The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1916. "A BUTCHER IN TACTICS."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11685, 29 April 1916, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1916. "A BUTCHER IN TACTICS."

, - There is an old Maori warrior ■phrase applied as a rebuke to leaders who made' blind frontal attacks on strongly held positions, so squandering good men uselessly; it means " Wasters

of men, hurling them to the Night.' *Fhe expression can be given a. wider application iu these days of terrific '.slaughter; even our enemies themselves cannot but regard their " All Highest " as % "-waster of men" in superlative dtegree. The recent attacks in mass on the defences of Verdun have given the woris the spectacle of a return to the •amazing tactics of the early months of •the vrar, a return to the phalanx formation of ,the- ancient Roman against the xain of metal of. modern amis. The fierce assaults by the Germans in close ferder upon positions practically impregnable, assaults which left the field carpeted with thousands upon thou- * jsspds of the Kaiser's automatons, were .' dne to the presence of the "War Lord', to whom a soldier's life is nothing, and ' Vho cannot rid himself of the old" mass "tactics -which he was : .nccustomed to put ~sflto force, whenever ho had an opportunity of commanding troops in . the days of peace. In the old years of ananceuvres, "German officers dread'ed

"Hhei appearance of the Kaiser at re"viows. They dread it infinitely the

more in battle to-day, and the British . ,and French must correspondingly wel- '* come- it, for his appearance inevitably '•18: followed bj' -wild assaults such as -those of-Verdun,' with appalling lossos *!& Ills own armies.

military critic writing in the Review," emphasises the .murderous folly of the return to the old of attack, mechanical in thoir and in their absence of brains. rjChot spectacle is tremendous, mag- . ' fiUficent, but i* * s n °t the " sva y -* 0 nn battles. ' "What a, sight for the to witness, as it has been my fbr'X«ifl«,?' he writes, "these weighty in their hundreds of thousands '-'njpvJng" wave after wave in overpower"Hng mass to tho bourne to which they; '.Tore" committed, drilled to scorn fire front or flanks, driven towards the ngjfc[ective by the inspiring -echoes.'.of , music from "behind. * C'est 'inagnifique, mais -.' " And .an-i f MYierL writer in the same periodical, | 1 JMajor-General Sir Alfred E. Turner, qualities of the Kaiser •J&s strategist, likens the methods of r s ,i]i© ,Jsmperor and his generals to the ~- ejpnpi-of the Zulus and: the wild rush in •"crSwda of the Dervishes. " A maniac - ' irf strategy; a- butcher in tactics," was ' description of the Kaiser in /'the'early days of the war, and he lives 'swell" up to it. Major-General Tur--iifi&F'-Tecalk the fact that the Emperor 4VflHe.|iu I. and' von Moltke did- not their men like the "Mad iMoloch 1 ' of. to-day. At the battle of Gravelotte in 1870 Marshal Steinmetz hurled his 7th. and. Bth Corps in close formation aginst the French across the ravines of theMance; they suffered appalling loss and the next day Steinnfetz was removed from his command and sent as Governor to Stettin. " Now. - the Kaiser and his generals are so many Bteinmetzs " —they are utterly ruthless •%mH reckless of their men, regardless the number who fall, whether they '-succeed or not. Turner tells some ■ - c&ugcteristic stories of the Kaiser in -tiiisrfole of leader of troops in the years rjof-.pcace. On one occasion, he says, -there were manoeuvres near- Metz ; tho Ka4§£r commanded the troops on one 'sideband the umpire-in-chief was thecelebrated general, Field-Marshal Count -Haejaler, who had been an officer on the .-Staff of the Bed Prince in the .war of 1870-71. " The Kaiser, as usual, "distinguished himself by hurling huge t -masses of cavalry and infantry against strong, unshaken positians, the effect of'jehich in real warfare would have •been" totally disastrous. At the critique, :to which the Kaiser, very pleased with himself, repaired, the tough, independ- . ent L old field-marshal said, after having the reports of the various generals, 'as^bllows: —'The manner in which his •.illjiijesty commanded his force was splendid, as a spectacle, but it was not war. 'Jf'-tbe Triple Alliance were at war, and troops were so led, the Germans /and Austi-ians in. the first- Hue would all sib'e slain, ;and it would be left to the "Italians in the second line to bury them. '#bV Emperor appears-to overlook the jjtaotr that there are such things as killed "iny.a, battle.' A more stinging rebuke could not have been uttered and for in his life the Kaiser held his ! ijtoniue." ,T"-';fitit there is a reason for this seem-, ytofsis i nSanc adherence to the clqse-for-"jnation order of tactics, and the. explanation given by military writers ' HHstrates for us-the deadening effect of the German drill methods upon the spirit of the men. The late General Orlerson on one occasion asked the why the German troops advanced : to the attack in close formations, which was quite -contrary to their theories and rules. The monarch re'g&jfid, that it was because they would 3HnV go forward against the enemy If -extended or. in other ways which more removed them from the immeetii&te control of their officers. Collec'%r&. courage the Germans have to a Marvellous degree, but, unlike the an< * *ke French, all spirit of in,'*se|Sendence has been 'drilled out of ;ith&B> &**& they always require the presence of a superior to command them. j)G*rmari officers who fought, at Grave* jotjto told Major-Generai Turner that *,HiEREg "tho attack of the Guard on St 'Privftt the men—who were extended, - and .bad lain down to take cover—could -"only with' tne greatest difficulty, be "foiced to get up and advance. "Thus, Twhile, f ke German military authorities -"preach attack in extended order, in 'practice they are bound to advance and trust to sheer weight ''of 'numbers utterly and callously indifferent to their losses." The Kaiser is tho. high, priest 'and chief professor of this gospel of ruthless bruto force, and he- apparently delights in the spectacle of .his men forward in their'

hundreds of thousands shoulder to shoulder to certain death. But there come an end to it all, and the Kaiser's man-wasting tactics are hastening that inevitable end.