South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-03-24
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.

~
~ dtOnS will permit the opening of opera
tons in France the debate as to the pos
Sibity of a German offensive grows more and
more heated. Today the partSanS of the theory
that the Germans will attack in the west are no
longer more numerous or more convincing than
the group who believe that there will be no Ger
man attack in the west but that such German
effort rs IS made will be made in northern Italy
or in the Balkans. with Venice or Salonica as the
immediate objective and the conquest of Greece
or the elimination of Italy as the real purpose
Not impossibly before this article reaches the
reader the answer will come. year ago the
Germans began their great retreat from the
Noyon salient in early March, and the British
launched their first offensive on Easter Monday
April O. about ATraS. I'm 1910 the Germans be-
gan their great Verdun attack on Feb q, more
than a month earlier; but in 1915, the second
battle of Ypres, begun by the Germans with the
original gas attack did not open until April 2.
Three Theories of German Program.
As it stands now, at the beginning of the third
week in March, there are three theories of the
German program The first looks for a colossal
German attack upon the western front-an at
tack which will be accompanied by various minor
demonstrations along the front AID will probably
disclose itself as one more of those double opera
tons: that is a repetition OF the favorte German
strategic combination which seeks to envelOp
portion of the enemyS force by two Converging
attacks at widely separated points Such an
attack was the invasion of Poland from east
Prussia and Galicia in 1915; the crushing of
Roumana between two armies, one descending
from the Pennsylvania Alps and the other invad
ing the Dobrudja, in 1910; and, finally, the
Italian victory of last year, when CadOmaS forces
were caught between a German force coming
down out of the Julian Alps via Udne and the
main Austrian army advancing from the lower
lSOnZO
This school of military students (the west
ernerS'O hold TO the view that the Germans will
attack either the British or the French line con-
ceivably both in such fashion that the troops
holding the sectors between the fronts attacked
will he enveloped and the whole front broken on
hv successful attacks upon the British from the
Flanders and ArtoiS regions-that is by an army
operating west of Lille and another west of Cam
hrai. with the channel ports as the objective. 1t
might be accomplished by double thrust upon
the French lines east and west of Rheims at
other points. So far the general idea is that the
Cambria and Rheims fronts most likely TO be
attacked.
But it is well to listen to the words of warning
of the school which holds that no great German
effort will be made The recent fear that the
Germans would have a decisive advantage i'm
men and guns in the west has been diSSpated We
are told BY bot British and French official state
mentS that at the most the Germans will not
have 100000 more men in the west than the
allies. and that they may not have an equal num-
her We are told by similar authority that,
though they may have a few more guns they
will not have a greater supply of ammunition.
We are told that the allies now dominate the air,
thus neutralizing any German advantage in
artillery.