The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-18

H~SG AA SA&MHAKW&.
Paris. January II. (By Maff,.--gv
sns process OF elimination. oenersI
Cnsrnis, formerly commander Of al
army corps In the French army and
militaSy critic since his retiremens
lnoIcated In an interview that the
coming German offensive win be-
launched In Champagne.
hut wherever he tries. the enemy
VIII not break through" said Cenarnr
Cherhls. the morale of our arm,s.
mas mounted toi spirit of absolute
commence In the high command Of thn
army and In the premier, Clemenceau..
General Cherdls accepts az a fact
that the enemy will try to take the
initiative by passing to the ofrensiv.
AZ sas earliest possible moment
Naturally" he said. .-the enemv
wifi take the least possible ch.nr..
In his coming attempt. and he vffi
prooaoiy precede his attacks by for-
midabis bombardfnents Of open towns
and cities wherever his long range
guns are In reach OF them and bv
large scale raids on those accessible
from the air. It will be perhaps after
No realixes the uselessness of thf. in
policy that the enemy will
actually unleash his offensive.
Beifsrt strsnw Fort
Much has been said of a possible
Arsack on our position In upper Al
SAGE, because we have rewon some of
the province there. But on that front
We have the fortress Of Beifort NOT
dlsmanued as was verdun when the
crown prince attacked IL. The Ger.
mans would waste At least 500 600 men
In an attack on Belfort without xet-
ting any further. or a. far, an thew
did At verdun.
Nor II there enough spaos between
Hsifoft and the Swiss frontier for
big outfanking attempt. without VIC.
latfnE Swiss neutrality.
There remain two theaterc which
might be attractive to the German
stan. II England 10 not tho PRINCIPAL
enemy. she Is at least dstested ~
them moro than is France, and Il
would cause unbounded rsJoicin~ to
the Germans to beat the British. BE.
sides. tho British check before Cam.
srai might serve - an encouragement
to the Germans to attack there.
However. Aastro- Hungarian units
drawn from the Russiaa front are
said to have been concentrated In Bel.
1ium. under General Krobatin. II that
10 true. the attack will not come
Asainst the British sector, for the
troops Of Austria are not sufRfoientiv
high -class material to be used In
shock tactics against either the Brit.
Crsw1 Prince 70 LeaA.
Furthermore. because Of dynastto
reasons, II sesms imperative for the
military prestige Of the German crown
prince TO have the big blow s4ruck
under his command. The Champagne
seems the logical theatsr for the great
drive II ali signs do not fail Il win
come to the east Of Rheims.
ITO the west Of Rheims the French
hoid the Dominating position. West
OF the Disc the resten II devastated
BY Hindsnburx himself.
The Champagne. between Rheims
and the ArSonns. offers the crown
prince series OF piatsaus which. de-
spite the loss Of the Moronvtliiers
heights. might opsn . short and al
Marns to Paris
"verdun has left memories too BIT
ter In Germany for the enemy 70 try
there again. All the advAntages
wrssted from the French In arst stages
Of tho German drive have been since
rswou.
Between vsrdun and Toul, where
the enemy holds the Mevss heights.
he might. perhaps. try 10 deepen his /,
salient At st. Mihiel (near whore
American infantrymsn are In the Arst
line trenches). and make an effort co.
ward Bar L. Due Adjoining b tAo
Bastion Of Nancy ana ~
Grand Crown. and the capture of ~
capital Of French Lorraine w6al1 -
IN aiiuring prise for the enemy. IAasA
however. the Germans win md ~ :
sams leaders who broke their sAvanee
NJ the Aarne In 1914 and hurried then
back TO the AisnA" II
Attempt 70 Bumb RoaU1tnl
with the American Army IN
France. Feb. 1.-THE enemy appar-
entity attempted 20 bomb the Amest-
can held hospital lat svenine. IN 1
aeroplane descending to wttAin 80
feet Of the ground gunned the jseA1llv
with machine gun and arop1o1
eight high explosive bombs IArso n
these failed to explode. The rNnAln~
der tumbisd into IN a45ae6Ak -. !,
raining . shower of dirt aa1 - ~
stsei AsAinse the .h0spetn1 wA1A
Windows ware. sxnasAed - - - I,
wna injured. fo6eY the pn&100em NuGos !,
resnqveA fr0M - lU
tah1a fusxher ~ ~ x1nS i ~ 4
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