The Robesonian., 1918-06-17
BATTLES CAN BE WON
ONLY BY TAKING OFFENSIVE
Significant Declaration of Gen. Foch.

That battles can be won in the end
only by the army which takes the Of
fensive is the significant declaration
made by General Foch, commander in
chief of the Allies, in an important
article contributed by him to the
weekly journal, the Field, in which
he discusses the problem of the SOL
dier and the way to victory.
Modern warfare to arrive at its
end and to impose its will on the enc
N.Y." says General Foch, recognizes
only one means-destruction of the
enemy's organized forces.
"War undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle which brings
about the overthrow of the adversary,
disorganizes his command, destroys
his discipline, and nullifies his units
as 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 victory
and van luished. It is simply game
that must be begun over again.
From this it is an obvious corol-
larry that an offensive, whether start
ed at the beginning of an action or
whether it follows the defensive, can
only give results and in consequence
must always be adopted at the finish.
"To maintain our position is not
synonymous with being victorious and
even prepares for 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, prevent him from car
rying out the same maneuver, we
must undertaken to carry on and sus-
tain numerous -combats, each with
determined aim.
"But since there remains no doubt
that decisive attack is the very key
stone of a battle, all other actions
which make up battle must be en-
! visaged. considered, organized, pro-
vided with forces in the measure in
which they will prepare, facilitate and
guarantee development Of decisive
attack characterized by it's mass, its
surprise, it's speed and for which, in
consequence, it is essential that there
shall be the maximum reserve force
possible of troops of maneuver. The
reserve-that is to say, the prepared
bludgeon-is organized, and kept care
fully instructed to execute the single
act of battle from which results are
expected, namely, the decisive attack
"Reserve must be husbanded with
the most extreme parsimony so thai
the bludgeon 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
we'll thought out plan Of winning the
battle at point chosen and deter
mined, reserves are thrown in al
together in an action surprising il
violence and energy all other phases
, Of battle, an action with proper char
acteristics- surprise, mass and speed
All our forces really participate eithe1
by preparing it or by carrying it out
'In this our supreme aim, we mus
not be deceived by appearances, al
though theory fails when applied b.
; feeble hands and when accessories oh
scure the main principle, history AM
reason show us that in battle there i
single argument which is wort
while, namely, decisive attack, whicl
is alone capable of assuring the de
sired result-the overthrow Of tn