New Britain herald., 1918-08-14
SAVE MAN POWER,
 LUDENDORFF'S PLEA
Necessity Of Economy Explained
 in Captured June Order.

With the British Army in France, 1 Aug. II, (AssOciated Press)-A cap- i tured enemy secret order signed "IIu- 1 dendorf' lays stress on the necessity of economizing men. The order as- serts that the two elements essential to the future conduct of the war are to maintain everywhere our fghtin 9, strength and the spirit of offensive.
 The captured document was issued late in Jun& since which time not only have the German forces been materially Whittled down by the AL lied armies, but if the spirit of of fensive' still exists it certainly is not among the troops that have been fighting at the Somme and the Marne Rivers.
 "It is essential" begins the order, "that all commanders of whatever rank, as well as troops, should be inn bued with the idea that the war cannot be won by stubborn defense, but only by a further succession of vigorous attacks These attacks, how ever, cannot lead to victory unless we adhere to and improve on the meth ods of warfare adopted in the recent offensive.'
 The order then goes on to say that everywhere, under the Well-tried principles of the manual of infantry, training in war, and the additions made by the high command, namely, von Hindenburg and Ludendorff, suc- cess had been gained at small cost It cites as an example the operations southwest of NOyon from June 9 On- ward.
 Not only is there a probability of obtaining other successes by these methods, but also the situation in re- gard to endorsements compels us to perfect them still further,' the order continues. "It is absolutely essential that we should avoid our old fault of attacking in too dense formations and We should reduce our casualties by every possible means. The necessity holds equally good for the defensive fronts The divisions must do their utmost to reduce casualties to the ab- solute minimum by a distribution in depth and the creation of extended outpost zones."
 Notwithstanding instructions,' the order points out, 'too much atten- tion still is paid to the possession of ground, the holding or retaking of portions of trenches, villages and woods, and to fighting for points whose only value is that of prestige. Now, more than ever, divisions in the line during hostile attacks, large or small, must if possible, employ elastic avoidance even on so-called unhealthy fronts"
 The order Is frank in explaining that, because of the reduced German strength, it frequently will be lmpos- sible to hold continuous trench hnes and recommends instead, the creation of centers of resistance.
 The document warns commanders that, should the enemy obtain O. foot hold within the German lines, they must consider carefully whether counter-attack is necessary or worth risking a large number of lives
 Another captured order informs the German regiments that they must nrovide their own defenses against low-fving Allied airplanes, as the German aircraft resources are so low that they cannot be expected to fight off the enemy while they are being engaged Ion reconnaissance work his order adds that complaints from units harassed by low-fylng Allled planes will not be forwarded.