Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-23
ghtin g Furiously on
ings to Permit With
drawal of Center
EDIT DUE TO PETAIN
6che Retirement Carried Out
in Light of Blazing
Towns
n By WALTER DURANTY
tucial Cable to Euening Public Ledger

fgcppripht, 1918, by NeD York Times Co.
with the French. Armies, July %.
5 The Germans are devoting thetl
I whole energies to the protection of the
Z retreat. They are resisting furiouslS
: ~ the banks of the salient with in
i S9ssant counter-attacks to permit the
withdrawal of the center. Under the
!. peessure of the three Allied armies
tko whole position is untenable owins
q the large numbers herded in the
cuhfined space with a limited and
6ourly more confused transport.
fWhen the Crown Princes drive was
checked the strategy of Petain found
: =. chjnk in the German armor and
Xoch was swift to seize the advan'
TIE, and by throwing in strong forces
eSnyert a successful diversion into a
Victorious counter-offensive.
The Allies are now reaping the re-
etklts of the sole command, which per.
N11ts the fndiscriminate utilization of
Nkces Of all nations at any point, and
rs less Of fourteen months of tireless
tAtience on the part of Petain, who,
6kspite all criticism, refused to waste
hjs energies in vain offensives and
eofefully built up a mass Of reserves
-forewarned by the collapse of Rus
(which enabled the Allies to
0&ather the anxious months since
March 81, and has now upset the
G&emy's plans with a stroke of unex.
tected vigor.
Equal Credit for Triumph
Credit for the triumph should go
onually to the prudence of Petain and
Tie daring strategy of General Foch.
vlaose name will be ranked in history
~ a victor beside that of Marshal
H1re.
sOnce more the name of the Marine
n written in history as a great Allied
victory. Less considerable as to the
Members engaged and less sweeping
IN extent than Joffre's famous turn
a the tide" it's consequences at this
stage of the war may be even more
decisive.
Z 5s,Hindenburg's fourth great attack
SNAt was to open the road to Paris
ina to a triumphant German peace
4s become an agonized defensive.
0ghty thousand picked boche troops,
hurled across the Marne with such
hffh hopes. have recrossed the river
&cimated and demoralized The sec
cd battle of the Marine has changed
(le military situation with a dramatic
01ddenness that warrants comparison
18th the first.
And. strangely enough the course
q events was striklngly similar In
18th struggles. As an officer Of the
igoa6 said to your CORRESPONDENT:
lit would be hard to find parallel
n1ore exact, especially in one particu-
~ whose Importance Is of cardinal
N4lue. Just compare the two cases
u can now be admitted that France
e>Faited the recent German offensive
nth anxiety only inferior to that Of
tle traeic days of 1914.
81 Situations Were Identical
1he two situations are so nearly
ntical that the decisive counter-at-
tScks were delivered almost in the same
nSgion. and their success is due to the
e9me cause. namely, the overconfidence
~ the enemy, who ignored the menace
~ his right.
Ain the first battle It was the army of
0elilieni that sprang from the intrenched
camp Iof Paris to break the German
mink between Nanteuil-le-Haudou and
04rcqs Now Mangin's victorious drive
WAS prepared under the cover of the
ferest Of Villers-Cotterets. The Germans
rust have been made to overlook the
possibilities of concentration for a coun-
t1r-stroke in the deep recesses of the
fGest. As in 1914, they are paying the
penalty for their error.
~ And 1t Is not only in the strategic
9{fuation that the parallel holds good.
The manner in which the two battles
were fought is Extraordinarily similar
d4spite the four years of trench warfare
Itue. there are tanks and airplanes in
uumber and utilization then undreamed
~. There Is poison gas and a profusion
beyond belief of artillery and machine
suns But the war has reverted to ti.s
o3d-fashioned tactical movement, and the
armies are following the classic rules of
war rs laid down from Caesar to Mas
polkon,"