River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-06-20
RESERVES To WIN
THE BIG BATTLE
General Foch Says Offensive Is
Necessary for Victory.
SURPRISE, MASS AND SPEED
Final Attack With These Characters
tics, by Troops Carefully Prepared
and Then Thrown In Without
Regard to Losses.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS call NC WOh Ia SAAS
end only by the army which takes the
offensive. This is the significant dec
Iaration made by General Foch. COM
mander in chief of the allies, in an
article contributed by him to the week
ly journal, the Field, in which he dis
cusses the problem Of the soldier ana
the way to victory.
Modern warfare, to arrive at It's
end and to impose it's will on the en-
emy," General Foch says, recognizes
only one means-destruction OF the
enemy's organized forces.
"War undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle, which brings
about the overthrow of the adversary,
DISCREPANCIES his command, destroys his
discipline, and nullifies his units as
far as their fighting power is con-
cerned.
No Victory in Defense.
"Our first axiom must be that TO
achieve it's object battle must not be
purely defensive. A purely defensive
battle, even well conducted, does not
result in a victor and a vanquished. 1t
is simply a game that must be begun
over again.
From this it is an obvious coroilary
that an offensive, whether started at
the beginning Of an action or whether
it follows the defensive, can only give
results, and, in consequence, must al
ways be adopted at the finish.
ITO maintain our position is not
synonymous with being victorious and
even prepares for a defeat. If we re-
main where we are and do not pass TO
the offensive to fix the direction of at
tack, to guard against the plans of the
enemy, and prevent him from carrying
out the same maneuver,' we must un-
dertake to carry on and sustain numer-
GUS cOmbats, each with determined
aim.
All Depends on Reserve.
"But since there remains no doubt
that decisive attack is the very key
stone Of a battle, all other actions
which make up a battle must be ell
visaged, considered, organized, pro-
vided with forces in the measure IN
which they will prepare, facilitate, and
guarantee development of decisive
attack characterized by it's mass, its
surprise, it's speed, and for which, in
consequence, it is essential that there
shall be the maximum reserve force
possible of troops of maneuver.
"The reserve-that is to say, the
prepared bludgeon-is organized and
kept carefully instructed to execute
the single act of battle from which re-
suits are expected the de-
cisive attack.
Surprise, Mass and Speed.
Preserves must be husbanded with
the most extreme parSimOny so that
the bludgeon may be strong enough to
make the blow as violent as possible.
Let loose at the finish, without any
lurking idea of saving them, with a
well thought out plan for winning the
battle at a point chosen and deter
mined, reserves are thrown in all to-
gether in an action surprising in vio-
Ience and energy all other phases OF
battle, an action with proper charac-
teristics-surprise, mass, and speed
All our forces really participate, either
by preparing it or by carrying it out.
''In this, our supreme aim, we must
not be deceived by appearances. Al
though theory fails when applied by
feeble hands and when accessories OBJ
scure the main principle, history and
reason show us that in battle there is
single argument which is worth while
namely, decisive attack, Which is
alone capable of assuring the desired