The Red Cloud chief., 1918-06-20
WIN BY OFFENSIVE
Such Must Be Plan of Victorious
Army, Says Foch.
Allied Gereralissimo Declares Well Or.
sanized Reserves, Delivering 6lud.
geon Blow at Proper Time and
Place viii Destroy tho
Enemy.

London.-Nictory can be won in the
End only by the army that takes the
%oifensiNr, and success in this depends
ON MISLEADING and instructing the re-
serves. so declares General Foch In
the weekly Journal, the Field.
Modern warfare, to arrive ut It's
end aud 10 impose its will on the en-
envy General Foch says, recognizes
only % mcans-destruction of the
cnemy organized forces.
war undertakes and prepares this
dcstruct,on by battle, which brings
about the overthrow of the adversary,
disorganizcs his command, destroys his
discipline, and utilities his units as
far as their fighting power Is con
cerned.
No Victory In Defense.
"Our first axiom must be that to
achieve It's object n battle must not be
purely defensive. A purely defensive
battle, even well conducted. does not
result I'm Il victor ana II vanquished. 1t
Is simply II game thut must be begun
over again.
"From this IL Is an obvious cOrollary
that al offensive, whether started at
h beginning of an action or whether
1t follows the defensive, can only give
results, and, in consequence, must al
ways be adopted ut the finish.
L 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 maneuver, we must un-
dertake 10 carry on and sustain numer-
Il combats, each with determined
aim.
All Depends on Reserve.
"But since there remains no doubt
that decisive attack Is the very key
stone of Il battle, all other actions
which make up Il battle must be en-
visaged, considered, organized, pro-
vided with forces I'm the measure In
which they will prepare, facilitate, and
guarantee development Of a decisive
attack characterized by its mass, its
surprise, Its speed, and for which, In
consequence, 1t Is essential that there
shall be the maximum reserve force
possible Of troops Of
"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, Mass and Speed.
Reserves must be husbanded with
the most extreme parsimony so that
the bludgeOn may be strong enough to
make the blow as violent as possible.
Let loose at the finish, without any
lurking idea Of saving them, with a
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 surprising In vio-
Hence and energy all other phases OF
battle, an action with proper charac-
terlstlcs-surprise, mass, n 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 OBJ
scure the main principle, history and
reason show us that in battle there Is
a single argument which is worth while
namely, decisive attack, which Is
| alone capable Of assuring the desired
result-the overthrow Of the adver-
sary."