Omaha daily bee., 1918-10-21
GERMANY HAS
STRONG
OF .DEFENSES
Should Three Lines West Of
Border Be Broken Huns
Would Fall Back to
Rhine Notifications.

in France and Belgium, have en-
phasized the importance of the Ger
man defensive systems which have
been prepared by the foe for just
the emergency which now confronts
him.
The German defensive lines re-
semble tree with three main
branches. The trunk OF this tree"
has its root at the Swiss frontier and
continues north as far as Metz,
where it divides into two branches.
The westerly branch runs to the
northwest as far as the Meuse river,
where it separates, one limb" cross
ing the Mouse and running west
ward, after which it sweeps to the
north on long curve. The other
follows the Meuse down as far as
Namur, whence it runs to Brussels
and Antwerp and thence to the
Dutch frontier. The branch that
crosses the Mouse is the first that
must be broken by the allies. In
fact, recent British and Belgian VIC
tories in Belgian Flanders seem to
have rendered large part of this
line untenable as a permanent de-
fensive position.
This line crosses the Mouse at
Dun, goes through the Argonne
forest and then follows the Aisne
river as far as Rethal, where it turns
north and passes. near Guise and
Solesmes. 1t continues northward
last Valenciennes and reaches the
Scheldt past Journal and Client,
Schldt past Journal and Client.
where it turns to the eastward and
reaches Antwerp, This is the
'Hunding line.
Second Line Follows Mouse.
The second line, known as the
Line of the Meuse." is established
on the east bank of the Meuse river
northward from Dun. 1t passes Sc
dan and Mezieres and enters Bel
giuIn just to the southwest of Di-
nant. At Namur it leaves the river
and runs to Brussels, continuing on
to Antwerp, where it joins the
"Hundng line" and continues on to
the Dutch border.
The third line is the original de-
tense zone along the German from
tier sout1, Of. Metz, it is centered
around the 81 permanent forts about
Strassburg. 1t, runs over the high
and preeipituousahills on the Vosges
mountains and is several miles deep.
Al Metz the Germans have con
structed 2S great forts which are
so located as to command all ap-
approaches and. at the same time,
capable of concentrating their fire
on ahy fort which happens to be
entered, by the allies, |
Iron Field Great Fortress.
Northwest of Metz. is, the great
iron, field OF Briey., The importance
of this iron deposit has compelled
the Germans to convert the whole
country there into a veritable
fortress. This line runs along the
boundary between France and Ger
many, bending to the northeast UNI
tii it reaches the Luxembourg line
If this belt should be pierced, the
Geunans fInay4fall back to the Saar-
bruecken and vKaiserslautern re-
gions, which are interspersed by
rivers and high wooded hills, which
lend themselves admirably to de-
fensive operations. /
East of Luxembourg. it is reported
the Germans have devoted great
deal of time and labor to the con-
struction of permanent fortifica-
tons. %.- 80 a.
The country along the Belgian
frontier beaween Luxembourg and
Holland is dominated by Coblenz
which Marshal Foch considers the
key to Germany. In this area is
Bonn, a fortress of the first class;
Cologne, which is protected by al
broad belt OF entertainments, and a
series of strongholds running along
the. western side of the Rhine until
that river passes into Holland.
Chime Strongly Fortified.
Should the three lines mentioned
be broken, or if the allies should
break through between Metz and
the Swiss frontier the Germans
would be compelled to fall back into
Germany proper or, to the south,
to cross the Rhine. This historic
river Is really the western moat of
the Teutonic castle. Its whole east
ern bank is strongly fortified and
would be capable of a protracted de-
tense: This line of resistance be-
gins at Lair and runs down the
Rhine through Offenburg, Rastatt,
Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Darmstadt,
Wiesbaden, Bendorf, Kalk, Dens-
burg and Vessel. In their retire.
ment from their present positions
the Germans, will be able to shorten
their lines materially and thus in
crease the number. Of men available
for resistance along their new
fronts The Hunding line is about
20 miles shorter than the linden
burg system. The line from the
Mouse would shorten the front by
20 miles more while the Germans,
If they should retire to their own
frontier, would be able to still Short
a, their front by s. miles.
This shortening of the line will
be of tremendous importance in fu-
ture operations by the, allies. 1t
would make up. to a large degree.
for the heavy losses inflicted upon
the Germans during the campaign
of the past summer and give them
manpower that would be formld-
p able barrier to an allied advance.
The Meuses the Aisne and the
'Scheldt rivers, and the canals in Bel
GUM in the vicinity Of Antwerp and
Brussels will also be valuable adj
juncts to the conduct of defensive
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