave in" further
and their resistance is battered down.
AT one point only the Germans holding-in
the vicinity of Scissors. South of that city the
Frsnco-American offensive is proceeding like
rock crusher. 1t is fighting its way to Fere-en-
Iardenos, and pursuing the Germans northward
from the Marine, despite the excellence of the
enemy troops who compose the rearguard units
The German retreat so far has been conducted in
good order, not unlike the sklful receding of the
German wave from the Marine, under Won Kluck
four years ago. But at any moment now the re-
treat may become rout, and broken enemy di-
visions, as the teeth OF the trap buried in their
flanks, may be shouting "kamerad" in unnumbered
thousands.
1t is foolish sport to indulge in a forecast of
what may happen to this precious, hapless army of
the crown prince, now squirming like stuck pig in
the pincers but think for fleeting moment of the
bag full OF prisoners, the fall of Hindenburg and
Ludendorf, the permanent resumption of the often
sive by the allies, the possibility that within the
next three months the doom of Prussianism will be
writ as clearly in the sky if it were already
fait accompli
1t is a matter only of few hours Today may
tell the story.
Think of those Fifteen Battles of the World"
that you read about in your school days. when you
though history prosy thing; and add a sixteenth
to the list!
Think of yesterday. when we lived on hope and
thought of victory the pot of gold at the end of
q rainbow.
J. Then think of tomorrow and all that it may
mean to you and to the world Even though the
victory be whitfield down bit in the end, it is no
less victory.