Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-10
A BODY BLOW.
BY FRANK 81. SIMONDs.

Foch's offensive. Is now to undergo
it's supreme test. In July he seized
the initiative from the Germans. In
August and tho finst week Of Sep
tember he exploited local successes,
with the result that the Germans
were compelled to fall back to the
positions from which they emerged
to make their great attack Of March
81.
This is an amazing achievement.
but wholly limited achievement
Th6 great task rematns o. basH
plished-Ludendorff' main force has
not been broken. Foch. thss ehampton
ana the spokesman Tor the school Of
absolute war;" as he describes 1t.
would be the first to recognize the
clear limitations Of his success up
to the present hour. (;
Only Minor Circumstances.
Victory in this war, as in all wars,
can come only when the enemy armies
are broken. Local successes like
those that have been won in recent
weeks are useful. They permit the
victors to gain valuable commun1ca-
tions and occupy important positions.
and they raise> the spirits OF the
armies sharing in the advance.
But all these are purely minor cir
cumstances. We saw in August, 1917,
ali the French armies defeated, driven
Iudendorff's pISn af T forces have retreated:
we saw the Germans Convinced that
the military power Of France was
broken and the war won. so lar IRON
ever. that it contributed to German
retreat when Joffre took the onensive
at the Marne and threw the Germans
back Of the Aisne:
In 1870, when the Germans had in,
termed Bazaine's army in Metz and
captured MacMahon's forces at Sednn.
the issue Of the war was decided. The
rout of Napoleon's army at waterloo
terminated the campaign o6nstons OF as1e: s,p- Mp
render, ended the civil war. But only
when the main masses OF the enemy
armies are captured or d1Sorgan1zeo 1s
a military decision achieyed-andd d
in this war.
Will Force Fighting.
We may be sure that Foch will now
make every possible effort to prevent
Ludendorff from stabilizing his front,
even momentari1y, on the old linden
burg line. He has been preparing for
the present emergency for at least
month, and we must expect the climax
of all the fighting OF his: offensive to
come in the next ten days. All his
larger purposes will have been block
ed and he Will have suffered a
strategic check If. Ludendorn is able
IA min down allied advance on the
present front.
The situation, then, would closely
resemble the situation in Galicia and
Volhynia in the last great Russian
Brussilef attacked hve Austrian
armies between the Pripet marshes
and Rumania. His objective was not
I.emberg I or Kove1, not territory nor
cities: It was the Austrian, armies.
In. the course Of the summer he made
great advances, threatened. Eemberg
and Kovel, took $4,000 prisoners and
occupied 5000 square miles Of con-
ouered. territory, but he did not smash
the Austrian armies. because Ger
many intervened. AS result the
campaign was, In the larger sense, q
failure. It did not achieve its main
purpose.
Now Foch has the offensive, he has
won the preliminary victories and he
stands on the threshold Of far greater
possibilities. The Germans mdst ac-
cept a defensive battle under. adverse
conditions or continue their retreat.
If they accept battle they may be
beaten completely. and we may have
the decisive military success of the
war. But II. they retreat. declining
battle. as Joffre retired from the
Aisne to the Marne in 1914. then the
gain will be merely territorial and
the decisive engagement win be post
noned-probabiy until next year.
Merely In First Stage.
But we shall do well to recognize
that on tho military side we are only
at the end Of the first stage Of a great
operation. The German has made q
successful retirement from a vicious
situation. His retreat has been ex-
pensive. but not moro expensive than
that Of JofKre from the frontier to the
Marfie. We do not know whether he
has attained the main object OF his
retreat, which Was to regain freedom
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