SIGNS OF INDECISION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 November 1939, Page 5

SIGNS OF INDECISION

ON PART OF GERMAN RULERS Army Chiefs Said To Be Urging Offensive INABILITY TO SUSTAIN LONG WAR THREAT TO HOLLAND AND BELGIUM CONTINUES • (By Telegraph—Press Association.—Copyright.) NEW YORK, November 11. The military correspondent of the “New York Times in Paris, Mr Archambault, states that Belgium and Holland, particularly the latter, are continuing their preparations to resist a German invasion, the threat of which seems to be growing, judging by troop movements. There are other indications, less obvious but, perhaps not valueless. For instance, German prisoners of war examined by the intelligence on the Rhine-Moselle front persistently insist that peace will come for the Germans without lighting “because our Fuehrer wishes it so.” Undue importance should not, be attached to the statements ol prisoners, but, the men aie manifestly repeating a lesson Dr Goebbels may well have taught, • since it smacks of propaganda. However, one point remains fundamental in the art of war—it takes two to make a tight.

TACTICS OF DELAY Leaving Poland out of the picture what are the facts so far? The French entered Germany and the Germans avoided a general battle. The French then decided to withdraw to their own territory. The Germans followed but stopped at the frontier. The French make it clear that they will not take the offensive and the Germans do not react. French flyers inflict heavy casualties' and, instead of seeking revenge, a German plane drops tracts near Paris. Against the French the Germans hitherto have seemed to wish to remain static. Against the British they have been dynamic. Mr 'Winston Churchill admitted that the British naval losses exceeded those of the Allies on the Western Front. German propaganda daily repeats that Britain is the mortal enemy and scarcely alludes to France. From prisoners’ mouths comes the echo: "There will be no war. The Fuehrer wishes it so.” In Paris and London the mere idea of ■trying to sever the Anglo-French alliance is dismissed as sheer madness, yet the German leadership appears to see high hopes of this. If pushed to its logical end the total of a war against Britain alone might well include the seizure of bases along the North Sea. Belgium ■ and the Netherlands consider it wiser to leave nothing to chance. On the Rhine-Moselle front the Germans have broadened the scope of local operations significantly. Should any operations be carried out against Belgium or the Netherlands, it is expected that they would coincide with some demonstration between the Rhine and the Moselle, The correspondent notes that German methods on the Western Front have changed. The strength of raiding parties has been doubled. Instead of withdrawing immediately they are resisted they are striving to press beyond the outposts possibly implying attempts to capture positions—tactics, which, if pursued methodically, might give enlightenment of Germany’s intentions. HITLER AND THE STAFF In spite of Mr Archambault’s suggestion that the general staff insisted that an attempt to break the Maginot Line would be suicidal, the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times” says that considerable credence is placed in military circles in reports, regarded as most reliable, that the German general staff is actually urging Herr Hitler to strike on the Western Front, regardless of losses. Herr Hitler is unable to reach a decision, questioning whether the public would accept the losses of possibly millions of men in the attempt. The correspondent adds that the implication of this is that army strategists are more dubious than politicians of Germany’s ability to sustain a long war. Well-informed circles believe the Allied blockade is developing more effectively than Nazis admit, and any hopes of Russia supplying Germany effectively are fading. A United States Commerce Department survey declares that the already strained Soviet railways would be further overloaded in any attempt to transport large quantities to Germany. ’ The Berlin correspondent of the "New York Times,” Mr Tolischus, whose report, objectively, must *j,e treated with reserve, in so far as it may reflect the view Germany wishes accepted, declares that it is admitted officially that the bulk of the German army is concentrated on the Western Front, ready for initiative. Such numbers as the West Wall is unable to accommodate, therefore, stretch fanwise. Simultaneously the Netherlands’ ef-

forts to obtain new assurances from Germany in respect of neutrality have been inconclusive. The correspondent adds that, improbable as it sounds, delay in reaching an irretrievable decision may be attributed to the fact that diplomatic action in connection with Belgium and the Netherlands appeal is not completed. Influential people in several countries are attempting to halt the war in the conviction that a continuation would leave Europe in danger of Bolshevism, an argument which is finding substantial support in Germany.