Evening star., 1918-08-18
Foch Offensive Explained.

Foch Offensive Explained.
Now. to understand the develop
ment OF the Foch offensive in Picardy
which will undoubtedly be known as
the third battle of the Somme, it is
necessary to go back for a moment to
the progress of the campaign in this
region. On March 81 the Germans
struck at the point of junction be-
tween French and British lines along
the Disc and thence northward to the
Scarpe. with the obvious intention of
driving a wedge between the British
and French armies. routing the
former and rolling them back north
of the Somme- Thus defeated and
contained behind the Somme. the Ger
| mans calculated that the British
would be eliminated from the cam
paign and their own hands would be
free to dispose of the French.
The blow was delivered by Hutier.
and scored the greatest victory on
the western front since the warfare
Of positions began. But his success
fell just short of being decisive.
ticaliy. destroyed; a great gap was
| opened between the British and
| French armies; but owing to the ra-
I pidity with which French troops were
, brought up and the skill with which
| they were handled by Fayolle the gap
was closed and the German thrust
came to an end east of Amiens, but
near enough to the city to interrupt
| railroad communication and cripple
allied communications
A subsidiary attack in Flanders led
to an unexpected success. due to the
collapse Of the Portuguese on the line.
and placed Ypres in peril. But again
the arrival of French forces at criti-
: cal moment averted disaster. Luden-
dcrff now calculated that he had dis
4 NJ No Prif inst a q a
! after Ligny, regarded Blucher and the
i Prussians as out of the campaign. As
/ Napoleon turned against wellington.
Ludendorn now directed his attention
against Petain and the French armies
and presently won his great victory
! on the Aisne which carried him to the
Marne. No until his fourth offensive,
that directed at Compiegne. did he en-
counter any real disappointment. but
even this partial failure netted him a
certain amount of valuable ground
and materially widened the salient
which he occupied east of Amiens.
Convinced that the French were now
at the point of exhaustion, he turned
=. to the Marine and opened his fifth Of
fensive, which ended SO disastrously
for him.
The two ofrensives against the Brit
I Ssh had gained for Ludendorff exceed
| ingly valuable ground. provided he
chose to use this ground either for an
advance against the channel ports or
against Paris, but it was very dan
gerous ground to occupy If he were
suddenly forced to abandon the offen-
sfve and return to a defensive cam
paign. This situation was remarked
' by all at the time, but it was not i'm
1 mediatefy of more than passing i'm
i portance. because the offensive still
| remained with the German. Still for
several months military men have
kAhI hn afc
facing Amiens and Calais and specu-
lating as to what might be their fu-
ture.
Narrow Salients Dangerous.
All three pockets. that in Flanders.
chat in Picardy and that between the
Marne and the Aisne. which has re-
GENTLY been abolished. were equally
fSvere narrow: the lines Of co1nnuni-
Eation in them were near the sides
hnd q relatively slight advance on
either side, where the pockets re-
joined the main front, would put all
1ire and expose the troops within them
20 the danger of development and
capture, and in any event necessitate
an enforced retreat out Of them.
The situation of Ludendorr may be
illustrated by a simple figure. II you
- rickety stepladder will be of very
great assistance. and as long as your
opponent. who Is trying to keep you
out OF the house, is trying to stop
sou at the window you need have lit
!4le apprehension about the ladder But
~ the man in the house presently gets
lhelp and leaves his helper to handle
Hyou IT the window while he comes
IDutside and starts to pull down the
4sdder. then 1t ts time to get OF the
aaddKs indeed, the time to get of is
!befUe he reaches Il II possible.
Noys g 2 sose. This b what hap
sBsu6 1n1sndor6 has not one, but
i4hreA Oeap1hd6sEB IN hb three sa-
n3A& md 3usk - 9Dng as he could
hold I18 eo9my TO fighting at the
hoo Il the l1ddeEo md from the house
The Sal5etts did not worry him. But
ut - AaDs Yoeh managed to upset
sons A43eR and the Hasnt was imme-
ibdhtQ 61Ba1hk Then. before Luden-
3noF8 opu3d bskng h1mse3f to abandon
leho osonnA o. Pscnrdy saltsnt. Foch
epun1Dd Do 07cDeR Meantime, as
Re A0vO ooaR n the rgtlfer bald ON
sial rsportA Ludendorn has been