The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-08
TIE WEEKS war REVIEW
WRIT TEN foR The TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
BY INRf ZUf1WAII
The French Line Holds

The early days of the week wit
messed the end, for the time being. of
the German drive toward Paris The
ground gained during the week pre-
ceding was considerable and Possesses
material strategic value. The gains
were much smaller. however. and Of
much less military value than those
achieved in the Picardy drive.
The French army occupies a part Of
! the front that for geographic reasons.
I is much more safe than the portion
held by the British. There is plenty of
room behind the French armies. The
British literally are fighting with
their backs to the wall They hold a
front that lies close to the sea and
parallels the coast thruout most of
its extent Any considerable retreat is
out of the question unless the whole
coast country is to be evacuated and
the British armies reformed south of
Amiens on a line stretching westward
from Montdidier to the sea.
The Germans could drive the French
back over a hundred mile front to q
depth Of fifty miles without disaster
to the allied cause, unless an actual
gap were made in the French lines,
permitting the enemy to break thru
and divide the defending forces.
A gain much smaller than that Of
the British would have made the po-
sition of General Hais untenable and
would have forced a retreat to the
southwark on a large scale
Why the French Were Attacked.
Why then did the German hurl his
attack against the French instead Of
the British To that question there
appears to be but one answer. The
British lines had been SO reinforced
and strengthened that there was little
hope OF making large gains In that d.
rection and such minor gains as could
have been hoped for would have been
made at a cost which Germany can
not afford to pay for anything short
Of decisive results.
| In making the British front safe.
the French lines between Scissors and
danger point. The German saw his
opportunity and made his attack. The
blow was q complete surprise. The
| troops were brought up under cover
I OF darkness and concealed in forests
so that the allied airmen were unable
| to discover them. As soon as reserves
| Of infantry and artillery could be
| brought up by the French the drive
was stopped
WIN Focf Strike Back?
And now what Of the future? Will
the allies strike back or will the Ger
mans strike again. and IL go, where :?
I doubt very much If we shall see
any allied attack on a large scale be-
| fore late this fall if at all this year.
| While General Foch possesses a con-
siderable number of reserves, his
forces are not large enough to de-
liver really effective counter blow.
To deliver anything less would be TO
waste his reserves and in the end
place himself at the mercy of his
| willy antagonist. Foch is waiting
American reinforcements. The Amer
| lean troops will not be in a position
to do anything on a large scale before
| fall and probably not before spring
| In the meantime Foeh doubtless viii
husband his men. retiring before SUI
perior numbers where ground can be
yielded without disaster and fighting
desperately where to yield ground
would be more disastrous than the
destruction of his reserves.
The German VIII Strike Again.
AssuredIy the German will strike
again 1t is extremely probable that
| heavy blows like those of the last
days Of March and of the opening
days of June will follow each other
as rapidly as is consistent with the
necessary recognizing of decinated
and WORKOUT divisions Before these
attacks. except at certain vital strate-
gle points the allied armies viii CON-
time to yield as in the previous at
tacks- It Is the wise game for the
allies 1t NAV be discouraging at
times and some may draw the couciu-
sion that the German in 7nvincibfe-
No Reason for Discourasemeut.
There Is nothing in the situation,