The Washington herald., 1919-04-27

believe that the American armies
would arrive in time to count The
German people knew of the coming
offensive and waited for 1t with
blood-shot eyes and a kind of last
parting hope. The German officers
were. mostly. confident of success.
The German soldiers shrugged their
shoulders and said: TT will be an
other shambles"
The first blows struck against the
British were successful. Attacked
by ia DIVISIONS to forty-eight. the
British line broke and they fell
back in fighting retreat. with
heroic rear guard action. first to the
outskirts of Amiens and then to the
outskirts OF Ypres. losing all their
gains in two years OF costly fight
ing except the losses they had in
flicted on the enemy's manpower.
Then the French line broke at the
Chemin des Danes. and they. too. fell
back to the Marne, and once again
the Germans drew near to Paris. 1t
seemed to them as though at last
they had indeed the game in their
hands. But IL was only ignorance
and stupidity which made them think
so.
the genius of Marshal Foch. nor the
tenacity of the British and French
nor the striking power Of the Ameri-
cans now ready to attack with many
divisions. and now rushing across the
Atlantic In a great tide.
The British, though terribly weak
ened for a time held their lines intact
against enormous odds with their
backs to the wall" as Sir Douglas
Haig called upon them to do. The
French troops fought desperately In
defense with all their old heroism and
faith. And Marshal Foch played the
game of strategy with superb skill
and courage. For a time he dissipat-
ed his army of reserve by supporting
the British line and the Germans.
knowing this. took enormous risk OF
striking down in a deep wedge-like
salient to the Marine with open banks.
"F'och has no army of reserve"
they said. I'VE can do what We like
with him"
blue men behind the British khaki
he called them down again, bor-
rowed four British divisions. rein
| forced more by drafts OF young boys
from England and Scotland-from
the last reserves of British boy
hood-and brought up the Ameri-
cans. He had his army of reserve
and he struck on three sides of the
German salient and smashed the
crown princes army like a card
board box
Germany Knows She Has Lost.
Ludendorf knew that night tina.
Germany was lost 1t was Germany
| now that had no army of reserve.
The crown prince had to borrow
from the troops of Prince Rupprecht
OF Bavaria, who had been waiting
with twenty-nine divisions in hand
for another smash through the
British lines. They went into the
| furnace fires. 1t was the turn of
the tide. and 1t turned against the
| enemy until he was swept back
and engulfed. Three hundred thous-
and boys of Is years of age, the
younger brothers of the older
brothers VINO had gone before. were
sent out from England and Scot
land to fill up the gaps in the Brit
ish army. and with the Canadians
and Australians. supported later by
three American divisions. they be-
gan a counter-offensive and fought
a battle every day, when they
smashed the enemy out of his lines
of defense. broke through his best
and strongest defensive systematic
Hindenburg iine-captured many
great cities-Lille, Tourcoing, Rou-
baix. Cambria. Journal, Douai, Va
lenciennes, Maubeuge-and entered
the little old town of Mons. where
the British army had first withstood
the shock of German arms-on the
morning before the armistice-end-
ed all fighting with the most abject
and humiliating surrender of any
great power in the history of the
modern world.
The Americans ana the French up
to the time of the armistice, drove the