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Show FROM TI MARNE TO THE AISNE When General Von Kluck fought his way out ot tho trap set for him near Paris and started north, he was exactly In tho position of the Allies during the long retreat from the Sa'A-bro Sa'A-bro to tho Marne. All that time German Ger-man strategy had labored, first to encircle tho allied left and roll lt up Interposing between it and Paris; ho-cond, ho-cond, to crush the allied army when at laBt lt made a stand at the Marne. Now tho Allies on Von Kluck's front and flunk were driving at tho same object. , From September 7 to 14 Vci Kluck went north. On tho 13th, with their right flank protected by tho Olso beyond be-yond which to the west a strong flank guard stood at Noyon, seventy miles north ot Paris, tho German forces began to tako root behind Solssons, with tho Alsno in their front. Un dcr tho pressure they gave slightly and stood on tho heights to the noith from Laon east through Craonue, across tho Alsne north ot Rhelms to the Argonue, beyond which the Crown Prince was struggling desperately to get out of trouble. On this Una Von) Buelow, Von Hansen, and the Grand Duke Albrecht had taken position, falling back and keplng in touch with Von Kluck. In all this time French strategy revealed re-vealed Itself In an effort to get on the right flank of Von Kluck, in pressing, hard upon the center at the same time, and in a hard drive to catch the Crown Prince. In tho general advance ot the Germans, tho mission of the Crown Prlnco had been to surround the barrier fortresses of Verdun and Toul, while General Von Hecrlngen, coming west against Nancy Nan-cy from Alsace Lorralno, had endeavored endeav-ored to cut them off to tho south. Had this move succeeded there would then have been opened a short road between the Germans and their own fortresses and railroads at Metz and Thionvillo and the long nnd dangerous danger-ous route through Belgium could -bo abandoned and the 'thousands of soldiers sol-diers occupied in guarding it rcleas ed. When It failed, It loft tho Crown Prlnco west of Verdun, still untaken, with his line of retreat in peril, bo-cause bo-cause the French at Verdun wore on' both sides ot the Meuso and nearer than he to his road home. Thug In tho fighting that followed and still continues the object of the French was and Is to attompt to turn both flanks ot the German position between the Olse and the Ucuse, while at the same time exortlng pressure pres-sure on tho center to forco a general retreat out of Franco. As for tho Germans' plan lt has .not yet been fully revealed. Their stand might mean that they wore making n tremendous rearguard fight to lot their heavy artillery traveling over muddy roads, get safely away. It might mean that they wero endoav-orlug, endoav-orlug, by severe resistance In the center cen-ter and on tho right, to provenf the Allies from sending reinforcements against the Crown Prince. But aside from those defonslvo operations, all preliminary to a further retreat this tlmo behind tho Mouse, It might also mean that the Germans, having failed fail-ed lu their flrs great drive to do stroy tho French army on the Marne had fallen back to a selected position strongly fortified In advanco to roflt to replenish their ammunition ex-hausted ex-hausted In the recent lighting, to await the arrival of rolnforcemcnts from East Prussia boforo udvancliiK again. It tho last wero tho caso it might bo oxpected that presently they viuld begin to strike out to regain tho offensive of-fensive and certain movements aboul Septcmbor 17 nccincd to confirm such a vlow. As for tho Allies, it became a matter ot Bravest Importance for them to keep tho Germans on tho defensive, de-fensive, to compel them to continue the retreat boforo they wero strengthened strength-ened by now regiments, for If tboy resumed tho offensive the victory on the Marno might prove to have been only a technical victory nnd tho battlo have to bo fought over again. Tho Battlo of Cambral proved to be the dofoat ot the German plan to envelop the Allies and achieve n so-cond so-cond Sedan. Tho Battlo of tho Marne, Mar-ne, like the Battlo of Gettysburg was a .victory for an army standing and accepting a battlo which ,lf unfavorable, unfav-orable, might have brought national disaster. The Battlo of the Alsne, still undecided, now, seems to be a contest to determlno whether the Allies Al-lies can drlvo the Germans out ot France, put them definitely on the defensive In the western field, or whether, after a brief retreat and a short stand on the defensive, they can resume their march on Paris, again driving defeated forces before them. From Allies vs Germany: Strategy ot the Campaigns, by Frank II. SImonds, In The American Review Re-view of Reviews for October. um |