SUPER STRATEGY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 414, 8 June 1915, Page 6

SUPER STRATEGY.

MAKERS OF WAR. KEEPING THE GUNS MOVING. [The following vivid sketch of war is from the pen of Baron Hrolf von Dewitz, a Danish strategist of repute.] General "Vorwartz!" A big, square set man is sitting at a table lighted by ornate silver candlesticks. A detail map of the East Prussian boundary is in his lap. Other maps are spread on the table, together with calipers, ferrules, and other instruments.

In the room adjoining are a number of adjutants and staff officers. Some of them are gathered about a large dining table entirely covered by a scale map showing the minutest variation in the terrain under study. The positions of the armies are marked on the map by tape fastened with stickers. Reinforcements under way are identilied by arrows. There is a portfolio in which every move made by any and all of the armies is written dow T n with scrupulous exactitude. An ordonuanz is in charge of the big chart and marks with tape any change made in the positions. At a small table is the telephone exchange, operated by a N.G.O. The wire connects directly with all the army held headquarters. If a general commanding an army has anything to report it must go over this wire, but generals in command of army corps and divisions must, first telephone the army commander, and if he thinks the report' is of .importance also to the commander-in-chief, he orders it relayed over the direct wire.

In a corner is a portable wireless station. Through the window the mast and the antennae can be seen. The operators are in constant attendance. Messages received are instantly typewritten in triplicate and brought to the commander-in-chief before anyone else is permitted to see them. The other rooms of the little chateau are used as living and sleeping quarters for the staff members. The garden lawn has been converted intti a military •- garage, where several high-power automobiles, some of them armoured, are kept ready for instant use. Sentries are posted at all exits and approaches. A mounted patrol! is stabled in the barn. , .• -.

Headquarters Buzz. For several days messages "have been pouring into the headquarters, exciting; the buzzers on the telephone and the wireless outfits, sending ordonnanzen scurrying from room to room, dispatching couriers by automobile, and adding tape and sticks on the big war map until it resembles a crazy quilt. Gradually corps after corps have swung into line, and army after army has debouched, under incessant fighting, until they occupy the strategic positions- selected »j£©r them in advance by the big, square set.man sitting alone in the little room.

An anxious moment is approaching. The right wing, which -was badly mauled by an overwhelming force of Cossacks, has suffered a setback from which it must recover before the entire held army can operate as a unit. The map shows that reinforcements have reached the right wing in the nick of time, but it has not been able to advance as yet and is merely holding its own. The whole campaign, involving more than a million troops, hinges on the fate of the liard lighting right. Every time the receiver clicks and buzzes the officers look up from the map and cease talking,, but the expected message does not arrive. The big, square set man is pacing the room with his hands on his back. A frown has settled over his strong, martial face, but he controls himself well and gives no vent to his emotions. For two days he has spoken only in monosyllables, and only in, answer to the deferential enquiries of his staff. A lesser man w r ould; have been elated at the general ad-1 vance made by the troops, but this ■ man is aiming for a decisive victory I to crush the enemy. Every hour j lost by the right wing in reforming j and joining his plan of attack may cost him the battle.

Advance en Masse!

Once,more the wireless buzzer rapsV The operator does not wait to type the message, but dashes off on a blank, and the ordonnanz takes it to the commander-in-chief. The big man scowls, for the right is not advancing. Suddenly his face brightens with a daring idea. He pens an order commanding the. right wing to feign rejreat until it appuys on the centre*.then to advance en masse! The .ordonnanz opens the door and steps aside. The commander-in-chief enters. The officers in the staff room stand at attention.

"Gentlemen," he said,.-"I leave for the front. The battle will be ■at Tannenberg." Sooii after a high-power motor car sweeps out from the terrace of the chateau carrying an ordonnanz beside the chauffeur and an adjutant sitting beside a big, square set man in a blue-grey mantle. The sentries present arms with a snap, and the big man begins to plan the psychological moment of the battle action. At the very juncture when the feigned retreat shall have led the enemy into a trap and the grand advance of his armies will commence, he, the commander-in-chief, shall be there to lend spirit and dash by his presence, ready to correct a possible error in strategy arid insure the fullest measure of efficient generalship in every division, in every corps, in every army, and as between army and army.