Evening star., 1938-09-21

neet from 1914 to 1916, then SefDed
as an officer OF the A. E. F. in
France, earning the Distinguished
Service Medal He is the author
OF numerous books.
BY COL. FREDERICK PALMER.
NEW YORK, Sept 21 (N.AN.A)-
Though the Czechs should even nov
decide to fight single1handed against
Germany, Hitler may be in for stag.
gering surprise. Their stubborn anc
prolonged resistance may stir thu
worlds admiration for the gallant un.
derdog, and other nations may be
drawn in when they learn that Hitler's
Is not the German Army of 1914-l9l8
Superf1cially, Czechoslovakia's 49,
100000 of people seem an easy prey
for Germanys 75,0O00O0. Paper STRAIT
egistS looking at the map since the
Austrian annexation see Czechoslova-
kia already largely inclosed by the
German frontier. They envision the
tide of the German legions moving
against her on three sides, quickly
engulfing her.
Against this view is set that of mill
tary experts, which is generally shared
by officers of our own War College and
staff in detached professional studies
based on thorough information. They
foresee that Germany will have to
pile up host of dead in mountain
passes before the swastika flag flies
over Prague.
Hitler must know this, if his own
military chiefs dare tell him, and he
will listen to their professional opin-
ion in the light of military realism
rs We knew its fierce heat in the
World War.
Czechs Know Their Strength.
Certainly the Czech government and
army staff can have no illusions. The
Czech soldiers in their Central Euro
pean Gibraltar know what they have
to die for. And they know they have a
power Of resistance based on more
than wilton armed skill and Or
ganization.
Experts of all armies have watched
with eager interest the forming and
growth Of the new German Army un-
der Hitler. They know that an army
man Army was by the Versailles treaty
cannot be rebuilt to its former strength
in a month, a year or five years.
Bismarck, the great chancellor OF
victory, left the army job to the great
Marshal Won Moltke, following the
lines the great preceptor. Scharnhorst,
had laid down. So, in turn, succeed
ing chancellors left the army to pro-
fessionals, who never depended upon
lunches, but sheer military efficiency.
When Hitler scrapped the Versailles
treaty and Germany was free to arm,
he became overload of all, himself the
state and army. He had the impa-
tience of Storm Troop philosophy. His
Storm Troopers SO felt their oats that
they thought if their dash and tnitia-
tive had been applied in 19l4-18 Ger
many would have won the World War.
No wonder that Hitler is the miracle
man to the Nazis. Without the cost Of
the life Of a single German soldier in
action, he has won victory after victory
in one-two-three fashion in the full
fillment of his program, playing hunch
after hunch with dazzling success.
Upset Army on Rhineland.
He has further support in his faith
in his lunches in that he has been
right where his military chiefs were
wrong. They counseled against his
march for the recovery of the Rhine
land. Not yet, they said. They saw
the danger if the French, with a mil
lion ready, highly trained, first line
troops, seized the wide-open oppor-
tunity against the inadequately small
force Germany then had ready and
trained.
But the French did not strike. Hitler
made the march into the Rhineland q
triumphant military parade. Later,
the pictures the world public saw, the
sccounts we read of his invasion Of
Austria gave the impression that all
the old efficiency had been revived
in the new German army. But the
reports that came into army staffs
from behind the curtains of censorship
revealed that there were many bitches
and much confusion in what was a
march Of occupation without military
opposition.
Never losing confidence in his magic
touch, Hitler saw the old German
army as too trench-bound, in spite
of its sweeping offensives on Eastern
and Western fronts in the World War.
He favored the school of swift move
ment Of highly mechanical forces in
open warfare, the charge Of tanks,
mobile infantry, gun and machine
gun units under the wings of bombing
planes.
Then Spain offered one object lesson,
the tough lessonu of actual war; Japan
in China another, which heartened
the French in the building Of their
Maginot Line, the Czechs in fortify-
ing their frontiers.
German Machines Fail In Test.
In Spain the experts reported the
German tanks flop, the German
planes inferior to the Russian and to
planes Of American design, while the
fighting reverted to the grim, dogged
trench warfare of the same kind we
knew in France 20 years ago.
The japanese would make their con-
quest Of China a sprint. But they
have not taken Hankow yet.
Mechanization in defense counters
mechanization in ofense. That mass
pawn. the infantry soldier, the dough-
boy. who must take and hold positions,
has now farther to go through .
deeper zone Of heavier and more gruel-
ing fire to reach his objective. The
power Of the defensive has gained
since tho World War. Armies in fu-
ture wars may be more trench-bound
and longer trench-bound, locked In
deaths stalemate.
But this did not dampen Hitlers
confidence. He had Austria. II was
Czechoslovakia's turn.
The foreign military attaches were