| Show i All ies Upset in orld st st. a ax BERNHARD BERNHARDI I ONE OF EXPERTS WHO GUESSED WRONG I II I I Major l in n in Article on Length of Battles' Battles Points Out Some Falla Fallacious ious Conclusions Conclusions Conclusions Con Con- of Noted German BRITISH SOLDIERS UNDERGOING CHANGE Pouter Breast and Ramrod Deportment Now as Obsolete as Red Coat Men Allowed to toBe toBe toBe Be Comfortable and Normal INDIAN TROOPS DEVOTED T ONDON April 17 A A. A British observer observer ob- ob LONDON server with the French forces In Inthe Inthe inthe the field who has the thee permission of G General ner l Joffre to report on tho the work ork of ot tho French army has sent sent sent-in fn In to tho the Of Official Press Bureau an account coy cov- jering ering three weeks In February ar and March In Champagne In tho district midway between n Reims and Verdun on onA ona ona A fighting front of some five miles ho he houys says Bays the French have been attacking one ono point or another every ery da day for three weeks weaks It It Is IB a sustained operation of ot a different different different dif dif- ferent kind to those which we have 1 seen fleen during the winter months he Bays Those wore local efforts lasting lastIng last last- ing InS a Ii da day or two tOi designed to keep the enem enemy bus busy and prevent him from wl withdrawing withdrawing- troops elsewhere this Is IsA IsIL isa A IL sustained effort made with the ob object object ob ob- of keeping keeping- a a. constant pressure on his first line Une of ot defense se of ot affecting his use of ot the railway from Bazancourt Bazancourt Bazancourt Bazan- Bazan court to Challerange a ti few miles to tho the north and of wearing down his reserves of ot men and ammunition It finay maT be said ald that the Of February marks tho the opening of the 1916 1915 campaIgn cam- cam and that this first phase will find an Important place when the his his- history tory of ot the tho war c comes comes meso to be written of Campaign of tho the country Is entirely different to that in to which the British army army Is fighting It is one ono vast plain i undulating i-undulating the hills at most 00 feet higher than the valleys gentle genUe slopes 1 t everywhere The rhe soil Is chalky T Tie The e cn only ionly y features are are the the pine pirie woods be been on planted by hundreds Id wF hI iw t IR D. D new nAU oi of plat plain a new w t eat set of of f- f small il- il woods d appear Just like Uka that which l has ls been left behind The villages are few and small most moot of them are In ruins after the fighting In September and the tho troops live almost entirely In to colonies of little huts of or wood or straw about four feet high dotted ab about ut In tho the woods in the valleys wherever a a. little W water fer and shelter is obtainable Lack of villages means lack of roads this this' has been one of the great groat difficulties to be faced but at the same time the tho movement of ot wagons across country is possible to a a. far greater ex extent extent extent tent than in Flanders although It is fa often necessary to use Ule use eight or ten horses bones horses to to get a a. gun or a wagon to the point desired From the military point or of view the country country's a eminently suitable suitable suitable suit suit- able for tor troops troop with its possibilities of concealment of ot producing sudden surprises sur- sur with cavalry and antI of ot maneuvers generally It Is Is In fact tact the training ground of ot the great military c centers of the Chalons arid and French troops ha have havo doubtless been exercised over this ground In every avery branch of military operation op op- operation op- op except that In which the they are engaged aa as tho the present moment r Artillery to the For Fore What commander training his biB men over this ground could have Imagined that tho area from P lez Hurlus to Beausejour Farm would become two fortress lines developed and aed Improved for four months or that he be would have to carry carry out an attack modelled on the same system as that employed In the last great siege undertaken by French troops that of or Sebastopol In 1855 Yet Tot this Is la what Is being done Every d dayan day dayan y yan an attack Is made on a a. trench on the edge of one of or the little woods or to gain ground in one of of them every everyday day tho the ground gained has to be transformed trans trans- f formed so as to to give protection to its new occupants and means of access to their supports every night and on many days t the c enem enemy's 11 counterattacks have to bo repulsed Each Kach attack attach has hasto hasto hasto to be prepared by a a. violent and ac accurate accurate ac- ac curate artillery fire It ft may be said that a a. trench has to be mo morally morall cap cp- cap cap- by b- gun fire before It can be actually actually ac RC- seized by the infantry Once In Inthe inthe the new nC trench the men have hn to work with Ith their entrenching tools without exposing themselves and wait walt for a a. counterattack doing what damage th they y can to the ene enemy 1 with hand grenades gren gren- ades ide and machine guns Thus tho the amount of ot rifle rUlo fire is very small It Is Isa isa a a war of explosives and bayonets Cavalrymen Hare laT topes Hope u. u Up to the