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Show GERMANS FEEL MOST CONFIDENT General headquarters of the German armies (in France). Jan. 16, via London, Lon-don, Jan. 19. p. m. "More of Biich of- fensive operations in the campaign of the allies can only be welcome to us "The British are good fighters, but j an army without the necessary offl-I offl-I cers and noncommissioned officers is scarcely an army. "We are fully prepared for any attempt at-tempt at a landing in Belgium; the sooner it comes the better." These are some of the phrases, full of quiet optimism, of Lieutenant General Gen-eral Erich von Falkenhayn, the German Ger-man minister of war and chief of staff of German armies in the field, who today granted the Associated Press the first interview given any correspondent The general talked frankly of the prospects of the war, which he evidently evi-dently does not expect will be a short one. . General von Falkenhayn is the man j responsible, under the emperor, for j the strategy in the great world war He Is comparatively young, as commanders com-manders go the youngest of any of I the leaders of the European armies, I with a tremendous capacity lor hard, concentrated work. Hand on Throttle. He is at his de6k in an old French government building, which houses the German general staff, from dawn until late at night. An unbroken stream of officers with reports and plans calling for his decision flows ' all day long in and out the little i square conference room, with its table loaded with maps. He performs the 1 dual functions of minister of war and chief of the general staff, and has little time lor exercise r recreat am He sleeps at headquarters with his hand. Be it were on the throttle ol the big machine, and yet his slender figure is as erect, his manner almost as vigorous as the day he flashed into public notice with his meraoraM- defense de-fense of the German army In the Zabern dohate in the reicbstag |