Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-03-28
BY HILAlRE BELLOC.
Copyright, 1918, New York Tribune

opening of this seasons f~igllting-the
hull every ONE of which is filled
with preparation for the great coming
~struggle-it is of value to learn TO APP
preciatc the Importance of certain geo.
graphical facts which are and will be
closely connected with the last stages
OF the great war. They should be espe-
cially interesting to the American pub
lice. since he names of most of the
points involved are already familiar to
1t from the press. But h e g%eograph-
zeal meanings of these places and their
Importance in military maneuvers are
still not understood by that public, and
unless they learn to understand them
during this time of waiting the move
mcnts of the war which will soon be-
gin will be difficult to follow.
First, as to the points the lombard
ment OF which from the air one reads
of almost daily in the present develop
ment of the aerial offensive by The
allies-which, by the way. is proving
the Increasing superiority OF the allied
the railway functions outside of Thion-
vile and Metz; Hannheim n Lud-
wigshaven opposite; the airdromes be-
hind the Belgian towns neal the North
sea coast--all these are outside the
actual war zone. but are the points
which most concern us.
Choking Off Attacks on Britain.
The bombardment of the airdromes
behind the Belgian coast has for it's
principle object interference with the
German air raids on London and on
other points on the coast of southern
England. The craft used by the Ger
mans for these raids over the sea start
their expeditions from very large con-
centration points, where they are
stabbed. These are not numerous and
are thoroughly known to- the British.
The perpetual harassing of them by
bomb dropping interrupts though 1T
cannot as yet put n complete end to
the air offensive against the civilian
centers of Britain. 1t is really, although
civilian imaginations are slow to seize
that fact, much the best defense that
London has against attacks from the
air.
Mannheim and Ludwigsbaven. apart
from the great manufactures of war
material which are located there, form
a point of great Importance for two
reasons. The first is that one of the
chief crossings of the Rhine>i is there.
The second is that from the very fact
of it's being Il principal crossing. six
lines of railway converge upon it. I'm
fortunately Mannheim is not far from
the extreme limit possible for success
ful air work on a large scale at the
present stage of development. 1t rep
resents a radius of approximately $50
miles.
Individual machines can, of course.
go many times that distance and drop
"A bomb or two on their way. We have
even had one case of an air man flying
from France to very nearly beyond tho
German lines in Russia; but for engine
trouble he would have crossed those
lines and landed on friendly soil. There
was another case of Il l'renchman fly
ing from behind the trench lines in
Lorraine. passing over Munich, where
he dropped bombs successfully on the
railway STATION and 1ny,di,,r 6 ,fa1x, Ia
him the Italian lines in the Venetian
plain. But for continual raids by many
machines carrying a considerable
weight of explosives Mannheim repre-
sents. not indeed the last limit of possi-
bly, effective radius. but still a lengthy
one.
The two functions outside OF Metz
II Thionville are more important,
though the work there is much more
delicate. because the French naturally
desire to spare these two chief towns
OF Lorraine as much as possible.
Luckily for the allies. the railway juno
tions at both places are we'll outside of
the densely populated area.
Breaking Railway Lines for 70 Miles.
The importance of these two juno
tons is this: That If both can be COM
pletely interrupted there will be no
the German bases and the German
'front.' " a gap of something like 20
miles. AS points for the concentration
Of German troops. either in support of
their 'front.' lines or during rest periods,
they are also Of great Importance.
But although less understood be-
u the place is Of comparatively
small strategic Importance, Treves
(Which 1t will be noted is much more
frequently bombed from the air than
any other place)lis the most important
Of all these allied air detectives. II you
Will look at your map you will see that
north OF he oselle valley there Is a
large hilly forest district, With very
few roads and no large towns. lying
partly In Belgian and partly in the
Rhenish provinces of the German EN-
pire. 1t includes the Ardenncs, the
Etfet and what the Belgians call "Haute
Range"
Though there Is one line OF railway
crossing this country the whole district
IL little suitable. because Of isolation
and:the broken character of the ground,
for good communication and the single
railway is not a main line and does not
lead up to the system on which the
German front In france depends for it's
supplies. It IL. In fact, a blind alley
ending in h Ardennes and only
reaching the German front by round
about ways.
The two great of suppply for
this front are to h north and south of
thisEmass of hills and forest; to the
north goes h great backbone railway
OF northern EurOpe-the Paris Berlin
line OF which the crossing OF the
Rht1e IL at Cologne and the crossing
q me Mouse is at Lfege. This fatl-
cation for. the original German ad-
vante. To the south of this mass OF
hills IL h line ofpthe MOselle valley.
Yreyee II he knot or junction point