New Britain herald., 1929-03-20

l French army was battling. in con- junction with the Americans, left oi | the Aisne for Mezieres.
 i Another French and British army was pressing forward between the , river Disc and the city of Ealen- | ciennes. with Maubeuge and Mons as their goal. The British and Bel gians were driving ahead in FlaH- 1 ders for Tournai and Ghent. South | of the Disc, between that river and the Aisne. another French army bat l tered its way toward the important railway junction at Nervis and Hir- son. Roughly, this constituted Foch's 'vise' in which the enemy was be- ing squeezed.
 Germans Held On
 The Germans held on desperate ly but, even as the stars in theil course fought against Sisera," were forced 10 yield. And then came thai aventful day when the enemy, prac. tically routed by the superior strat' ey Of Foch, sent it's ctnbassag g. praying for an a-Inistice. It was then, according to corresponden for the Paris Matin, that Matthias Erzberger. one Of the German plen. ipotentiaries. extending his hand tc Foch, declared:
 Marshal. We are at your mercy . e m ton are exhausted and we con nt longer continue the war;
 The famous "Hindenburg line. supposed by many military expert to be impregnable and which not { few believed eventually. would brini about a stalemate, had been pierced by Foch's legions. The German dix vas broken. Tie enemy moreover had suffered tremendous loss an> the Allies casualties were compar atively light. Foch's speed and de clsion, hIs scientific calculation, ver 1 too much for the Germans despit their boasted prowess as warriors. An American correspondent. r. sarred to the Wanton slaughter per uitted by the German commando 10 which Foch laughingly replied:
 Did not your own General Gran believe that battles could not be vol without sacrificing men?'
 That is true" admitted th American. If you would win yo are obliged 10 sacrifice mem Do not misunderstood me, quickly replied the Generalissimo, twinkle in his eye. Its the Ger mans that I sacrifice. I never thro, away my own soldiers"
 No wonder the poilus and th
 officers under this wonderful mi tary genius obeyed him. AlthougI ;acirurn and impetuous, he alway seemed 10 act with clear thinkin , lmpulsiveness" following by the das and headlong attack that assur@ victory.
 Speaking to group c, officer one night Foch Is reported 10 hay
 said;
 "Find Foes Weakness"
 First find out your enemys weal
 point and concentrate your blow there. That IS commonplace 0 tactics which is self-evident"
 But general broke in an off cer of artillery. suppose your enc
 my has no weak points? That some
 times happens"
 Certainly" replied Foch. "An
 ln that case you make a weak point. , Again and again he would quot
 Joseph de Maistre's aphorism, |" , battle lost Is battle which one be lleves 10 have lost. for battles ar . not lost materially" And he woul add: Battles therefore are los !; morally, and it is morally, theretor' ], that they are won"
 Thus the premier soldier gave ,h keynote 10 his successful career a
 fighter and leader of men. Give
 q good cause he believed his arnis and himself 10 be irvincihle. Fo
 years before the struggle with th ) Central Powers began, Foch ha : been preaching preparedness [ i France. He had been for four year 1 director Of the Ecole de Guerr. ; Frances great school of war. He ha : been subaltern-like Joffre-i
 the Franco Prussian war of 1870. : Foch's career could be summed U in the word prepare" Born Octc
 Der 2, 1851 at Tarbes. little city 1 , the Pyrenees, close to the Spanis
 border, his boyhood was not charac : terized by brilliancy as a student. l a class of 70 at the Ecoia Polyteci nlque, which he entered in 1871 ju. r after The Franco Prussian war, + graduated 45th. But he was a hat ] worker, with wonderful memol and great perststency.
 He served for the next years as a = artillery officer. passing throue = various garrisons until 1884 when ! , was admitted to the Ecole de Guer! ? as student.