Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-20
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1918.
German Drive German Defeat.

German Drive a German Defeat.
Military experts give their views on
tho details OF the great German drive on
the western war front in Europe. and
their comments are very interesting.
The, arc fully informed as TO all military
matters, and know how 10 estimate the
eject Of this or that movement OF the
attacking forces and how II Is met by the
defending armies
l.avmcn. also. have their opinions in
respect Of such matters In fact, many
81 them. although ,hcv may have never
>houldcrcd mu-kct or taken part in 2
march assume 20 know All about how
commanding generals should employ
their forces IN order 10 make victory Ger
tam Never was there = war that did
not bring To public view at home. Of
course military quid nuncs who
could give cards and spades 70 the ablcst
gcncrals and beat them ~ their chosen
game in their own opinion.
But there arc other laymcn and they
comprise the large majority read
the news Of war operations and draw their
conclusions from happenings and results.
These are the kind Of laymen critics who
look upon and a>kc into consideration al
The details Of the desperate German drive.
is printed day after day IN tho news
papers. and draw conclusions from what
they read And heir copclusionS- IN the
main. agree.
The layman knows. a. we'll as the mill
tarv man. that great attack, to be sue
cessful, must result in the demoraliza-
ton Of the enemy and complete defeat
Of his forces. The great German drive
has now been in progress for three weeks,
and still II has not achieved tins result.
The British forces. although forced back
by palpablc superiority Of numbers. have
not been for an instant demoralized-
The retirement has been orderly, and also
effective, as it was attended with resist
ancc that played havoc in the ranks OF the
German hordes The French have done
likewise. and during the past few DAYS
have been making counter attacks that
have not only held the enemy, but driven
him back to a material extent
1t Is undoubted that the object OF the
tremendous mass attack by the German
armies. reinforced as they have been by
the armies released from service against
Russia and by prisoners taken by Russia
and SET free bv the reversal OF conditions
-. Il. hr-a L krr,r4vh 70
hines OF the Allies and reach the French
channel ports FU few DAYS the sltua-
iion loomed ominously and there were
fears that the attack would achieve ITS
object But the British lines stiffened and
held The French lines did likewise and
later attacked instead of rctreatlng. And
today the great German drive, while II
has gained ground, IN the mere matter of
progressing. has achieved no vital adj
vantage IN the tremendous combat.
II Is as apparent to the layrnan as TO
the expert in military matters that a
carefully arranged and tremendously
launched attack In force that does not
achieve its object within a reasonable
time is a fall0re-practicaly defeat of
the attacking armies. This seems 10 be
the situation along the western war front
today The initnl energy of the German
assault mas been successfully resisted
l. has accomplished nothing that speaks
Tor ultimate German victory the only
KIND d victory that would amount to
anything OF value And tina, means
,Iemorallzation Of the resisting forces
The realization Of a hopeless failure Of the
campaign jor the opening Of the way to
the German armies 10 tho channel ports
Lnd 50 the great German drive has
failed Before many more hours the
advance may be turned into a retreat
The German offensive is falling down; the
Allies defence b continuously increasing
in strength. The outlook for the future
Is hopeful