NEW STAR IN GERMAN ARMY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8206, 2 August 1915, Page 4

NEW STAR IN GERMAN ARMY.

A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MACKENSEN. •

" WINTER WILL HELP THE RUSSIANS." .'

(Received August 2, 9.25 a.m.) PARIS, August 1. . „V A Russian General who .-fought-in the 'jreCiint Galieiau campaign states :— i " it' was'easily seen in November that i a new star -was rising iv the German I Army, General Maekensen . succeeding, i General Hindenburg, whoso methods ■! were valueless against Russian strategy. The .-Russians! at Lodz, noticed a i' change in ' the German attack,; ywhielL 'consisted in choosing:a given spot'and. ■ throwing against it- all tho available- ■'. forces, no matter what-tho - obstacles. Alexander the Great lised this method, ; but instead of a forest of la nees, I General Maekensen used artillery, licr [places guns in three,or four rows: first j field guns, then medium, then six-inch-jand eight-inch, a-nd lastly . nine-ineh-.: !and 12-inch guns, it is .only possible to reply with a similar equipment of opposing guns. Ordinary field, guns fail to reach the enemy's heavy. guns w&' are simply shot tb pieces by the- " enemy's 12-inch guns. General Maekensen also dispenses with attacks in i close formation. The following actual' : attack is fairly " typical of the new :method: A Gorman battalion had to covea% half a milo across an open road from one forest to,another. When the . head of tho column appeared, a Russian battery fired a rain of shrapnel. The , Germans halted, and then a few soldiers started at an easy, run, and, usiug; ; many paths, reached tho other forest. The Russian battery could not. fire- ' shrapnel at: single soldiers, and it was ! hopeless to shell the forest, so we had to watch the German advanced When j sufficient Germans had gathered^ the .' attack on our trenches commenced. ', The attack commened in single file, | using every imaginable cover, and when

within 50 paces of the objective trenches, tho attackers laid down and opened a violent rifle fire, which prevented an accurate reply and enabled a second Gorman detachment to come up. The lirsb line ma<y lose two-thirds of, its effectives, the second, half, and ■succeeding oues correspondingly less; but the Germans do not throw themselves into the trenches until six clptachments are thus massed. Th» shortcoming of Mackensen's tactics ai* their dependence on artillery, goof weather, and good roads. _ Winter will help the Russians. It is"only a question of time before we will master tho Germans."