Bisbee daily review., 1918-03-27
Sixth Day


With no appreciate let up in its in
tensitv and effort, the German drive con
tinues into the sixth day. Its momentum
however has been checked, its speed slack
ened and its success hampered. There Is
not the slightest doubt but that part of the
British strategy. planned before the drive
was to draw back before the first onset. his
voluntary withdrawal in the face of supe-
nor numbers and the first irresistible rush
in order to save the needless sacrifice OF
lives, will account for the German general
gain ON twenty miles of the front for a
depth of from three to four miles. But ii
will not account for the break in the lines
west of St. Quentin. The deep wedge
south of Peronne, calculated to separate
the French and English armies, was forced
in by sheer strength and an effort that
counted no cost too great.
German strategy In TINS greatest often
sive Of ali warfare is as cid as war itself
and as simple as a bayonet thrust. Their
ancestors used it when Attilla, the Hun,
ravaged Europe in the long ago. They
simply massed their men at a given point
and rushed forward, depending upon
strength and weight to carry them
through They depended upon psychology
as the very essence of strategy; in other
words, they said they would attack, pro-
claimed it broadcast, and then did attack.
This is the favorite Hunnish and Prussian
ruse. 1t is calculated to inspire terror in
their enemies and confidence in them
selves
German strategy differs markedly from
allied strategy. When attacked by supe-
rior numbers and threatened with annihi-
lation by shell fire, the German high COM
nand withdraws the officers and leaves the
men to hold to the end, even though it be
certain destruction. Their supreme egotlsm
forbids that they yield an inch of ground
or admit even a temporary reverse. Loss
of life attendant upon this p Ian weighs not
at all with them 1t is the same with an
offensive. When attacking waves are wiped
out and the toll of death mounts too fast
and too high, they press on just the same.
Pride impels them forward. 1t is the sim
pie and direct war strategy of the bar
barian, of the frenzied animal, of the con-
queror.
Allied strategy is in direct contrast.
When a position becomes untenable it is
vacated; the men are withdrawn to save
life. When an attack costs too much it
is abandoned To withdraw and thus ad-
nit defeat for a day does not daunt the
allied war board. The humiliation of fail
ure does not worry this board There is
another day; another way The course is
long one; let us husband our strength for
the last lap.
1t is the old, old story of intelligence and
skill against strength and fury. The latter
always wins the first round But if intelli-
gence and skill can hold out to certain
point, it is invariably returned the victor.
All stern tests for supremacy have proved
it, The arena, the battlefield, the race
course. the prize ring the athletic field. all
have piled up the prcponderance Of the evi-
dence in favor of the mind over matter A
rigid front and a supreme thrust, this is the
German way An elastic front and timed
and calculated thrust, this is the allied way.
Which is the best? In our impotence we
would incline to the more spectacular
methods of the Hun. They seem to be the
only way. Certainly in a limited encoun-
ter, they are the best But in a fight to a
finish the allied plan always wins The
longhead versus the roundhead, playing
the latters game. War, red war, with the
odds at first favoring the lustful fighter
who sees red and carries all before him.
But the master of the sea and the land is
the man who fights with his head and his