The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-02-02
AMERICAN PHASE
Of WAR IN 1919
VIII Not Commence Until Nations
Army Is Most Powerful!
in Field.
TO FACE SIX MILLION MEN
Strength Of German Forces United
States Must Meet and Overcome
Can Be Closely Esti-
mated.
BY JOHN LLOYD BALpERSToN.

BY JOHN LLOYD BALDERSToN
copyright 1917, by the Mcclure Newspa-
per SynitCate.)
London.-Ihc first phase of this war
on the western front was the French
phase. 1t lasted until five O'Clock on
the morning Of July l, 1916. when Brit
ish TOmmies went over the top on the
Sommc. relieved the pressure on Yer
dun, and commenced the 50, I'd phase
Of the war, tire HT..:;cl. phase. Jules
Cambon said in Paris recently uhar
the third phase Of the war, til" Ameri-
can phase, began with ;hc landing of
American troops in France.
But strictly speaking. the American
phase will not commence until the
American army is The most powerful
in the field, ready to carry on 10 vic
tory when the French and British have
done their part. That will not come
before the autumn Of 1913.
What will the American armies next
year be up against in France? 1t is
possible to answer that question, with
| In q margin of error Of not more than
| 10 or Is per cent. To do so Involves
the use of figures. Figures are dry
and tiresome-mOSt figureS-but not
these. The blood-curdling and incred-
ible adventures packed into all the
dime novels and movies Of the world
would not equal those which have gone
to make up these figures, figures whose
genesis and compilation must be md
den under the mystic word, intel
! ligence.
figures are Authorized.
After the war, when the intelll-
gence gives up its secrets, nobody III
search of excitement will need to read
fiction. Today, all that can be said Is
that details here given of the strength
and composition Of the enemy armies
are authorized for publication. They
are details whose main interest FOL
America lies not in how they were
complied, but in the meaning they hole
for the United States, the duty the!
point out.
II the war goes on, and the alice
armies continue killing Germans a
the average rate maintained since Au
gust. 1914, there will be approximate
Nv 5971, 900 German soldiers LETT II
November, 1918, when the British
nhase OF the war will probably hav
closed and the American phase begun
Of these. 4 go 600 will be fighting me
at the front.
How this figure is arrived at Will
made clear in the course of a detalie
ANALYSIS of the German armies as the
exist today. This analysis cones III
der three heads. G) How many CIV
sions have the Germans in the field
(2) How many reserves has Gerlhih
available to ill up the gaps in the dlV
sions the fighting units? CD VIVA
10 tho rate of wastage Of the Germa
armies?
, The most important Of the tire
I and the one concerning when u
greatest accuracy is possible, is II
enumeration, and incidentally the loc
tion. of the German divisions.
4. There are today on all the from
e 231 German divisions. VI these
}. ORC nj present stationed on the we
front and 70 on the east front. Ge
x man divisions vary enormously
yolue and to a considerable extent
numbers. But it is now believed III
tho nrocess of subtracting three re-
! ments from each German dlVlsioh'
reeiment from each OF the dlVlsloi
| +broa brigades, has been complete
| r,bis was commenced last winter, WI
| the object Of forming large numl
of now divisions at the expense or I
existing ones.
s+renoth of Divisions Reduced.
/ Accordingly the strength OF the
oroce German division has been
| duced. since the close of the battle
| the Somme, by about one-fourth.
ctaad of the 10000 men which I
| merly represented the full strength
q German division, each division n
contains 10000. This does not me
l 10000 bayonets; in modern wars
ca many troops must be detailed
Il communication and other duties Z
IL NOT more than 1900 men In divis
Il or three brigades Of three regime
Il eoch-now the standard German
-con man the trenches or attack
Il anv one time. This reduction
Il strength was undertaken not, as
Il hastily assumed at the time, beca
IL Germany was running short OF n
hut because fresh divisions were WI
cd To oyer-run Roumania and I
IL mart IN the great offensive this
), on the west front that seems 10
Il been perforce abandoned.
II The o31 existing German divisi
assuming that all are at full siren
account for 100000 men. This
ri not take into account the central
serve in Germany from which gaps
IL filed. the great quantities OF infe
. ,ondwehr and landsturm troops
4 risoning occupied territories more
half as biz as Germany, nor the ye
ID bows who have been or shortly
ls he called up for service.
, Reserve Strength More uneerta
The second part of our ana
J of the German armies. the probiel