New-York tribune., 1918-02-10
Old Battle Grounds
Ready for Defence

Old Battle Grounds
Ready for Defence
To renew the attempt on Verdun, for in
stance, would be to attack deliberately on q
twenty-mle front every inch of which has
been studied for months and learned in the
practical school of the great battle now
eighteen months past. 1t would be to at
tack on sector where hundreds of miles
of roads and railways have come into being
behind the French lines through that great
battle, and where the best points for con-
centration, whether for munitionments or
men, are known by heart and have all been
tested by experience. It would be attack
ing over ground broken by the original
enormous struggle.
What is thus true of Verdun is true Of
every sector in which one of the great ac-
,, tlons Of the West has taken place. The
argument against an attack in the st.
Quentin sector is that an advance there
would take the enemy over ground he has
himself ravaged and desolated during the
retreat from Noyon. 1t has in its favor,
however, the fact that it is the junction
place of the two allied armies and, no.
litically, that an advance there would be a
direct threat to Paris.
In the maritime sector the fullest effort
of the Germans was made and failed long
ago, when they were immensely stronger
IN proportion to the Allies than they arc
now. 1t is a sector Of peculiarly Difficult.
:r%a
courses and from being subject to inun-
dation
There remain the sector of Cambrai.
the open sector between the Meuse and the
Vosges, between Metz and Toul, which may
be called the sector of Nancy; the sector
OF Lille, and the sector of Upper Alsace.
Cambria has the advantage that it is the
pest served in the way of communications
OF all points on the enemy front There
can be gathered most rapidly and most
continuously the reinforcements: necessary
for great action. The sector imme-
diately to the north--the sector of Lille
comes second in this respect. Both are ad
mirably served with roads and RAILWAYS
behind the German front and stand near
est the German western centres of supply.
In each case, of course, the attack would
come upon the British line
Violation of Swiss
Border Unlikely
VI the two alternative points upon the
French line the argument against the
choice of Alsace is the extreme difficulty of
the ground, while the talk of turning the
line around by Switzerland-thoughe every
thing is possible in warts not convincing.
Dehles through Swiss territory here are
difficult, and this is hardly the moment in
the war for the German Empire to COM
nit new breach of ordinary morals. The
fact that this movement was widely adver-
tised by the Germans a year ago was al
most enough to make US rule it out.
For the remaining French sector of
Nancy much more may be said 1t has &
great base behind it at Metz, it is oper
country, and it threatens a rich town
which the French would naturally be ex
pected to cover and save. 1t has not vet
been the theatre of any great action since
the war of movement ceased in the West
and siege lines were established. l see M
Tardieu has written suggesting that this
sector may most probably attract the
enemy. His words always have weight,
and his summary of reasons is strong.
In conclusion we must remember that
such list as l have given here has no
relation to forecasting or to the stupid
form OF sensationalism which pretends to
have unmasked the enemy's design. 1t is
merely a very brief summary of the ca!-
culable elements for and against the va
rious parts of the line as to the theatre of
the enemy's operations this year. We
must also remember that, since surprise is
an essential of success, he must depend
more upon tactical novelty in weapons or
method of attack than on the choice of
ground when all ground is continuously
covered and watched.