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Show DOUBT IF SUNS ILL STITffll SHE Military Experts Are Not Agreed Upon Course Hun High Command Will Pur-- Pur-- sue Following Defeat. LLIES PUSHING j ALONG WITH VIGOk fTemin-des-Dames Is Believed Be-lieved to Be Where Army of the Crown Prince Will Make Stand. ? Universal Service. ! .WASHINGTON. Aug. 4. Will the Germans Ger-mans be able to establish a holding line : in the heights along the north bank of '.e Aisne, or will the Franco-American : ;rive to the northeastward of Soissons "orce the enemy to fall back to their strong positions along the Chemln-des-Dames, tho great highway bordering the south bank of the Ailette rivet-? This question sums up the potential , possibility of the battle situation as re- ! Heeled in late dispatches received here by military experts. Allied military stu- i rfents are not agreed on what may rea- J Bonably be expected from the hard -hit- j ting divisions which in the past week have i jrought joy to the heart of every Ger- j nan enemy and have sent across the Ger- ; man empire the first great wave of dread j and fear to sap at the morale of the conquest-maddened junkers. j Divided in Opinion. One group, and it is to be noted that it i is ihe group which held that the Ger- ' mans would stand fast on the Vesle river, holds that no military mind can reasonably hope that the attacking divisions can sweep the enemy from the heights north of the Aisne for some time to come. The second group, pointing to the success of the Fran co-American engineers in outwitting out-witting and outgaming the Germans in carrying forward the work of maintaining maintain-ing clear lines of communication, believe that the German line on the Aisne will bo Hanked from the west and that the dj! of the week will see the Germans rSitling desperately to hold the line on the Ailette river. The first, or conservative, group of 1 those assigned to the study of the progress prog-ress of the war present several strong ntfiuments in support of theory that the "jrmany army will be aHe to make a eland on a line overlooking the Aisne. Pershing's Report. They point to the communique received today from General Fershing. They contend con-tend that the opening statement to the ! effect that allies have reaped "the full 1 fruits of the victory" clearly are intended ! as a warning to the people of this cour- ! try not to expect a continued advance hy the allied forces. These observers also ; (state that there is no justification for ! the' belief that General Foch will use! many more reserves in an effort tolbreak the retreating lines of the army cf the j crown prince. : Reserves and many of them must be used to relieve the forces which already , liavo struggled ma-nf ully for days in the most difficult style of" fighting concelv- ' alilp, Kntphasls is placed on the fact that on "10 north bunk of the Aisne, only six ' miles from Soissons. the Germans have rebuilt Fort de Conde, formerly a strong 1 rench fortress which ia supported on all Rides by terrain most favorable for a defending army. It is held that thin point could be ! niarle a powerful keystone for the Ger- man line, being supported to the east; by hijfh ground as far east as Berry-au- 1 Kar one of the great German communlca- ! tlm centers. The ohservers who refuse to accept the 1 foregoing contentions place great faith on the ability of the allies to drive steadily northward, many eminent military experts holding that the ground to the northwest of Soissons does not present insurmountable insurmount-able obstacles to an army such as it appears ap-pears General Foch has now welded into one of the mightiest engines of destruction destruc-tion in military history. These men say that an army winch can overcome a foe numbering at least 800,000 fighting on an interior line, has the reserve strength necessary to drive a wedge into the German Ger-man line to the northwest of Soissons. Should such a maneuver be accomplished it is agreed that a German line of defense de-fense on the Aisne heights would be made at once untenable. Difficult lo Hold Aisne. There appears small reason for the Germans Ger-mans to attempt a great effort to hold the line on the Aisne. The strong Chemin-des-Dames line is only from three to five miles to the northward and by this time all damage to its communicating lines inflicted by artillery has been repaired. Moreover, were the Germans to take up apposition ipon the Aisne, their lines of communication being for the most part unprotected by woods or natural defenses, would be continually under the devastating devastat-ing fire of the allied artillery and airmen. air-men. Of more immediate interest, perhaps, Is the campaign indicated hy the action of the allied line on the Rheims front moving mov-ing across the Vesle. Much importance attaches to the ability of these troops to push forward with all speed, since it would appear that they are offered an opportunity op-portunity to make prisoners and collect great stores of military supplies and booty. They are confronted with a high rolling roll-ing terrain, however, and it is to be expected ex-pected that they will be held up in some quarters. They are aided in large measure meas-ure by the advance to the Franco-American forces at the other side of the salient, for it behooves the retreating army to count well uopn the chances offered them to maintain lines to the rear as a means of escape. |
