El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-19
By HENRY G. WALES.

tween the Aisne and Marns, the resun
being the entire evacuation OF the
German line south Of the Fesls and
the practical notification OF the May
p offensive. On August 8 began the
series OF operations against the SAIL
eut thrusting toward Aminea. which
resulted in the fall OF Montdie- and
the gradual absorption Of practically
the whole ground IN these opera
tons the allies frequently advanced
swept against them IN his rushes OF
earlier IN the year. Six, eight, ten,
even Il kilometers a day was covered
by French. British and American
troops at various times
Not single blow struck By either
side during 1913 was hsraldsd BY
long drawn out artillery prepar1-
ton, however. Thus the attacking
troops went over before tns enemy
had time 10 rush up reinforcenents
and usually killed or captured the
garrisOns in front OF them, then con-
tinued sweeping forward and meet
ing the achievements a. they we're
coming up.
Trench Defeaee.
The old idea Of desperately defend
ed trenches has also been superseded
By the tactics OF giving way osfore
the enemy 70 save man power and OF
falling back to a defensive position
chosen in advance This has been
forced upon both sides 10 a certain
extent. owing to the fact that the
field OF battle has swayed back ana
forth so far and so often that neither
the enemy nor the allies have the
old style complete systems Of wired
Entertainments. passing IN continuous
lines along the front
Thus. with the passing OF barbec
wire as an integral part OF defense
systems there Ia sstrung up in its
place a greater profusion OF machine
gun nests than were ever before en-
ploysd- These are not the old con-
crete and steel strong poins OF 1915
affording protection for three or four
heavy machine guns. They are simply
little holes dug in field beside
road on a hill top. and containing
just one light machine gun. which
after all IS little more than an auto
matte rifle The enemy smplaced
many OF his light weapons in trees
Thus the old difficulty CT cutting
through wire entenglements. which
was serious problem up to the early
summer months Of this year. Is grad
ually disposing OF itself through the
absence OF wire.
Barbed wire Is usually enploced
for short Stretches hundred yards
or so. thanking roads and protect
ing the heavy machine gun emplacs-
ments in tn erear OF the advanced
system OF strong points This wire IS
what the tanrst ride down and level
But the attacking troops can usually
find way 10 work between these
barbed wire belts and enfilade the
enemy machine gun posts
Continuous Wire.
Behind these advanced battle po-
sitions both sides, but particularly the
enemy. maintain continuous barbed
wire INES, not me usual heayy inter
lacement OF giant wire entangle-
ments, but just three or four strands
on posts. TO hinder the operation OF
cavalry i IL should break through
And everywhere through the country
where tho fighting Is now going on
there is the old wire OF former cam
paigns. OF the Somme battle OF 1915.
Of the Hindenhurg line OF that winter.
and OF the Vimy and Chemin des
Danes battles OF 1917 However. this
old wire is in bad shape. brittle and
broken. and set up on rotten stakes.
so that a few well directed shots can
breach II.
The deep advances made By the
enemy this year were due to his Sc
cret concentration Of overwhelming
forces opposite the points OF attack
and to surprise. TO the reluctznce OF
the allied command to sacrifice men
in established positions, when a re-
tirement could save them and At the
same time let the impetus OF the en-
emy's rush forward wear itself out.
and to his intensive use OF trench
in blasting to pieces the Al
lied barbed wire and trenches.
The speedy successes Of the allied
troops are due to their wonderful
morale since they found the enemy
could not advance when marshal
Foch ordered him held on July Is TO
the absolute surprise OF their various
rrH ION sis TnrHr-
sity Of HindenburE Withdrawing
when menaced with direct heavy at
lacks, owing to his dwindlinS man
power, and to the new fast tanks
which have operated so successfully
in the various phases OF the counter
offensive
Supremacy Of the air. accentuated
in the theaters Of operations. has also
had a great deal TO do with the sue
cess OF the allied attacks.