- from 'the War Illustrated', 28th September, 1918
- 'The Struggle for a Winter Front'
- by Lovat Fraser
What If ? - Continuing the Struggle in 1919
- the German front lines during 1918 and
- a possible German defensive line in 1919
MARSHAL FOCH hits the enemy so hard and so persistently that it becomes difficult to write about operations on the western front more than twelve hours in advance. Not only does he constantly surprise the watching nations, which does not matter very much, but what is of vital importance is that he repeatedly surprises the enemy.
The sudden onslaught of the United States First Army, under General Pershing, upon the St. Mihiel salient is a case in point. Reports ran that the Americans would deliver their first blow some time in October, which was the month named long ago, and mentioned until quite recently. Probably the operation was hastened by the rapid retreat of the Germans farther north to their March line. Foch lets no grass grow under his feet.
At the time of writing, I should be inclined to accept the published assurance that the fine operation of the United States troops is limited for the present to the smashing of the salient. They did the job swiftly and neatly and completely, but I do not expect to see a move farther northward towards the Briey ironfields, or north-eastward across the German frontier against the powerful fortress of Metz, just yet. The First American Army has been "blooded" in fine style, and has given the enemy a taste of its quality. For the rest, we must wait upon events, and the bigger operations which I tentatively discussed last week remain upon the cards.
The Next Two Months
Meanwhile the ground recovered beyond St. Mihiel will furnish a useful jumping-off place when it is required. All that need be said is that the new line in this region brings us up against some very nasty places.
The same thing is true of the greater part of the line between Ypres and Rheims upon which the Allies now stand. La Bassée and Lens are encircled on three sides, and both may fall before these words are published, but they are very unpleasant snags. The valleys of the Scarpe and the Sensée have been extensively flooded, and the line of the Canal du Nord between Palluel and Moeuvres looks in some ways just as awkward as the smashed southern section of the Wotan line seemed a few weeks ago. Cambrai is covered farther south by ugly defences, and it must not be forgotten that we sat for a year around the suburban villas of St. Quentin without ever getting into the town itself. North of La Fere the Oise is flanked by disagreeable marshes, while south of the town the St. Gobain heights are as hard to tackle as Achi-Baba, with forests thrown in.
Marshal Foch, we may now be reasonably sure, has no intention of standing on the present line during the winter months if he can possibly help it. Somewhere, somehow, he will make his way into more delectable regions. We may leave out of account the line below St. Mihiel and Verdun; but between Rheims and Ypres the Allies are everywhere operating across a belt of desolation, as the enemy intended. The Germans, on the other hand, are in reasonably comfortable quarters, not yet ravaged and laid waste. The struggle which lies ahead in the next two months is, to a certain extent, a struggle for winter quarters.
A Big Central Blow
But how to get forward is now the problem. I disregard entirely the talk of peace which the Germans are sedulously disseminating. I believe that what the Kaiser said to Mr. Davis, the American dentist, holds good to-day. "My people," said the War Lord, "are strongly in favour of peace; but they want a German peace — no allied peace!" The peace they are going to get will be dictated at the sword's point, and if anyone wants to know why, I would advise them to read afresh some of the records of the appalling and infamous atrocities committed by the Germans since 1914.
My own view regarding the impudent peace overtures of the enemy is that they should not even be discussed. The American Press invariably dismisses German peace talk with cold contempt, and so should we throughout (except near the River Aisne),
My assumption is that the operations will continue after the fashion adopted by Marshal Foch in July, but that they will be accompanied by some big central blow, the nature of which is locked at present in the Generalissimo's brain. The three great obstacles which confront us are Cambrai, St. Quentin, and the St. Gobain heights. The capture of any one of these positions would compel the Germans to undertake a further large retirement. It would not be a retirement of a leisurely character, which would give them time to devastate the country, as they did when they went back to the Hindenburg line in 1917. It would probably be more of a helter-skelter business than the retreat we have just witnessed.
I may add at this point that I have long believed the true goal of the Allies in the north, while the war remains in its present position, to be Valenciennes. A successful advance to Valenciennes, which is a great railway centre, would play havoc with the elaborate German defensive systems, as may be seen by a glance at the map which illustrates this article. At Ecourt St. Quentin in front of the Canal du Nord, we are about twenty miles from Valenciennes.
But it is no use talking about any goals, whether near or far, without taking into account the various long entrenched lines which the enemy have scored across Northern France and Belgium. They are shown in a simple form on the map. Their names are mostly chosen from the heroes and heroines of the "Nibelungenlied," the German Iliad; but the Parsifal line is named after the prominent figure in the legend of the Holy Grail, who is the hero of Wagner's greatest opera.
The map indicates by dots the present fighting-line, which is in close contact with a barrier called in its northern part the Siegfried line, and continued as far as Rheims as the Alberich line. The Siegfried-Alberich line is identical with what we know as the old Hindenburg line. We have passed it between Arras and Moeuvres (on the Canal du Nord), but nowhere else.
Sham Talk of Peace
It should be noted that the Wotan the southern sector of which has in the northern part of the western front been smashed, passes between the Siegfried and Hunding lines from Queant northwards. The Alberich line passed through the heart of the forests on the St. Gobain heights.
The Hunding and Brunnhilde line requires no explanation, but it should be observed that when the United States First Army smashed the St. Mihiel salient it ended by coming against the Brunnhilde line. The Lille-Metz line has been in existence for a considerable time, and is believed to be strong, but its mythological name is not known. The Valenciennes-Givet line is not yet named, and is still under construction. It certainly extends north-west of Valenciennes, while eastward it links up with the Parsifal line (probably not yet complete), which runs from Antwerp, Brussels, and Namur through the heart of the Ardennes to Metz.
There are many minor German lines not shown on the map. Collectively they disclose both the deceptiveness of the German peace proposals and the magnitude of the task which still faces the Allies.
Not one of these lines is impregnable, for they can all be either pierced or turned. The true measure of their strength is that of the spirit of the German Army, which is declining. But depend upon it, so long as the Germans hold such strong defences in French and Belgian territory, their talk of peace is a sham, meant only to delude the allied nations.
These barriers must be smitten asunder with the sword.