tho present the tho French have and continuous c progress I NM I I I THE HE top photo n shows an elaborate trench village o 01 f the Germans Ut in northern France in the region against which the French army anny has been most active The side e of a hill has I I been utilized IS as l a natural ural p protection against French shells Ti There al' al are paths leading leading- to the cottages end outs dog of the officer and there are aro long barracks built into the he I 1 for the pl privates n these he e rear lines of trenches there are nrc no utilities or arms for o offensive f ngi e They are merely merel kept to house reserve r ser c troops who ere are rushed to the firing line e when pressure In IS is brought that section by br the enemy I Below Delow to the left left is shown a portion of the F French countryside cO over o which the scourge of war has ed cd A peasant i is shown in the tho f foreground r looking n at the rough wooden o den r crosses a h mart marK the thc ayes of dea dead The roadsIde tins luts been used as n a cemetery b by the Trench 4 who fought a minor actIon there In the foreground lS is shown n a stretcher from the French Red Cross which has been abandoned when the last body was wn carried to the grave In the background sheep may be seen grazing n on the shell scarred turf O On the right rj ht is shown General von on Bulow in n command of the East Prussian forces of the tho Kaiser His troops troop s recently drove the Russian raiding party out and have been I ba ing n the Czars Czar's columns in that section ever since He is shown with his staff l T b I mg mm 8 l I 4 t v 1 fl 7 r fl a. a J r- r tt t a R ettS l s 's 1 4 I I l Pr r. r r f 1 S i is Lb 4 e A hJ h a i t 1 S1 r 4 u. u r Sl b v 1 a 1 I r r A AYI 4 YI 1 r r rr r r I S I A w v s r I V VM M i Y S 'S S 1 S YS y t l. l S 1 and and their success may be best judged from the fact that they have hove not been forced b back backon ck on an any day behind the line they thoy held In the tho morning despite innumerous in in- innumerous numerous c counterattack And this Is not merely a question of ot ground but butone butone butone one of t Increasing moral superiority for It Is In the un unsuccessful u counterattacks counterattacks counterattacks' counter counter- attacks attacks' tta ks' ks that losses ar arc heavy and nd these and the sense of f failure lIure affect tho the moral cf f an army rm so sooner ncr or later Will m the F French ench push through the line Will Willa a hole be mode made or Is the tho cn enemy my like a badger who vho digs himself in rather fattier faster than you can dig dig- him tout lt I 1 tell tell tell-It It would d indeed be bo an ln as astonishing astonishing as- as measure of or success for or a first attempt and the enemy ma may require re a a great deal more moro hammering at man many points be before rc ho has definitely had enough at an any point t. But those these operations operations operations opera opera- have brought the he day closer cleser and turn turn our thoughts thouGht to the time when we shall be bo beable able to move forward and one finds the cavalrymen wondering cr perhaps thc they too will get their chance chonce Flashlights on an Wounds The simple and amI Inexpensive flashlights flashlights flash lash lights with which all German soldiers ar are are equipped are arc proving In fn c conjunction Uon tion with empty cigar boxes excellent and effective X-ray X machines for tho detection of ot fractures and Iron splinters splinters splinters in the hands and feet Dr Heuer speaking before the tho war clinic of the University of or Frankfort declared that one ono of tho the lamps held In an injured hand In a n dork dark room or inside a Ii cigar box was brilliant enough so that it Illuminated through the tho fingers and ond even even the middle of It tho the hand sufficiently to show Just what and ond where tho the inJury in in- Injury Jury JUT was The rhe complete revision of or many methods methods meth moth of cf warfare which oven even experts did I not bot In the least anticipate are discussed discussed dis dis- cussed by MaJ Mai E. E retired in a a recently published article entitled The TheLe Le Length oft of Battles Von Yon Guc Gucas s. s r rNo No Nn lonS longer r ago than 1912 1312 Major Mo Mo- points out General von on in Time and Its Ita cal and Tactical Tactical Tactical Tac Tac- Importance declared that the battles of tho the f future turo need not be longer than those thoe of other r European wars and arid that one day battles will be the rule longer ones the exception G General von conclusions were based on studies of the Boer and andRU RU Japanese Russo-Japanese Japanese so-Japanese wars among among others and yet et within three years of their publication pub- pub Maj Major r shows Vs the predictions predictions of r the g general have hl proved to be wrong wrong wrong- We V certainly will not defend ourselves ourselves ourselves our our- selves elves behind walls and In trenches wrote General von Bernhardt arid and yet otwe ot we have been that thet for tor more than six months says Major To all aU friends o of the offensive and c and what soldier la Is not its It frond It surely Js is s painful that we no lon longer cr can believe believe believe be be lieve In a n war of movement and ond Operation