The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1918. FOCH'S STRATEGY.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1918. FOCH'S STRATEGY.

Whilst the war has unmade many military leaders, 'among the Allies, as among the enemy, it has produced one really great military leader, with all the attributes of genius, namely, General Foch, Generalissimo of the Allies' forces. : His great resource and courage were responsible for the defeat of the initial plans of the enemy at the Marne, and it looks as though the flank attack he is mi.kiug on the advanced German armies in , the Kan-.;' locality will also have a , similarly important result. Since : March 21 Foch has been playing a > waiting game, and husbanding his resources, until he had built up his armies sufficiently to strike a decisive blow. Ludendorff's aim has j been to bring about a decision as quickly as possible, for he knows only 100 well now the extent and : quality of the soldiers America is pouring in. He has been prodigal in his expenditure of men to break the Allies' line. He has gained some 2000 square miles of territory, but success in a war of this kind is not to be measured in terms of territorial gains. What matters, and only matters, is the destruction of the enemy's organised forces. Ludendorff has not been able to do this. Far from it. i His first onset certainly gave him a considerable advantage, which lie was quick enough to exploit, but in no case was he able to victory home. The last offensive, which was to be Germany's supreme effort, and doubtless was, has not only been stayed, but heavily defeated. What was to be the smashing of the French, and then an easy passage to Paris, is turning out for him what may well be his decisive defeat. Foch has bided his time. He, no doubt, could have counter-attacked before, and heldjßj>_,tae ©firman advances, f.05.

he lias never believed in the defensive policy; but a defensive policy may be a means to an end—it may be justified when it enables the Allies to get together a maximum reserve army of. manoeuvre. What he says is: "Reserves must be husbanded with the most extreme parsimony, so that the bludgeon may be strong enough to make the blow as violent as possible. Letloose at the finish, without any lurking idea of saving them, with a well-thought-out plan for winning the battle at a point chosen and determined, reserves are thrown in all together in an action surpassing iu violence and energy all other phases of battle, an action with proper characteristicssurprise, mass and speed. All our forces really participate, either by preparing it or by carrying it on. In this, our supreme aim, we must not be deceived by appearances. Although theory fails when applied by feeble hands, and when accessories obscure the main principle, history and reason show us that in battle there is a single argument which is worth while, namely, decisive attack, which is alone capable of assuring the decisive result—the overthrow of the adversary. 1 ' These, then, are his considered convictions, the success of which was so strikingly demonstrated in 1914, ,and which he is now putting into force in the Champagne. This may not be, of course, the great Allied offensive. Maybe Foch will await the further training of the American legions before he delivers the great blow that is to send the Germans reeling back beyond the Rhine, but that it will come in good time there can be no doubt l whatever. The Germans have lost heavily since March—the losses are put at from 600,000 to 900,000, and it has to be borne in mind that they comprise for the most part specially trained storm troops. "We have been told that the German plan of selecting the best troops and specially training them is having a bad effect on the morale of the remainder, so that when the French and Americans commenced the counter-offensive last week the enemy's resistance was not as great as usual, while the morale of the Allies' soldiers was never better, for the reason that instead of being ordered to retire and defend they are now advancing. The Americans, too, are fresh and eager to show their mettle. There is, all the same, stiff fighting ahead, but the German was never a good fighter when on the losing side, as was shown in the Napoleonic wars, and with the recent defeat of Austria still in his memory, and a serious set-back now, together with the knowledge of the millions of Americans preparing for the fray, anything may happen. The only trouble is that the German people as a whole do not know the truth as to the hopeless situation confronting their nation. If they did perhaps they would have something to say to the Hohenzollerns and military leaders who have brought this national ruination upon them. Meantime Foch's strategy is working out satisfactorily, and, whether the struggle is short or prolonged, the Allies jvill see it through to the end, regarding the price as of little consequence compared with the freeing of the world from the German menace, its hideous militarism and unspeakable brutality.,