Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-10-23
RHINE BY CHRISTMAS
MCESE THE LAST DITCH OF ENE-
MY DEFENSE-LOSS MEANS
UTTER DEFEAT.
BY Frank III. SimOnds.

New YOrk-The evacuation of the
Belgian coast is obviously the first in
stallment of a wide-swinging German
retreat which cannot now be more
than temporarily interrupted until the
defeated armies stand on the line of
the Mouse river from the Dutch from
tier southwark. This line passes
through Liege, Huy, Namur, Dinant,
Givee, MeZieres and Sedan, and then
bends eastward from the Mouse,
through the little fortress town of
Montmedy, to the great German bar
rier of Thionville, Metz, inside the
German frontier.
Expected to Make Brief Hats.
Before they reach this line the Ger
mans will be able to make brief halts
upon several other lines. They can
for example, stand for little longer
on the line of the Scheldt from Valen-
ciennes to Client, but the upward
thrust of the British from LIE Cateau,
where they are already east of the
Scheldt, would make any longer stay
dangerous, as it would threaten the
flank and rear of all the German
forces to the north, menacing their
rearward communications with Brus-
sells and Germany.
A more elaborate defense line has
been prepared to the eastward, rest
ing in the north on the forts of Ant
werp and thence on the east bank of
the Scheldt, and Ruppel, curving
around Brussels, which it does not
cover and stretching southwark to
the fortress of Namur, bordering on
the east bank of the Dyle for con-
siderable distance. South of Namur
it follows the line of the Mouse and
OF Metz. This is a very strong sys-
tenn, which has been deliberately fort
flied, but its weakness lies in the fact
that successful penetration north of
Namur would expose the Germans
still further to the north, btween Lou
vain and Antwerp, to development
and capture, since it would cut their
lines of communication and retreat
1t is only at the Meuse that the Ger
mans will have a defensive line of
really great natural strength for the
Mouse is a considerable stream below
Namur. They would have the forts
of Liege and Namur, which have been
reconstructed, as supporting works.
and good and easy rearward commun-
ications with Germany. If the Ger
mans are to make any successful
stand west of the Rhine, they must
make it on the Mouse and they have
long recognized this fact, since they
have insisted in days of prosperity
that the new frontier of Germany
should begin at the Meuse river.
Armies Still Intact,
Despite their very heavy defeats the
Germans have, up to the present mo-
ment, preserved their armies intact.
although the latest collapse between
the Scheldt and the sea may turn out
to be fatal to the whole scheme of an
orderly retreat to the Meuse line I'm
questionably they have foreseen the
necessity of the retreat for some
weeks and have already brought back
mach of their heavy artillery and ma
terial to the ultimate line of defense.
Short of disaster, always possible
when troops have been pounded for
so long time as the German armies
nave been, we may expect to see a
fairly rapid evacuation of most of
Belgium in the next fortnight. in
Guiding Antwerp and Brussels.
Concentrated behind the Meuse. if
they can get there safely the Ger
mans will have shortened their front
by upwards of a hundred miles, as
compared with the front Of last July.
Even more important for them will
be the fact that they will have be-
tween them and the terrible tank a
water barrier, which will for a time
at least, hold up the operation of what
has become the most dangerous weap-
on Of their foes. All things consider
ed, the Germans seem to have about
an even chance of getting behind the
Mouse in safety, provided their home
front does not crumble before their
battle line collapses.
AlSace-LOrraine Next?
But the line of the Mouse can only
he a way station on the road to the
Rhine, because once the Germans
have retired to it, nothing is more GER
tain than that Foch will renew his at
tack, not in Belgium, but in Alsace-
Lorraine, where there is no water
barrier, and the opportunity of a sue
cessful invasion through the Belfort