Evening star., 1918-03-31
Advantages Germans Had

In addition to holding the good positions,
the Germans had an advantage of COM
munications due to two things-frst to
the fact that the region of France between
Cambria and st. Quentin is served by
many lateral railways and several trunk
lines: second. to the circumstance that
the British on the line here had behini
them the devastated area over which the
Germans had retreated in March of last
year. destroying all roads, bridges and
habitations and leaving desert. While
the British had built some roads and rail-
ways across this desert. their communi-
cations were far poorer than at any other
sector from the sea to the Oise
AS it has so far been disclosed. German
strategy was comprehended in the de-
Termination to strike one more blow. eN-
Actly such as was undertaken in the Marne
campaign The Germans believed that II
they could defeat and destroy the south
ern half of the British armies in France,
drive a gap between British armies ana
French. and roll the former back through
Amiens upon the coast and the ia,ef ave
tary effect of their success would be 70
compel the French and the British to
consent to a German peace.
In preparation for this gigantic ploW
the Germans concentrated on the selected
front the major part of all the artillery
in tire possession of the central powers
from the east as result of the Russian
collapse. the guns captured from Italy
and such new supplies as had been manu-
factured No such concentration of artil-
lery has been known in human history.
G-rmany's Main Idea.
The main idea of German strategy
was the central notion of all previous
western offensives, namely, to ob1iter-
ate the enemy trench lines by tre-
how I,nr fVvr,a AMT and
through the gap thus opened and, driv-
ing the British before them, destroy
them in the devastated area and open
gap in the whole allied position, thus
compelling a return to the war of
movement. in which the Germans be-
lieved their troops and their officers
were superior to the volunteer armies
of Britain.
tor efforts to break through have in
variably failed because the artillery
preparation has not succeeded in de-
stroying all the trenches and defenses
or in destroying them before reserves
could come up behind the danger point.
Invariably. too. the assailant has been
hindered after initial success by his in
ability to move his heavy artillery for
ward to keep up with his infantry. The
result has been in the west that in every
case the attack has been halted some
five or six miles from its starting point
and there has been no break through.
In the present instance the German
concentrated his heavy artillery in such
quantities that he hoped and expected
to destroy all the defense system of his
foe at the first bonn ba rdment first sec
ond and third lines alike. and then push
on with his infantry and avoid the de-
lays incident to the survival of ele-
ments of defense of his foes Such sur
vivals had wrecked the French often
sive in Champagne in 1915 and all sub
sequent attacks in the west. And in
this expectation Of achieving such
complete destruction the German was
substantially justified by the result.
Vast Artillery Bombardment.
Now to the progress of events: On
Thursday morning. March 81, came the
great bombardment. lasting some FIVE
hours. 1t surpassed all previous artil-
lery actions and it accomplished it's
main purpose The whole system OF
British defense lines was rendered un-
tenabie by the end of this lombard
ment. which reached the roads twenty
miles behind the front line trenches.
With the artillery attack went the most
intense gas emissions that have yet
taken place and the British artillery
men were compelled to serve their guns
in gas masks. In no detail was the
German preliminary preparation more
successful than III smothering and de-
stroying British guns.
On Thursday. despite the intense ar
tillery action, there was little or no
real infantry advancing on large
scale. But on Friday morning the food
burst and the British defense system
their battle positions. all the intricate
and ella aborate preparations against just
this moment, We're pierced and pene-
trated. not at all points. but at so many
points that in this day and the next
they had to be abandoned and = gen.
eral retirement begun.
BY Friday the Germans were streams
ing forward in three well defined
masses-they were pushing down the
Cambria Ba pa ume- -AmienS road west
along the Cambrai-P i-Peronne-Amiens
road and south along the St. Quentin
Ham-Noyon road, which is one of the
main highways from the north of
France to Paris.
Huns Advance, British Retreat