GERMANY'S IRON ROCK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16594, 18 January 1916, Page 6

GERMANY'S IRON ROCK

DISCIPLINE IN THE CHAMPAGNE. KAISER'S SON AS WAR CORRESPONDENT. (Fhom Oub Own Cobbespondbnt.) LONDON, December 7. A little book called "The Wniter Fight* ing," written by Prince Oscar, the fifth soni of the Kaiser, in which he describee the hard fighting of the Third German Army last February and March, in Champagne, hae been published in New York. In the course of the volume tho royal author writes:— > " It was, however, not the attacks of their infantry which made this battle so hideous for us, nor was it the hand-to-hand struggles in the trenches, man againet man, where the German, possessing greater phygcal gtarength, was easily the match of the individual Frenchman. What made the battle a living hell was the work of the Frenoh artillery, enormous in strength, with huge supplies of ammunition, which was spent lavishly. Life in the trenches became a perpetual nightmare, and stamped as unforgettable heroes the men who went through with it without flinching. On to a comparatively small area the French on one day threw a. hundred thousand shells 1 We found a French document in which the commanding officer calculated that 18 bombs must be the allowance per metre of German trench, these 18 bombs _ to be ttsed, not in a day, but within one or two hours! The rapidity of the artillery fire was, therefore, as great as that of an ordinary machine gun, but the shells hurled against us were not infantry shells, but grenades of .every calibre. 'Drumfire' is the name of thie sort of artiUery fire, and its effects were (amply dreadfut— unspeakable. The barbed wire was completely clean wiped out. of existence: the trenches were flattened into mounds, their foundations crumbled away. No known sort of earthworks were able to withstand such fire for even a short time. "When such 'drumfire , began, a huge wall of smoke and chalk, particles rose over our trenches, cutting off the men from the rest of the world. The horror of the scene was augmented bv the ceaseless rumbling, thundering, and crashine which filled tho air. and which, even miles away, sounded like a heavy thundersto , ™- ** seemed impossible that any living creature should survive such a hellish turmoiL When the firing- ceaeed abruptly, or when its direction was changed to give the French infantry a chance to attack us, then onr brave fusiliers, musketeers, grenadiers crawled out of the ruins and repulsed the French attack. Thss was done not once, but dozens of times. HILL 196. "In one regiment three men discovered that in making nocturnal attacks they could work together to splendid advantage. The strongest man of the three took the centre. In his left hand he carried two steel shields from machine gun lashed together. In his right hand he held his weapon, bayonet or pick-axe. His two companions kept on either side of him, as closely as possible. One carried as many hand grenades as he could manage, the other was equipped with a bayonet. Thus accoutred, this strange trio proceeded, strking, thrusting, and throwing grenades, and literally hacking , its way through the ranks _of the enemy. Just as the interest and action of a drama continue to ascend until the end of the last .act;, bo the battle of Champagne reached its culmination and conclusion in the mad struggle that raged round Hill 196. " Suddenly, on the afternoon of March 18, the attack was begun by densely massed troops, their objective being Hill 196 and the position directly east of the hill. The position of the Guards Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 133 and other troops, who received tho main sbock of the impact, was not to bo shaken, however. The Fourth Turcos Regiment, and others of the French Army, attacked in five lines, advancing one bv one, with some of their officers on horseback. We received them with a shower of htind grenades, which tore hundreds of them limb from limb, and literaly blew to atoms the first two lines. " Succeeding line 6 fared no better. Tnose who miraculously escaped the hand grenades were felled by onr furious mem with blows of pick-axe and bayonet. In spite of their dauntless courage," their reckless contempt of death, their marvellous persistence, the French wero forced back. Front and flank of this writhing maelstrom of densely-packed humanity rollirjg along in a disorderly retreat was swept by our heavy artillery fire from 21 centimetre mortars, heavy field howitzers, 10 centimetre cannon. The loses which tho French sustained were inhuman and sickening. VALUE OF IRON DISCIPLINE. " With this last valiant attempt to take the Hill 196 ended the winter battle of the Champagne. After months of frantio fighting, after paying a frightful toll in blood, tho French were forced to abandon their effort to break through our lines. The value of iron discipline was overwhehning'ly demonstrated. It is safo to asaert that the most highly disciplined Teghncnt will be the most successful in action. Youthful enthttsinsm may be undermined, patriotism may bo forced into temporary abeyance by hours of continual, cruel shelling; worse than that, the very power to think becomes inhibited in the witches' cauldron of 'drumfire.' It i« then that discrnline asserts itself. Notliintr olsn gives the same moral s lamina, and in difficult positions discipline is bound to bo the determining factor. "The iror rock upon which Germany rests more securely than the earth upon the shooldere of A tins is our glorious army. , Thattha army has reached this glorious summit aj duo primarily to its splendid training , , end the fundamentals of this training are to be found in tho latterlv nmch-kugned-at and sneered-at work done in years of poaco._ The standiiiß-at-attontion, tho clock-like precision, the manual of arms, the goose-step—to all of theso wo owo the efficiency displayed ( by our troops in resisting , French 'drnrnnro.' in repulsing French drives, in withstanding with iron might French alortnees, in circumventing French enthusiasm and gallantry. ,.