The New York herald., 1922-10-01
GERMANY TOO LATE
ON RUSSIAN FRONT

This Is the fourth inStoIlment OF q
translation OF book aohich iods
hailed In Germany as "tbe best book
about the acar." The author, Capt.
II. Ritter, formerly OF the German
General Stat, continuing to expose
German as aoeH as allied military
mistakes, transfers his attention to
the eastern front. He says the Htoh
Command Kept forces In the aoeSt
aohicb should haze been sent against
the Russian masses.
- tt N the latter part Of autumn,
1914, the German High Com
mand tried to advance to Calais
via Ypres. irrespective of the cost in
men. That decision resulted in hasty
actions and reckless sacrifice of men.
For the last time the delusion that Nhe
furor Teutonicus was irresistible
famed up and the grandsons of the
warriors who had stormed st. Privat
(near Metz: the battle was delivered
on August 16, 1870 were sent against
machine guns and quick firing cannon.
That delusion was proved absurd at
the User Canal The war of mobile
operations was at an. end in the west.
The masses, liquid from heat, cooled
off, and became rigid from the North
Sea to the Swiss frontier.
I'm conformity with Schlieffen's
plans, only four army corps and a
half and one cavalry division were
available for the protection of the east
ern frontier of Germany, With those
relatively small forces, known as the
Eighth German Army. Colleen. Won
Prittwitz was expected to defend q
front of about one thousand kilometers.
He tried to solve that problem by TAX
ing the offensive, as no other tactics
| promised any success. He was able
to defeat the Russian Generals, Rem
nenkampf and Sasonov.
When the Russian masses moved
forward via Kielce-Lodz there was in
their front on both sides of the Vistula
wide gap extending from Kolo to
Mlava. The unprotected right wing of
Grand Duke Nicholas was attacked by
the Ninth German Army, which ad-
vanced from the Fortress of Thorn as
Manoury had advanced from Paris.
But as the German High Command
was still under the delusion Of hacking
a way through Ypres to Calais no re-
inforcements were sent from the west
ern to the eastern theater of war.
Otherwise the Russian flank could
have been destroyed in November from
the northern flank as far south as
Cracow. The three German army
corps forming the right German wing
advanced until they were west and
north of Lodz on November II. when
the German attempt to crush the Rus
sian wing there was foiled by the
overwhelming numerical superiority
OF the Russians.
"Only after the German High Com
mand, in the latter part OF November.
gave up the attempts to break through
the enemy lines at Ypres to Calais
were reinforcements sent to the east.
But they arrived late.
Kitchener Army Brought
Prepondersnce of Strength
"As England organized the so-called
Kitchener Army, the allied preponder-
ance I'm numbers was considerable.
Joffre's attempt to shatter the Ger
man lines on February IS. 1915sin the
vicinity of Vouziers on front of eigh-
teen kilometers width failed because
the preparatory French artillery fire
had not succeeded in demolishing the
German trenches. But the Germans
won a tactical victory when they at
tackled the English front between Drie
Grachten and Becelaere on April 20,
when the enemy was surprised by the
Use of asphyxiating gas. The Cor
mans took st. Julien, F>ortuin. Zonne-
boof.o E-ro~auhor,r oo.a tyto,.4n ...44rt.