The Parisian. (Paris, Tenn.) 1907-1962, 1918-06-14
RESERVES TO WIN
j THE BIG BATTLE.
General Foch Says 0ffenssNils
Necessary for Victory.
SURPRISE, MASS AND SPEED
Final Attack With These Characterize.
tlcs, by Troops Carefully Prepared ,
and Then Thrown In Without
Regard to Losses.

London.--Battles can be won In the
end only by the army which takes the
offensive. This Is the significant dec
iaration made by General Foch, COM
mander in chief of the allies, In am,
article contributed by him to the week.
" journal, the Field, in which he dis
cusses the problem of the soldier and
the way to victory.
Modern warfare, to arrive at it's
end and to impose its will on the en-
emy," General Foch says, recognizes
only one means-destruction of the
enemys organized forces.
war undertakes and prepares this
destruction by battle, which brings.
about the overthrow of the adversary,
discrepancies his command, destroys his
| discipline, and utilities his units as
far as their fighting power is con-
cerned.
No Victory in Defense.
"Our first axiom must be that to-
achieve its object battle must not be
purely defensive. A purely defensive
battle, even well conducted, does not
result In victor and vanquished. It.
Is simply game that must be begun
over again.
From this 1t Is an obvious corollary
that an offensive, whether started at.
the beginning of an action or whether
1t follows the defensive, can only give
results, and, In consequence, must al
N NC h6. odn MT %ha Aptc
ITO 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 at
tack, to guard against the plans of the
enemy, and prevent him from carrying,
out the same maneuver, we must un-
dertake to carry on and sustain numer-
GUS combats, each with determined
aim.
All Depends on Reserve.
"But since there remains no doubt.
that decisive attack is the very key
stone of battle, all other actions
which make up battle must be EN-
vtsaged, considered, organized pro-
vided with forces In the measure in
which they will prepare, facilitate, and
guarantee development of a decisive
attack characterized by its rpss, it's
surprise, its speed, and for wh1ca. in
consequence, it is essential that e p
shall be the maximum reserve 10rcer
possible of troops of maneuver.
'The reserve-that is to say, the
prepared bludgeon--is organized and
kept carefully instructed to execute.
the single act Of battle from which re-
suits are expected-namely. the de-
cisive attack.
Surprise, Mass and Speed.
Reserves must be husbanded WITH
the most extreme parsimony 80 that
the bludgeon may be strong enough to-
make the blow as violent as possible
Let loose at the finish, without any
lurking idea of saving them, with o.
well thought out plan for winning the
battle at O point chosen and deter
mined, reserves are thrown In all to-
gether In an action surprising In vio-
lence and energy oil other phases Of
battle, an action with proper charac-
teristics mass, and speed.
ALI our forces really participate. either
by preparing 1t or by carrying 1t out.
SIN 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"