Tombstone epitaph., 1918-06-23
RESERVES ID WIN
 THE BIG BATTLE
General Foch Says Offensive 10
 Necessary for Victory.
SURPRISE, MASS AND SPEED
Final Attack With These charaeteris- tIeo. by Treops Carefully Prepared and Then Thrown h Without
 Regard to lossea

London.-Battles can be won in the end only by the army which takes the offensive. This Is the significant dec laration made by General FOch. com mander In chief of the allies, in an article contributed by him to the week. ly journal, the Field, in which he dis cusses the problem of the soldier and the way to victory.
 Modern warfare, to arrive at its end and to impose its will on the en- emy," General Foch says, recognizes only one means-destruction ot 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 nuiiifies his units as far as their fighting power Is con cerned.
 No Victory in Defense.
 "Our first axiom must be that to achieve its object a battle must not be purely defensive. A purely defensive battle. even well conducted. does not result in a victor and yanQuished. IL is simply a game that must be begun over again.
 From this it Is an obvious corollary that an offensive, whether started at the beginning of an action or whether 1t follows the defensive, can only give results. and, in consequence, must al ways be adopted at the finish.
 ITO maintain our position Is not synonymous with being victorious and even prepares for a defeat. If we re- main where We are and do not pass to the offensive to fix the direction of at tack, to guard against the plans of the enemy, and prevent him from carrying out the same maneuyer, We must un- dertake to carry on and sustain numer- ous combats, each with determined aim.
 All Depends on Reserve.
 But since there remains To doubt that decisive attack is the very key stone of battle, all other actions which make up a 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 its 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 carefully instructed to execute the single act of battle from which re suits are expected-namely, the de cisive attack.
 Surprise, Mas and Speed.
 Reserves must be husbanded with the most extreme parsimony so that the bludgeon may be strong enough 10 make the blow as violent as possible. Let loose at the finish, without any lurking idea of saving them, with well thought out plan for winning the battle at a point chosen and deter mined, reserves are thrown in all to- gether in an action surpassing in vio- lence and energy all other phases of battle, an action with proper charac- teristics-surpr1se, mass, and speed. All our forces really participate, either by preparing 1t or by carrying 1t 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 ob- scurs the main principle, history and reason show us that in battle there is . single argument which is worth while namely, decisive attack, which is alone capable of assuring the desired result-the overthrow of the adver-