Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-23
FOCH'S WAR MOSAIC
Its Design Is Taking Form in This Eveniful
Month Of August

general stan OF any army. olten Witnln
the last four years there have been times
when two official bulletins a day seemed
an insufficient allowance. Many persons
find the temptation to scrutinze every
! line of each fragment of war news abso-
lutely irresistible. If the British, French
or American armies took the notion to
dole out their information as seldom as
once a week a fine howl of protest would
arise. 1t would be justified, too, for
nations giving their lfeblood for liberty
I have assurcdly right to be kept in in
stant touch with events.
Just at the present time, however,
"skip-stop" system of communiques
would embrace certain compensating ad-
vantages. Frugaity would be rewarded
by thrills The daily nibblc whose sig
nifCance is often hidden from the lay
man would be converted into the weekly
bite whose meaning admitted of no per-
plexty.
Both the first and second battles of
the Marne told swift. dramatic, easily
comprehensive tales. Each momentous
action in its turn saved Paris and was
undertaken when a defensive policy by
the Allies had approached a critical
point. The sudden surge of Mangin and
the French and American troops in
Champagne had something of the stir
ring. theatric quality of Sheridan at Win
chester.
Sllh,pnIIpnt %
ciated if considered on something more
than a daily basis. 1t is true that Haigs
terrific, wide front blow, which recovered
the whole Montdidier region, relieved
Amiens and was even acknowledged by
Germany as "the first defeat was a
vapid "full-treSs show" on crashing
scale. The Hun could scarcely avoid
recognizing its virtues, since it was con-
Quoted somewhat after the grand man
ner' of his historic attack of March 2l
Since August s, and few days after,
however. Marshal Foch has introduced a
novelty into the war. His operations are
neither of the tedious sort which made
the first battle of the Somme so pro-
tracted in 1916 nor of the tremendous
type of the Marne engagements, His
evident aim is the dislocation of the
German lines in Pcardy. the intrusion
of a salient near Noyon compelling the
Germans to fall back from the Vesle,
whore the second Marine battle came to
an end, and the intensitcation of pres
sure now at one point, now at another,
Il : l. IL
tate the foes withdrawal to the old Hin
denburg line.
lncessant action, distributed at various
points so as to profit by the virtue of
surprise; short, sharp offensves, not so
| ponderous in scope that they cannot be
resumed after brief interval, are ele-
ments of this policy. It's fruits are
! already superb Haig struck on the
| Avre, Byng on the Ancre, Humbert to
the east of Noyon. Mangn to the south
! of that important base. In all these
movements it is not the gain of three or
| five miles separately considered that is
| fraught with meaning, but the whole
broad scope of this vigiant strategy.
ParadoXical as it may seem, the re-
tirement of the Germans in driblets is a
definite sign of Allied activity. The foe
dare not withdraw quickly in one move
ment over wide front because the
Allies are right at his heels. 1t is con-
ceivable, indeed, that the Germans, now
developing major defensive plan under
Won Boehn. would much prefer to fall
back at once to the Hindenburg line,
saving virtually their entire army and
its equipment, as they did in 1916. Under
present conditions their men are con-
stantly exposed to capture. Mangin, for
example, bagged some $4,000 within the
last three or four days in his fiery drive
toward Noyon. In Albert, which fell yes
terday, the British took l400 men out of
5000 captured in two-day drive.
An inevitable retreat under such cir
cumstances has been turned by Foch
into agony long drawn out. 1t is hard to
imagine a more effective way of batter
ing down the enemy'S morale than that
which the acute brain of the great mar
shall has devised.
The sum of such successes-now of
almost daily occurrence--seems certain
to change the whole complexion of the
battlefront. Artillery pressure from the
triangle between the Disc and the Aisne
can be directed both northeast and south
west. 1t may be forecast that the line
Chaulnes- Peronne-Roy -Noyon will soon
become untenable. The German posi-
tions on the Vesle will also be seriously
menaced and the picture of withdrawal
to the Chemin-des-Dam can be drawn
without undue optimism.
On the northern end of the Picardy