January 30, 1915, 
LAND AND WATER 
THE WAR BY LAND. 
By HILAIRE BELLOC. 
ROTE.— Thti Artlcl* htt been lubBttted to thi Preii Barcan, which doei not object to the pobllcatfon ai ctniored asd takei n* 
rcipoDiIbillt; for the corrtctaeit of tho itatementi. 
In accordaac* with tho reqalrementi of tho Preii Bnrean, tho potltloni of troopt on Plant lllnitratls; thli Artlcio mnit only bo 
regarded a> approximate, and no definite itrenfth at any point It indicated. 
THE WESTERN FIELD. 
THE news from the western front in the 
course of the last week has involved no ap- 
preciable movement of troops. Indeed, 
the mark of all the last few days has 
been that throughout the whole field (by 
land) the campaign has been stationary. The line 
at Soissons stands just where it did, as does every 
part of the western front ; even in Alsace, where 
very large German reinforcements have failed to 
take the wooded height of the Hartsmann Weiler- 
kopf which overlooks Steinbach and Thann. 
The real interest of the time is the approach 
of that moment — now not far distant — when the 
German Empire shall begin to put forward its new 
formations which are also its last reserves. 
How these will be used, and where, are the 
main points upon which all speculation now turns, 
clear that if ever he can bring large reinforcements 
of sufficiently good material for the action he 
should try in his first ncAV offensive in the West to 
invest Verdun, unless some political folly attracts 
him to the mere name of Reims, as it attracted him 
to the mere name of Calais. 
It is evident that a really successful offensive 
down the line of the Argonne would be the shortest 
way of closing the buckle, of which the wedge at 
St. Mihiel is the clasp, and to conceal the massing 
of men under modern conditions a great belt of 
woodland is perhaps the best opportunity. 
In the same way the French, for their offen- 
sive, have already considered the Vosges and its 
forest. But the advantage of woods in concealing 
a concentration is set off by the disadvantage of 
woods as a field for attack. What seems conceiv- 
able is the use of such a belt as the Argonne for 
PLAN SnOWlNO TUB SITUATION IN THB VICIKITY OF VCROUN. 
and obviously the most vital matter offered to our concentration, and thence the delivery of an offen- 
judgment, sive stroke southward and eastward from it across 
I hope next week to have room for its discus- the Clermontois, the fairly open land beyond Cler" 
sion at length, meanwhile there is some interest in mont and towards Triaucourt, that is, ialong the 
remarking the very active efforts the enemy con- upper valley of the Aire. It is evident that this 
tinues to make in the Argonne, because it is pretty movement, if it is successful, will isolate Verdun, 
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