Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-09-14

So 1t will be when the Americana
reach the Rhine. The Germans ma!
cling tenaciously to Strassburg, Col
ogne Or any other n point, but the,
haven't got enough men to cling Il
all of them, and keep the Rhine invi-
olate. 1t will be part of the American
strategy TO try to prevent Ludendorfi
from accommodating a sufficient re
serve to hold a single Verdun perma.
nently along the Rhine. To do this
the battlefront on German soil mus
be made very long
The greater the mileage the Ger
mans are called upon to defend, the
weaker will be their On the
other hand, the allies will be SO SUI
perior In manpower that their own re
serves will not suffer through an en-
largemcnt OF the front.
The Rhine runs through a wide val.
ley from the Swiss border as far as
Mayence. The banks are low and fiat
The river is wide. varying from $50 to
$500 feet, but at many points there
are islands which will materially as
sist military bridge making. Above
Mayence, the banks are rocky and
difficult to bridge. But, beginning a.
Coblence, these obstacles gradual
disappear, and at Cologne, the west
bank is fiat, though there r hills
across the river.
Esscn's Fall Would End War.
The rocky side of the river are a
protection for Frankfort from a west
ern approach, but do not prevent a
sortie across the river from the
front. Frankfort Is about 20 miles
east of the Rhine, and will certainly
be a point Of attack If General Per-
shing makes a serious effort to carry
the war back Of the Rhine barrier.
Frankfort is the financial capital of
Iferior in importance, politically. only
Germany and its capture would be in
to the capitalization OF Berlin, Co
logne. or Hamburg.
r Proceeding northward along the
Rhine, the Americans will probably
seek to reach Cologne. The fall of
Cologne would threaten Germany
with strangulation. In the immediate
%environs of Cologne the second OF
Germany's three great Goa and iron
fields is located. Dusseldorf, the
center of this mining district, is 20
miles north Of Cologne, and. the
great Krup works at Essen are
about 20 miles still further north
ward.
Essen would mean the ending the
war, unless the Germans acknowledge
defeat before that catastrophe over
takes them. n -
Probably Essen marks the furthest
limit of Americas war plans for the
time being. Cologne itself, which
would be base for operations against
Essen, is on a line almost parallel TO
Brussels. Expressed this way, the dis
lance doesn't seem so far, though by
direct measure from the present
American front II is about $50 miles
away. The terrain is about the same
as that over which the present fight
ing is proceeding in France. except
that in one or two places. there are
hills which run to mountainous
proportions. Nevertheless. nothing
i~mpregnable stands in the way.
While the main American offensive
will probably nov northward along
the Rhine from Lorraine, a subsidiary
drive may well be developed in Alsace
to the south. The Rhine is more
easily crossed In Alsace than else
where.
BY moving to the east bank and
striking into Baden, two important
purposes will be served First, south
Germany, which has no love for
Rrussian arrogance will be given a
bitter taste OF the worlds resentment
against the Hohenzollerns. Second.
and important. the line of battle will
be heightened.
Won Hindenburg is now trying to
abridge his front In France 50 as to
accumulate enough reserves 70 make
a concentrated defense possible
against the Americans inside German
territory. He will be unable to carry
out this strategy, III. after his line Is
shortened in France, II is stretched
across the Rhine we'll into Germany.