El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-10

year cannot consist OF more than the
196 divisions now in line
There viii probably be less, for
many OF these divisions are now so far
below strength that the wisest course
10 pursue would seem TO be to break
more Of them uD 20 III the ranks Of
those that remain in the fight
There is nothing more demoralizing
for troops than TO fight in units far
below strength The trouble with
my boys" a British divisional general
told me ais that my battalions are
half fun most Of the time. and TO fiji
one Of them Up we have 10 comb out a
coal mine" This difficulty is far
worse with the Germans. The de-
pleted French and British units know
that American millions are behind
them. while behind the enemy are
nothing but disaffected Austrians and
Turks who viii not fight on the west
L. $. Division. 5000 Men.
An American division composed Of
. $1,000 men is roughly three tim~s the
size Of a German division at full
strength, and this fact must be taken
into account when IL Is said. as Gen.
March has announced, that at least 30
Of our divisions VIII be ready to al
tack in the spring. To meet this at
tack on equal terms. Germany would
have TO put in 40 OF her divisions at
their present strength of nine bat
talions. ard those divisions would
have to be completely filled. What
a hole such a demand will make in
the 1876 enemy divisions that viii be
available, and probably not entirely
Up 10 strength when 1t IS considered
that the British and French armies
will have something TO say about the
next campaign, must cause the Ger
man war lords. even amidst their
present troubles. TO suffer anticipa-
lorT Nightmares
It is these somewhat dry and
technical considerations that make
il possible to say definitely that
the German armies viii give mp
their whole present line and eth
cr entirely abandon the theory Of
holding a continuous front. or 20
very far hack and find very
much shorter one.
IN saying this. military men are not
attempting 10 indulge in prophecy or
70 dictate Ludendorffs strategy TO
that eminent soldier. They are sure
OF the fact merely because IL is such
obvious suicide for the Germans 70
stand on the present wide semi-circle
through Belgium and France The
enemy viii not stand. much as we
should be pleased If they did.
A certain section Of military opin-
ion holds that Ludendorff viii rero-
LUrf0nlZe the racElcS OF war DN Try ING
to hold defensive lines or his TANKS.
and definitely abandon the theory Of
continuous trench systems in the CEN
ter He may, for instance. remain
where he is in Belgium and before
Lille. try TO make an impregnaole
bastiou for his flank IN the neigh
borhood Of La Bassee, and similarly
attempt 10 hold the line Of the Meuse,
making use Of the tremendously
strong defences Of Metz; while over
the 200 miles between he may retire,
LAYING waste the country, destroying
the communications and burning
cities. in order 10 entrap the allied
armies into fighting a series Of field
battles in the open, IN which what
Germans consider their superior starr
work would enable them. despite their
great and growing inferiority IN NUM-
hers and equipment TO round Up and
destroy huge bodies OF our men,
A Desperate Gamble.
This plan, however IS perhaps IN
workable and unlikely. and IN any
case it is a desperate gamble, for no
BODY knows what the result OF sucn
an exnerisnent would be, and II the
Germans lost a series OF battles IN the
center. the troops on their wings
would be cut off and the war ended
nv the greatest debacle in the history
Of the world Sober opinion inellnes