ANOTHER WINTER

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 May 1917, Page 3

ANOTHER WINTER

QUESTION Ot : ST RATI; GY. GERMANS NUT EXT! ACSTHD. KCON’OMIC STRESS MAY SFRDL’H THEM. Tlie war may easily extend over another winter as. far as purely military factors, are concerned, according to a statement by General Frederick H. Maurice, Director of Military Operations for the Imperial General Stall, in an interview given to the American Associated Press. General Maurice, says the New York Evening Post, is an authority on military history. and has been chosen as the-bio-grapher of Robert E. Hee in a series published under the title of ‘"Makers of the Nineteenth Century.” In his opinion there is little difference between 'the strategy followed by the commanders in the American Civil Mar and the strategy which governs the great struggle of to-day. “Strategy as immutable as time,” lie said, is dominating ting, war, as it lias dominated all other conflicts. The world has long recognised Robert F.' Lee as a great general, and, in my opinion, he was one of the dozen great commanders of history, a place which is enhanced rather than dimmed by his participation in a lost cause, as success gains it own recognition.

The strategy of which General Lee was a master does not change with time, and in the year 2001 military leaders will bo actum on the principles of Napoleon and Lee. PRINCIPLES OF TACTICS CHANGED. “The men over in, the trenches, seeing only a brief and intimate part of the actual operations, are Inclined to assert that the major principles of warfare have changed, hut. this is true only of tactics', which, according to Napoleon, change every ten years, a period which, had be been alive today, he probably would have reduced to live years. This is due to the inincrease in inventive power over the time, when Napoleon fought. In the tactic* of this war are seen throe tremendous innovations, which can probably be placed in the following order:

First, airplanes; second, improved heavy artillery with highly explosive shells: third, machine guns. In strategy the immutable problems of time and space still prevail, and were Napoleon or Lee alive to-day, the genius which made them great would Jind an outlet. ‘ In a paragraph, the difference between strategy and tactics may be ex_ plained to the lay reader, as follows: Strategy consists of plans, for the

, manoeuvres of armies seeking a dei finite result, while tactics are the operations when two forces are in actual contact. The victory of the Marne w»sp the result of hisrh strategy, as was the Herman sweep through Belgium and the encircling movement about Paris. The trench warfare prevailing since has been purely a matter of tactics, without either side being able to make any manoeuvres in the realm of strategy. Stonewall Jackson suffered a tactical reverse at Kernstown, but won a strategical success by forcing Hie Union commanders to move great forces in all directions. INTERIOR LINES THE SECRET. “People wonder frequently why, with the superior resources in manpower undoubtedly possessed by the Allies, more progress toward victory is not made. The reason lies in the form of strategy which made your Civil War so long and enabled Napoleon- to keep his back to the wall so long when he had a coalition of Europe against him. Lee and Napoleon worked on interior lines from a. central position, and they had the genius to make the best possible use of the great advantage this gave them. The Germans understand this form of strategy so well that even in peace times their economic necessities are frequently sacrificed to military needs. In their transportation system alone the result of- this policy can be seen. Lee and his small army held back greatly superior forces for four years, and there is no reason to anticipate, on purely military grounds, an early collapse of the Germans. Of course, Lee operated on battle Itne® measured in miles, while the present fronts extend almost across continents, but the principles of strategy, covering time and space, remain the same; so the duration of this war is not surprising. “I see no indication of what has been asserted, that the Germans) are withdrawing at some places alono- our front because of a desire to force"open fighting. This movement is a retirement forced upon them. They do not like it any more than we did when, after the second, battle of Tpres, wo bad to retire a shorter distance to

straighten our lino. You may be sure no army likes to letiie and therefore it i s certain that the Germans will make a determined effort somewhere to restore their lost prestige. \Ve are now merely gathering the fruit* of our winter operations, the result of which is that from Arras to the Ancre a salient, decidedly dangerous to German positions has been established. Our raid* on the Somme front gave ua commanding position's from which our artillery tire was niucu more effective. The Germans, who are no longer occupying snug and well-constructed dug-outs, are more than anxious to retire to a safer line. They also probably counted on making our preparations for an offensive over this ground abortive, by giving up their front line and compelling us- to alter our plans. FAR FROM EXHAUSTED. ‘T have no patience with the idea that the Germans are at the end of their lighting resources. They are still capable of and will put up a strong fight. From a purely military standpoint, I see no reason why the war should not go through another winter, but conditions outside the military zone may operate to end it sooner. How far the shortage of food in Germany has affected the physique and morale of the latest recruits, I cannot uav. but some deterioration

from this cause is almost certain, and will become more and more effective with the passage of time. Without morale, even the genius of Lee could never have won his victories, and in our armies I believe that we have the manhood, as well as the material superiority, which will result in ultimate victory.” General Maurice belongs to a family of military students. His father was professor of military science, in the War Staff College, and was famous as a military historian. General Maurice was inspired in bis studies of the American Civil War by his father's successor in the Staff College, the bite Lieut.-General George F. Henderson, biographer of Stonewall Jackson. The war has interrupted his own history of General Lee. of which only two chapters are written.