The Washington herald., 1918-03-12
q. S. Army Is Becoming
Deciding Factor in War
Gives, Effective Resistance to All Attacks.
Men Show Heroic Character and Adapt
ability to Changing Conditions.

With the American Army in
France, March 1.-THE past fort
nights fighting by American troops
in three different sectors of the
West front shows conclusively the
Importance Of the u. s. army in
the world war and proves that it
will be a powerful factor on the
front from the very start 1t re-
flutes at the same time the Germans
contemptuous statements that It
would require two years to train
even the smallest army to be ready
to take the field.
In the American sector north of
Toul, in the other Lorraine sector
and along the Chemin des Danes,
the Americans met the shock of
picked German storm troops, hurI-
ed them back and inflicted serious
losses and emerged from the con-
fiict smiling, ready and eager for
another try.
Men Surprised Leaders.
Many OF the most optimistic mil
itary leaders and critics are sur
prtsed by the aptitude the Ameri-
cans show in picking up tactics of
modern warfare forty months after
the others had been engaged. The
French and the Germans picked up
the new tactics slowly. building
stronger intrenched positions as
the enemy artillery grew heavier,
devising masks against gas, then
perfecting the masks as the gases
became more powerful, building
deeper dugouts as the penetration
of the high velocity shells became
greater. But the Americans entered
the struggle in the thick of it after
three and a half years of fighting.
Readily and rapidly they adapted
themselves to the advanced stages
of scientific warfare reached by the
others.
No small part in the success Of the
Americans so far is due to the fear
lessness of the high command in dis
carding the tactics which have been
found obsolete and concentrating upon
training in matters long proved eff
fective. For example, the handling of
pistol, rife and bayonet is being drilled
into the American troops, despite the
reports current for three years that
the day OF the infantryman with the
gun is long since over and that the
cartridge and the bayonet have been
superseded by hand grenades.
Half = dozen defeats OF German at
tempts to penetrate the American po-
sitions were due entirely to the fact
that our troops have confidence in rifle
fire. They stand steadily until the
enemy is well within range, and then
open up a deadly fire, causing him to
break for cover The much-scofred
elasticity" front has been adopted by
the American command, which refuses
to sacrifice lives by holding advanced
lines heavily manned, because heavy
losses occur invariably when the
enemy concentrates his artillery on
destructive fire against such lines.
Escape Injury.
Instead our troops are distributed
with the aim Of escaping all unneces-
sary casualties, even though the
enemy might be able to enter our
front line, for a counter attack i'm
mediately elects him.
Hide and spring. is the keynote
of our defensive tactics. The further
in you push in our line the harder
1t becomes and the stronger is the
force with which it bounds outward
when the counter attack comes. Our
men are also taught to avoid dugouts
during heavy bombardments, as, al
though it seems that the hail Of fire
and steel must destroy every living
thing in its path, experience and
statistics show that men live through
an inferno which has the appearance
Of dealing death everywhere.
At this season especially the mud
offers an excellent cush-
ion t6r exploding shells. so although