operation operation opera Opera- tion before we think of ot ono one of Inaction We Wo mu must t unlearn part of what wo we I had tad been taught and we must cling to the good old theories only in case It shall bo be proven that mistaken leadership leader leader- ship led us to adopt the method of or long continued fighting in one position The Tho verdict is yet to come It is la not tho the duty of t the to render it but for tor the future On All 11 Sorts of Ground In declaring that the tho battle of ot the future would be only of at a days das duration duration duration dura dura- tion General von on Bernhardt declared that tho the unusual physical characteristics tics of or tho the battles battlos in the tho J Japan Russo pan pan- ese era war taking place place- place place-In In difficult country country coun coun- try and a around fortified places made mado It no criterion for foi future conflicts And yet Major points Joints out trenches and the long drawn battle battla havo been ticen the rule from the dunes of Flanders Flanders Flan Flon ders den to the hills blUs of tho the Champagne and the mountains In hi Carpathia As differentiated from former wars Major declares h huge go losses have havo not necessarily led to decisive victories victories vic vic- tories or ct 1 defeats Some new Impelling impelling Impel Impel- ling force torce seems to have entered nil all the conflicting forces The general commenting c on th the methods of the Jap in retreating when fire be became beam amo o e too accurate and returning to the at attack attack at- at tack later predicted tho the same Mme In th the tha s next future w war r. r Yet says Major Mo- Mo o. o the French have ve not lost nerve ner in the face of terrible losses the tho G German do not hot lack lacle It In bloody offensive an and d defensive movements and heavy y seen havo hav not hindered the Russians Russian s nor stopped them from returning to th the e attack again and He Reform form Army The Theold fold pouter pigeon type of British h soldier with his ramrod deportment t and end feet at Impossible angles is nowa now not v a K as ob obsolete olete as hi his hi red coat This Phi change chango Is If evident not only in la th the e training of ot tho the new army but In the therOY rOY royal 1 cadet schools at Sandhurst an and Woolwich Al Alertness and agility mental mental men men- tal and physical l. aro are now aimed for Ins Instead ef d of physical rigidity and mechanical mechanical mechanical me me- precision as In the old times Umes Swedish exercises have taken the place of conventional calisthenics About bout the tho anI only piece of or apparatus left In the Sandhurst gymnasium Is tho the padded horse Parallel bars rings ring Ing heavy dumb benD bells and pulley exercisers have been sent aw away y Now the cadets arc are taught what is la known In their slang as monkey tricks such as walking walk walk- ing Ins on top Of a high and narrow stone stono stonewall stonewall wall walt and Jumping teJ il safely to the tho ground skipping the tho rope ropa and playing various kinds of or games One reason why the pouter chest has gone Iono out of style Is Its menace to health An overdeveloped chest cheat Is I. held to be dangerous as It invites In pneumonia pneumonia pneumonia monia and other troubles Men loen on the march are allowed d to unbutton their coats coata and makos mako themselves them them- selves comfortable but smoking at such times time is s discouraged by the fife medical medical medi medi- cal authorities J The Tho deportment of ot the tho soldier on parade parado has hail also abo been made normal normol and natural Why by Ea East Enat t ID Indians FIght I I During the Boxer war In China the Germans applied l tho the epithet of coolies to the Indian contingent serving with the tho British expedition and the tho memory of or that Insult Is ono one of the tho reasons reasons forthe for forthe forthe the loyalty loyalty- of ot the Indian army In the tho present war declared Col A. A C C. Yato in a lecture before the Ro Royal aJ Society Society Society So So- of Arts at which Viscount James Bryce former ambassador at WashIngton Washington Wash ash ington Inston presided Colonel Yate Yale further stated that the tho Indian army serving In France and Flanders had even two months ago a casualty list of ot names Including British officers and the contingent Is la not a largo large one He knew of one corps which by Christmas had lost Jost 76 75 per percent cent of Its original effective Viscount Bryce ce said the devotion of oC tho the Indian troops at the front their courage and endurance was as one of the tho redeeming incidents in a time so 80 full of ot sorrow This war ho he thought would create new now tics floe between Britain and India and p put t th the two countries on a n surer foundation of mutual understanding understand ing In and re respect Speaking of ot the composition o of or the Indian alm army Sir Thomas slid that he did not believe o that If Rumania Rumania Ru Ru- mania Greece and It Italy a l were to Join Belgium France and Britain would d there bo be BO so largo Jarge an admixture of totally totany nationalities as os mo may now be found in tho Indian corps Prisoners a n 1 Problem One of tho the puzzling problems p with which v the German authorities In |
