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:12 .. THE FATHERLAND -'
Four Weeks of,German Strategy
By the Military Expert of “The Fatherland".
(In the first Number of THE FATHERLAND we announced that it was our purpose "to review, week by week the
actual events of the war so far as they can be authoritatively ascertained.”
We delayed the introduction of this
column because the news was confused, and the web of lies span in London seemed to shut out the sun. Since the wire-
less by its occassional flashes has made it possible to app
roximate the truth, we shall from now on print a military re-
view prepared especially for us by one of the leading authorities in this country. Only the real unquestionable facts as
admitted by the governments will be considered and the reader will not be misled by unsubstantiated rumors and fakes.)
- HERE is good reason for reviewing today the events
T which have kept the whole world in breathless ex-
-citement duringthe last month, and which without doubt
will bring about changes of the map of the old world in a
way not yet clearly discemable but nevertheless to be ex-
pected.
Four great powers are fighting for their existence and
for the preservation or extension of their respective spheres
of influence, and the result of this gigantic conflict whose
consequences are being felt by every country on the globe,
is now nearing the conclusion of its first chapter.
Leaving out of consideration the reserve organizations of
--the different countries, whose strength is not known to out-
‘siders, the ACTIVE field armies are the main factor on
which success or defeat depends.
We know that forty German and Austrian Army Corps
are Fighting against Fifty-Six and One-Half French, Eng-
rlish, Belgian and Russian Corps, 1'. e.
France 21 corps Germany 24 corps
Algerian 1 corps
Senegal troops Austria ' 16 corps
Belgium lV; corps
England 3 corps
Servia 5 corps
‘-Russia 25 corps
Total 56% corps Total 40 corps
in consequence of her unfavorable geographical position
-Germany stands practically unprotected in the midst of this
overwhelming force of fifty-six and one-half corps, which
besides may be greatly strengthened from day to day by
the use of the French African troops, and the forces of
-Great Britain's dominions Canada, Egypt, lndia and Aus-
tralia, as long as the sea remains open for English shipping.
it is true that Frederic the Great said long ago that the
:good Lord is always with the strongest battallions, but the
events of the last four weeks seem after all to confirm the
old truth that numbers alone do not decide battles, but
rather the spirit that is alive in the armies and their leaders,
and that this and the irresistible resolution to vanquish the
-enemy are the real and most important quality which make
an army victorious.
When it became known in Berlin on the first of August
that forty automobiles occupied by French officers had
reached Brussels, and that the fortresses Liege and Namur
were being strengthened with the assistance of French en-
lgineers, the German General Staff decided to act quickly
and to open the way through Belgium for the Gerrnan troops.
Six unmobilizcd infantry brigades with small detachments
of artillery and cavalry attacked this modern fortress, sur-
rounded and protected by armored forts, and took possession
of it after three days’ fighting. The rest of the armored
forts was only taken after the heavy artillery had been
brought up.
While this action required some sacrifices, its success
paid many times for the losses incurred.
The way through Belgium was open. The small but
brave Belgian army did everything in its power to delay the
forward movement of the Germans. The population of
the country assisted the army where it could, inflamed by
the insincere policy of one-sidcd neutrality the'Belgian
government had followed for many years.
When, however, about the middle of August, the German
armies had succeeded in reaching the position assigned to
them, and the forward movement began in earnest, it was
soon evident that the enemy had boasted too loudly and too
early that Belgian courage had given him the time necessary
to assemble his forces.
By the simultaneous advance of the German armies the
Belgian and French forces to the north and the south of
Brussels were pushed back, Namur invested and this modern
fortress taken after a very short bombardment. The French
forces that had invaded Alsace (Vll. French corps and one
reserve division) were thrown back into the Vosges‘moun-
tains after heavy fighting.
While the army of the North occupied Brussels and in-
vested Antwerp, the other armies advanced without interrup-
tion along the Meuse, through Belgian Luxemburg and the
Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. Here the army of Duke Al-
brecht of Wuerttemburg defeated a strong French force at
Neufchatcau on August 20th, and the army of Crown Prince
Wilhelm at least five French corps northwest of Dledenhofen.
French forces which had in the meantime taken the‘of-
fensive in Lorraine and whose advance guards had reached
the line Saarburg-Moerchingen, were thrown back with
heavy losses after a hard fight upon Nancy by Crown Prince
Rupprecht of Bavaria. The result of this battle was so
decisive that the French government concluded to abandon
the offensive against Alsace-Lorraine entirely, and to con-
fine itself to the defence of the fortified line I-Spinal-Belfort.
in the meantime the German army of the Meuse had be-
gun its attack of the French forces between the Meuse and
‘he Sambrfi. and for several days hard and extremely stub-
b0"1 fighting ‘O01? Place around Charleroi and Givet. The
Alsace English corps extended the French left wing from
Valenciennes to Mons, in order to protect it against the
German “my of the North which had marched through
Brussels in a south-westerly direction.
An offensive movement on a grand scale along both sides
of the Mouse, through Luxemburg, Lorraine and Alsace, as
planned by the allies. has been changed into defenSlVe
operations since the middle of August.
Alter fighting of the most severe kind the Anglo-French
armies are being pressed back everywhere, they defended
themselves stubbornly on the line Quesnoy-Maubeuge-
Mellefes. but were compellel to retreat to the new line
Cambrai-Le Cateau-Cuise.
The French corps defeated by the Crown Prince in Lux-
embllfg. are withdrawing on a line northward from Verdun.
Their retreat to the protection. of the fortresses along the
Meuse is cut off. They are being pushed back in the di-
"’‘3'‘‘‘’“ 0f Dunrsleflay Upon Rethel-Signy l’Abbaye.
In the meantime the army of the Norm has advanced by.
forced marches, occupied Lille and thrown back the French
troops sent to Arras for the protection of their left wing, to
l33Pa11me. The left wing of the English army is vainly HY‘
mg to maintain its position near St. Quentin, but is out-
flanked and must retreat in the direction of La Fere.