WHY VON KLUCK RETREATED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 143, 11 November 1914, Page 7

WHY VON KLUCK RETREATED.

CROWX PP.IXCE'S AKMY (BEATEN. 100,000 CASUALTIES. London, October 3. The first German army to be thoroughly beaten on French soil was that of j the Crown Prince. This is what saved Paris, and it has remained a secret un- ■ til now. Mr. Granville Fortcscue, writing . in the Daily Telegraph, states that at I the time of their victory the French ' did not know the extent of the damage j they had inflicted upon the enemy, in I fact, they did not make claim to a decisive victory. Tn the official communication the most they claimed was a drawn battle. Actually 'they had smashed the tlowcr of German military power. Contrary to the general impression, tltf. great battles round Paris did not begin with the defeat of General von Kluek. That commander's misfortunes (says Mr Fortoscuo) were due directly to the retirement of the German left wing on the night of tl-7th September. The mystery which has surrounded the movements of the German armies disappears now that wc know that the main j body of the Crown Prince's army retired ■; 40 kilometres during that night. Such ; a retirement amounts to a rout.

i In the. plan of the German operations, the path that promised the greatest glory was reserved for the Crown Prince. This was in accordance with the policy of bolstering up the fast-fading pop.h;.;--ily of the House of Hohenzollefn. ; Throughout Genminyhe was acclaimed as ; the hero-of L'ongwy. His futile ilemoii- ; stratum against Verdun was magnified into a, series of glorious assaults. In the ollicials bulletins he was declared to I have indicted a severe defeat on the j French. As a matter of fact, the French army opposed to him had been carrying i out a splendid defensive retirement. Opposed by superior numbers, they had : contested with stubbornness every inch of the ground lost. And in the end they | assumed the offensive in a most effective ' manner.

j TERRIFIC ARTILLERY DUEL. ' Tile left 'will},' of tlic Clermans gave battle on Sunday, flth September. Tlic '. fiylitiiifr began at daybreak, and con- ; tinned with unprecedented fury till dark. . The artillery fire went beyond anything ; the history of warfare lias hitherto re- ; corded. Shells were timed to be falling i'ilt the rate of thirty in thirty seconds j 1 have this from a trustworthy source. ' In this day's fighting the French guns were served with undeniable superiority. j The loss they inllicted upon the (ie'r- ' mans can' never be approximately csti. 1 mated. The loss of the Hermans is plac- ; .1 at figures so high that T hesitate to ; r.-cord them. One hundred thousand, <"' 1 "■'.„■'• 20.(liin were killed. This estimate is made hv a trained observer, who was | on the battlefield before the dead hud j been, touched. ■ With the Crown Prince retreating. : there was nothimr left, for Klue.k's and ] Yon P.ulow's armies 'Jrut to execute the : =amo manoeuvre. This brought about I V<<- battle of the Oiso and all the subsej (pi"i;t fighting. Tn the fighting the I French have been uniformly successful. j It goes without saying that the British troops contributed, largely to this suc-