Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-13

Continued from rage One
10000. So II was q case oC being over
wholmcd both by the number Of divi'
sions and by the rife strength of the
divisions themselves.
In the circumstances IL Is not
strange that the British line yielded.
II was not matter Of extreme din
Guilty for French reserves to come 10
the assistance Of the English In the
attack which threatened to cut the
latter off But now the Germans have
struck i'm the north, where it viii he
no small task to transport enough
| French divisions to give suCCor to the
exhausted men Of Ilaig's two northern
armies, tho First and Fourth. The
Second British army, commanded by
General PIumer. who won the famous
victory at Mcssines Ridge last June,
was sent to Italy i'm tho fall to stem
tho AustroGerman drive, and so far
as known is still at tho Italian front
/ awaiting the new offensive in that
| quarter.
| Faced Great Odds
While the laymcn i'm Washington
! and elsewhere throughout the United
States have wondered at the British
/ retreat, military experts, coEni2ant or
= the exact situation on the western
( front, havc fully understood since the
development Of tho German plans that
II would require transfer Of virtually
one -half the entire French army 10
ihc British lines 10 equaliZe the Ger
man pressure being eNcrted there.
These experts have wondered not at
tho retirement. but at the valiant
stand the Britons, Australians and
Now Iealanders have made I'm the face
Of tho great odds that confronted them.
Tho Germans, knowing intimately
( the exact strength Of the British army,
have attempted to strike it down with
the idea that later they could deal with
the French forces, and thus open
way for ncaCn before the American
army could be Of material assistance.
10 what extent the Germans felt
I free to strip their lines opposite the
| French i'm order TO carry out what
! they believed would he IA swift, sure
blow against the hated English of
| course can only he COnieCtUred here
4 II they employed nincty-scvcu divi-
. gionS ON tho Summc. as Mr.. IlOvd
/ George says. and arc able now to throw
I'm forty or moro i'm the northern at
I tacl, over front of twenty-five miles
then il is safe to assume that com
B paratiNCly light German forces oppose
/ tho French ON their long battlcliue
from the Disc to tho Swiss frontier.
French Await Yankees
II has bccn no secret in Paris for
the last eight or ten months that the
French were merely in u holding mood
and would attempt nothing in the way
of n major offensive this wear. The
theory was that il would he useless
TO strike until the Americans could
arrive in sufficient numbers 10 bring
/ AN OVPrpOwCrinG force against the
/ Germans. There seems little doubt
now that the German general StafT he
came COnI inCCd that This was the
/ French plan and have proceeded on
{ the assumption that, having nothing
I 10 fear from the French end of the
/ line, they could "lInOClI out" the Brit.
iSh before the French could intrrposc
a saving force.
/ Unity Of command on tho western
/ front, with Genera Foch i'm supreme
/ control Of Allied strategy, may upset
/ the German plans i'm many ways Al.
ready tho attempt to isolate tho Brit
. ish has been blocked. and the second
Of the prepared German blows has
! fallen i'm the north. where the threat
against tho channel ports is very
real one unless the British ION their
/ own" can hold until the French ar.
rive
Washington is n mcrCural capital
Its spirits rise and fall i'm wide nuCtu.
atiOns. There uudcniahly is an air of
depression throughout the city today.
but beneath the depression Is n
healthy determination that whole
year Of lagCiuC is 10 he made up. If il
is humanity possible to do soft the
Allies can hold out Tho nows from
the British front is being followed as