New-York tribune., 1918-06-10
Allied Commander in Chief
Makes Significant State
ment in English Journal
Power of the Blow
Depends on Reserves
Continued Defensive Can
not Bring Success and Even
Prepares for Defeat

LONDON, June 9--That battles can
be won in the end only by the arm,
which takes the offensive is the sig.
nifcant declaration made by General
Foch, commander in chief of the AL
lies, in an important article contributed
by him to the weekly journal "The
Field" in which he discussed the
problem of the soldier and the wav tn
victory.
Modern warfare, to arrive at its
end and to impose it's will on the en-
emy," says General Foch, "recognizes
only one means-destruction of the
enemy's organized forces.
War undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle which brings
about the overthrow of the adversary
dIisorganizes his command, destroys his
dlsclpllne and nullines his units. as
far as their fighting power is con-
cerned.
Offensive Only Can Give Victory
Our first axiom must be that com
pletely to achieve its object battle
must not be purely defensive A purely
defensive battle, even we'll conducted
does not result in victor and van
quqlshed. 1t is simply a game that
must be begun over again,
=, From this It is an 'obvious corol:
larry that an offensive, whether started
at the beginning of an action or
whether it follows the defensive, car
only give results and in consequence
must always be adopted at the finish
TO maintain our position is not
synonymous with being victorious, and
even prepares for defeat If we re.
main where we are and do not pass
to the offensive to fix the direction of
attack, to guard against the plans of
the enemy and prevent him from carry
undertake to carry on and sustain nu-
merous combats. each with determined
aim.
Power Depends on Reserves
"But since there remains no doubt
that decisive attack is the very key.
stone of a battle, all other actions
which make up a battle must be en-.
visaged, considered, organized, pro
which they will prepare, facilitate anc
guarantee development of decisive
attack characterized by it's mass, its
surprise, its speed and for which, in
consequence, it is essential that there
shall be the maximum reserve force
possible of troops of manpuvre. The
reserve-that is to say the prepared
bludgeon--is organized and kept care.
fully instructed to execute the single
act of battle from which results are ex.
pected, namely, the decisive attack.
Preserves must be husbandcd with
the most extreme parsimony so that the
bludgeon may be strong enough tc
make the blow as violent as possible
Let loose at the finnish, without any
lurking idea Of saving them, with q
we'll thought out plan TO. winning the
battle at point chosen and deter,
mined, reserves are thrown in all to.
gether in an action surprising in vio-
lcnce and energy all other phases OF
battle, an action with proper character
istics-surprise, mass and speed. All
our forces really participate, either by
preparing it or by carrying it out.
ain this, our supreme aim, we must
not be deceived by appearances. Al
though theory fails when applied by
feeble hands and when accessories OBJ.
scure the main principle, history and
reason show us that in battle there is
a single argument which is worth
while, namely, decisive attack, which is
alone capable of assuring the desired
result-the overthrow of the adver,
sary."