Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-29
FOCH WATCHING
BIG BATTLEFIELD
READY TO STRIKE
No Need to Hasten Countermovc
Against the Germans, Declares
a French Military Expert.
"BOCHE WHERE WANTED

Paris, April 20 \ French officer who
is certainly in position 10 speak with
some authority, in II statement today
said:
Il do not think that we may expect
General Foch TO take the initiative Just
yet In my own opinion, and II Is only
an opinion, for | cannot in any way
speak officially there is no immediate
necessity for him to take the initiative
of the kind which We all hope and teeI
sure he will take sooner or later.
AT present both the British and French
armies are very busy killing Germans.
and killing them at very satisfactory
rate. indeed This. of course. Is our mn
mediate object, and If the Germans arc
81 obliging as to continue 10 give us the
opportunities they have gwen during the
last week, we shall bc the last To raiSc
objections.
''Do not make any mistake. We have
the bochc where VIC want him 10 he, aud
we have no doubt that We can keep hum
there a great deal longer than II VIII bc
healthy for him.
There is no reason for any aNlcty aS
to the present situation, none whatever.
The best thing | can tell YOU 10 do ls what
Foch told Clcmenccau nearly month
ago, and that was simply, Want
ENPECr No EARLl CHANGE.
This fairly sums up military opinion
here. The allied game u f. kIli the hochc
and wait II Is difficult even "a hlnt n
any kind OF prediction under present cur
cumStanccs. but there lS ln oplnlon mere
among people whose ideas are worth
listening 10 that the great struggle IN
Picardv and Flanders maN continue under
It's present aspects for perhaps another
three weeks before any striking change
occurs i'm the situation.
This period Will undoubtedly TIC marked
bv manv hard knocks but the allied forces
are in a position ~ stand them hat
they may give ground ami probably VIII
do 50 seems to he the general expectation
But 81 did tile French ii Ncrdm II took
the hochc >N long months, under Tar more
favorable circumstances, to advance four
miles from puuaumont until he was
finally stopped before Fort Souvlic. The
Amlens front Is another Ncrdun with this
difference. that AnienS i between ninc
and 10 miles from the firing lines whereas
Douaumont was only SIX miles from the
heart ii Ncrdun town
GERMANS FIGHT AGAINST TIME.
Senator Beranger. in an article IN his
journal Paris Midi puts his finger on tho
real objective 0l the Germans IN inc pres
cnt battle II is not Amiens or Arras
or even the Channel ports he asserts.
The Germans real objective. nc
SAYS is the western army Of tomorrow.
that is 70 say, the 1000 600 Americans
who Will be amalgamated with 100000
French, 2,0O00O0 British. and 100000
Italians When this amalgamatlon has
been accomplished. when now race Of
soldiers has been embodied under gen
eral stats created BY this war, then tho
doom Of the bochc VIII begin to sound.
Victory Will come when all stand together
in the line to exert their powers to save
their independence
1t is to prevent this that the bochc
Is today risklng cvervt hing 1t Is to
prevent this that he Is smashing forward
nj the utmost speed 10 break uS down
before we have time 10 create this SUI
preme combined army Villages lost
or won AT this moment do not count.
tine thing that does count is the forma-
tion of this great army Of the west, which
will carry everything before il when
America and Europe have placed every
thing they have into the common effort