Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-27

compelled by the loss OF the Amiens
railway to use.
: As . consequences the British army
only held the enemy thrust from
. 1o = with s aiSi.,on co,id
not arrive until the third or fourth
day Of the battle, and even then
necessarily arrived in an exhausted
condition. -
The tables are now turned and we
through precisely the same perilous.
weakening maneuvers.
Lines for Enemy Stand.
Having appreciated that this rapid
dimfnution in numbers Is essential
tor the present situation. let US turn
our attention to the lines upon which
the enemy may stand.
First. It must be promised that no
known line exists. nothing CORE
spending to the elaborate linden
burg system which was thoroughly
reconnoitered from the; air and pho
tographed in detail before the enemy
fell back. Upon whatever line the
enemy elects to stand it cannot be a
works. and. what is mbre. hardly a
line of entirely his own choice. The
war has become a war of movement.
He never knows where the next
heavy blow will fall. Every time
blow has fallen. from September rs
onward, when Gouraud and the
Americans struck the other side of
Argonne, the enemy has been COM
PEELED to make a new disposition of
men, not from choice, but under COM
pulsion.
We saw this clearly the other day
when the British second army. sup
ported on the left by French aSad
Belgian troops, advanced so rapidly
into Flanders. The complete breach
of the temporary German defenses
Menin and the sea at Westende and
led within three days. to the evacua-
ton of the whole Lille salient. Until
that moment 1t was obvious that the
most necessary line upon which the
Germans certainly depended for re-
end the extremely strong position of
Lille and the still stronger position
of Metz. Lille was not abandoned as
part of the plant was abandoned
under necessity, and the loss neces-
sarily involved further retirements
to the north across the Belgian plain.
How true this is those best know
who have seen what I cannot repro
duce here-the scheme of defense or
ganized by the enemy around Lille
It has been thoroughly reconno1tered
and photographed from the air for
many months past, and 1t was by far
the strongest Of the recent field works
organized by -. the enemy-stronger
even than that sector of the linden
burg line in front of Cambria, which
is the next strongest piece Of work
esta blished during the last four years
by the enemy in. France; and giving
up such a system meant an unexpect-
ed, complete and reluctantly adopted
change of plan. But granted that the
enemy can hardly choose his own
new line. he hardly knows. and we
certainly do. not know. where the at
tempted rally will come. though we
can at any rate study the facts.
AS every one knows. it is the special
of an increasingly superior: attack to
seek the shortest line. Ideally. the
shortest line-supposing the enemy
could retire to it without dissolution
in progresses the line covering
Liege and going over the high bare
called ''Hause Fagne." and so down.
covering Luxembourg, Thionville and
Metz to join the present front before
Nancy.
Not to Take Shortest Line.
Such a line runs from the Dutch
frontier near Liege to a junction with
the present line in front of Nancy,
a little more than $50 miles in length,
whereas the present extension line,
even after recent retreats. is more
than $50 miles, and with all convolu-
lions much more than $50. Neverthe-
less, the enemy won't adopt that
shortest line, and this for many rea-
sons. In the first place, he couldn't
fall back to it with sufficient rapidity.
Retirement from the neighborhood of
Lille to Liege would be about 100
miles, even in straight line. The
- he 80
material to be moved quite prohibit