Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-05-17
lilies WILL WIN
kSSERTS MAURICE
Eer1nan Drive in France
About to Enter Third ,.
Phase
ENEMY'S POSITION BEST
Special Gable to Epening Public Ledger
Copmfeht. 1918, bv No,o York Times co.
- London. May u.

.... London. May II
The Daily Chronicle today publishes
ne following article by Major General
.Sir Frederick Maurice on the military
situaticn:
''fndications are iteadily increasing
! hat the third phase of the campaign Of
1918 on the western front is about to
spen
''Since their serious reverse in flan'
icfs on April % the Germans have done
X nothing more than is to be expected
from an active and energetic enemy de-
sirous OF keeping US on strain and under
threat Of attack. No one considered
That the Germans would be content with
what they had so far achieved and 1t
surprised no one that they were pre-
barring for another heavy blow.
To-day about two-thirds of the whole
German force in the west is concentrated
between Ypres and the Oise. That is
roughly. only one-hfth Of the whole
western front but vitality important
dfth Cor it includes the roads to1ariS
and &c channel ports.
-Oe. position in Flanders has never
been pleasant one from the day we
f7ryt marched into it from the Aisne.
and the general map of France Will show
why that is so. At Cape Gris Nez, oe-
tween Calais and Boulogne, the trench
channel coast makes a sharp bend ana
runs from that bend due south to the
mouth, of the Somme. The Allied front
line from Nieuport to Amtens runs par
4 nal
This stretch of coast Within this strip
u fifty miles the main roads and main
railways run, roughly, north and SOUTH
leading from Rouen and Paris to Lille,
J. TunIxirk, Calais and Boulogne. That IS
10 say, they are parallel to our 'front.'
Enemy Has Ideal Arrangement
s..rrow the ideal arrangement for the
communications of an army is that they
sbo,1id run at regular and frequent in
tervals straight back from the front TO
the base which feeds it with men, muni-
fions and supplies, and all its thousand
aud ether requirements. That is the
enemy's position. The most unsatistac-
tory is when these main arteries OF sup
ply run parallel to the front mat Is
our position. -s.., ....,.,, o,,
a1y mart of the line threatens the com
! ,r,,,nication of the whole, and IT, in ad-
Alton to this. the space is limited, then
II becomes difficult to give ground volun-
ltarjly to avoid a blow or to establish
hetfer, front.
ip"It will be remembered that in the be-
shining Of 1917 Hindenburg, finding part
"a hia line compromised as result Of
pur success on the Somme and the Ancre,
fen hark some thirty miles without un-
s covering any vital communications or
,ns<ing anything except an area of ground
which he had systematically devastated.
eve can now here give UP one-thlrd
Of that distance on the front north of
Airiens without at least suffering grave
inconvenience. This is Sdoubtless what
sir Douglas Haig meant when he said,
we are fghting with our backs to the
WALL
Apart then. altogether. from striking
n the army of the people whom they re-
gard as the most obstinate supporters of
the war among the Entente nations
there can be little doubt why the Ger
mans have selected the northern part of
Ire Allied line for their great effort in
1918.
itOn March 81 the enemy struck his
blow between Arras and the Disc, and
great part of the troops which he then
&nncentrated for battle are still on or be-
hind that front. Many divisions have
been withdrawn from the fighting line
and refitted and refilled with drafts
s of men and have probably received some
training. There has been time to bring
aver men and more guns from the Rus
Sian front. These are factors in the
.enony's favor.
a.seyow for ou- side of the picture. EN-
ccpt In one respect, We are certainly in a
betfer posture to meet the attack than
we were on March 81, We lost ground,
Arid our position, already cramped, has
become more cramped.
-On the other hand we have unified
command, and while our losses have
{ been heavy, there is the cearest evi,
dcnce that the enemy's losses have beer
heavier
sAs we have seen, American troop:
Z, have been pouring Fteadily into France
We know that an Italian contingent has
arrived, and there has been time to re-
adjust the position of the Allied forces
= or the whole front
CAS- the Prime Minister has stated
and has quoted me as saying, the Allie:
and the enemy were on March 81 ap
proximately equal in numbers, but the
enemy by keeping both ourselves and
the French under the threat of attack
was able TO concentrate first against
lis alone.
Fech's Economy of Force"
Now Foeh, as 1 have explained in
my last article, was before 1914 a great
student of war, One of the doctrines
which he preached was that of economy
of force which may be explained as
meaning that one of the secrets of vic,
fory is TO keep the largest possible mum.
her OF reserves until the decisive phase
erises and 10 employ until then the alb.
xoiute minimum of force necessary for
safety IT is on this principle that we
have borne the brunt of the hammer.
ing. and however hard this has been
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