Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1918-04-10
THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS
OF THE GREAT OFFENSIVE

OF THE GREAT OFFENSIVE
A clear and comprehensive state
ment of what Germany did and did
not accomplish:
BY Frank II. Simonds
Copyright, 1918, Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.)
The German offensive began on
Thursday, March 81, just two years
and one month to the day after the at,
tack upon Verdun. The present arti.
Gle seeks TO review in some detail the
events of the first seven days OF
the great struggle, summarizing its
achievement. discussing its character
and examining the question of the
numbers engaged and the purposes as
disclosed by the operations.
The front selected for the great Of
fensive, designed by the Germans to
be the heaviest blow of the whole war
in the west and to procure a decision
in the war by crushing the British
military forces in France, was some
fifty miles in extent, from the Scarpe
river in the vicinity OF Arras to the
Disc facing La Fere. and was thus
nearly twice as wide as the fronts OF
all previous great attacks.
On this front. as nowhere else, the
Germans held the advantageous posi-
lions, because they had retired from
nj n OIL
by their commanders, after the Bat
tie Of the Somme, and had been able
to retain all the good positions thus
occupied. Elsewhere on the front the
British had driven them off the best
positions, notably before Arras on
Vimy Ridge, near Lens, on Hill No. 20
and before Ypres in all the famous
heights from Messines to the flooded
area northwest of the city of Yprcs
In addition to holding the good po.
sitions, the Germans had an advant.
age of communications due to two
things, first, to the fact that the re,
gion of France between Cambria and
st. Quentin is served by many lateral
railways and several trunk lines
second. to the circumstance that the
British on the line here had behind
them the devastated area over which
the Germans had retreated in March
of last year. destroying all roads
bridges and habitations and leaving
a desert. While the British had built
some roads and railways across this
desert their communications were far
poorer than at any other sector from
the sea to the Disc.
AS 1t has so far been disclosed Ger
man strategy was comprehended in
the determination to strike one more
blow. exactly such as was undertaken
in the Marine campaign. The Germans
believed that II they could defeat and
destroy the southern half OF the Brit
ish armies in France, drive a gap be
tween British armies and French and
roll the former back through Amicns
upon the coast and the latter upon
Paris that the moral and the military
effect of their success would be &c
compel the French and the British tc
consent to a German peace.
In preparation for this gigantic
blow the Germans concentrated or
the selected front the major part Of
all the artillery in the possession o.
the Central Powers, the German ant
Austrian guns released from the cas-
as result Of the Russian collapse
the guns captured from Italy an,
such new supplies as had been manu-
featured. No such concentration o
artillery has been known in human
history.
The main idea of German stratog,
was the central notion of all previous
western offcnsivcs, namely, to oblit
crate the enemy trench lines by
tremendous bombardmcnt and theI
push through the gap opened and
driving the British before them, de
stroy them in the devastated area
and open a gap in the whole allied 20
sition thus compelling a return {
the war of movement, in which tn,
Germans believed their troops ant
their officers were superior to tn,
volunteer armies of Britain.
Hitherto in western warfare tn,
major efforts to break through have
invariably failed because the artiller,
preparation has not succeeded in de
stroying all the trenches and defense.
or in destroying them before rcscrv
es could come up behind the DANCE
point. Invariably. too. the assailan
has been hindered afor initial sue
cess by his inability to move hi
heavy artillery forward to keep al
with his infantry. The result ha,
been in the west that in every cas-,
the attack has been halted some fiv,
or six miles from it's starting poinr
and there has been no break through
In the present instance the German
concentrated HIS heavy artillery in
such quantities that he hoped and ex
pected to destroy all the defense sys.
tenn of his foe at the first lombard.