8 
LAND & WATER 
August 30, 1917 
left the enemv in no doubt as to the blow that was intended. 
To the four divisions which he had left upon this sector he 
added two to meet that blow, and apparently a third in the 
course of its dcliverv — making seven in all. He was unable 
to prevent its full effect from being reaped, and his inability 
was due to exactly the same cause which operates upon him 
everywhere, the decline in man-power — a decline which would 
already have been decisive but for the interruption of pressure 
upon tlic Eastern front. 
It will be remembered that we went to press last week too 
earlv to do more than record the beginning of this operation. 
Its details would seem to have been as foUows : , 
Upon Monday, August 20th, the artillery preparation 
ha\ing dc:?troyed the enemy's defensive organisation, tlie 
infantiy went forward and secured Avocourt Wood, the 
famous summits of the Mort Homme, the Crown Wood, and 
Cumieres Wood upon tlio left of tlie Meuse. On the right 
bank the French carried Talou Hill, Hill 344 and Hill 240, 
penetrating also into the wood called " The Ditches " (Des 
Tosses) and the wood called " The Thatch Wood " (Chaume). 
By the end of that ftrst day 4,000 unwounded prisoners were 
counted. 
There was a strong re-action before night on the part of the 
enemy, probably conducted by the two supporting divisions 
which he had already brought up. But it failed. 
On the Tuesday the Ridge of Goose Hill, beyond the Crows 
Wood, was entered by the French, and the \illage of Regne- 
\ille at its foot : This upon the left bank of the Meuse. On the 
right bank the new ad\'ance covered Samogneu.x and the 
number of prisoners had risen to over five tliousand. 
On the Wednesday, the 22nd, there was a violent German 
counter-attack on the Mort Homme, which touched the front 
line but was driven out again, following on which the I'^ench 
line was advanced to the outskirts of the ruins of Forges. A 
corresponding counter-attack on the other bank failed with 
considerable losses, and by the evening of th^t day the number 
of prisoners had increased to 6,116 unwoiindcd men (that 
is, including " walking cases " — the prisoners who can pass the 
tellers on foot) in addition to which there were 500 wbimded 
men brought in. 
On Thursday, the 23rd, there was only a srriall French stroke 
on the right bank and a general consolidation of the positions, 
but a full count of the prisoners and captured guns was 
issued : 6,720 of the former and 24 of the latter. 
On Friday came the second principal blow of these opera- 
tions, the French after full artillery preparation attacked at 
dawn and carried the whole of Hill 304, and the Camard Wood 
to the west of it, ad\ancing about 2,000 yards on the average 
and readiing the Forges Brook. 
On Saturday another minor operation put the French in 
possession of some fortified outposts just south of Bethincourt. 
A renewed count of prisoners brought the total up to 8,100. 
It is of real significance and interest to follow the G(!;rman 
accounts of this operation, and I will therefore summarise 
the enemy's despatches and let them speak for themselves in 
the light of what the reader has iust had before him. 
On the Monday night — the night of August 20th, when the 
first French blow had been delivered, the German despatch',' 
after saying that the French were marching " under English 
orders ' — a type of phrase which ought never to be admitted 
in the terse language of military accounts, and which only 
appears when the writer is suffering more than he should 
allow himself to suft'er — tells us that " the battle before Verdun 
is going in our favour," and adds that the fighting on the east 
of the Meuse has not given any results to the French. 
In an earlier communique of -the same day the enemy had 
admitted a "voluntary withdrawal." 
Upon the ne.xt day there comes the phrase " at many places 
the French troops penetrated into our defensive zone in which 
every step forward had to be wrested from our fighting troops 
by sanguinary losses." After these adjectives we get the 
phrase : " Bitter hand-to-hand fighting and powerful 
counter-attacks drove back the enemy almost everywhere." 
And we are further told, for what it is worth, that the struggle 
was mighty, and that it swayed to and fro ; that the measures 
taken by the leaders were splendid ; that the tenacity and 
bravery of the infantry was " typical," and that the termina- 
tion of the day was " satisfactony'." ■ The despatch ends up by 
telling us that both leaders and troops anticipate a favourable 
conclusion. 
On the next day, Wednesday, the German communique 
tells us that all attacks and thrusts were repulsed, and while 
tlie French " forced themselves into the southern part of 
Samogneux," the " dense masses " were " otherwise 
sanguinarily repulsed." 
The despatch describing Thursday's fighting is unimportant 
as was the French despatch of the day, being a day in which 
there was little action. But on Friday we get another of 
these characteristic documents. It will' be remembered that 
Friday was the day in which Hill 304 was carried, and we arc 
told that Hill 304 was " evacuated in accordance with our 
plans." 
On Saturday, the day when the French reached the Forges 
Brook and the little organised posts south of Bethincourt, we 
have m the German despatch the remark that " the French 
sent forward strong forces against our positions on the Forges 
rivulet, and between Malancourt and Bethincourt." And 
that these were " repulsed with heavy losses." 
A tabulation of this sort is well worth making in the present 
phase of the war. h. Bklloc 
Mr. Belloc has been obliged, through indisposition, 
to take a short holiday, and will consequently be 
unable to contribute his usual article next week to 
"Land & Water." 
Special articles have, however, been arranged for 
•hat issue : On the Western Front, by Edmund 
Dane, and On the Italian Front, by Lewis R. 
Freeman. 
The publication of Mr. Belloc s analysis of the 
rematmng German effectives, as estimated by Mr. 
Gerard, is postponed. 
Germany's New Foreign Minister 
By J. Coudurier de Chassaigne 
The K-riter of this article is the well-known London corres- 
pondent of the Paris "Figaro." He fs also President 
of the Foreign Press Association in London. He had many 
and excellent opportunities of studying Baron von Kuhl- 
niann and his methods during the six years the Baron was 
Councillor of the German Embassy in Carlton House terrace. 
DR. VON KUHLMANN, or as he used to be called by 
courtesy,BaronvonKuhlmann, is a fortunate man. 
He is only forty-four, and has already obtained 
the most coveted post in the whole of German 
diplomacy, and has becom.e the chief manipulator of the 
countless Pacifist wire-pullers who will succeed, if we are 
not careful, in winning a diplomatic victory for Germany in 
spite of its military defeat. 
Ihe. man who assumes this gigantic responsibility is ad- 
nurably qualified for his task. Baron von Kuhlmann comes 
througli his father's family, from that upper middle-class 
which lias been recently ennobled after havinfj made a fortune 
in business, and he owes to that modest descent some of his 
rarest gifts ; his common sense, his instinctive knowledge 
of everything connected with commerce and industry and liis 
obviously inherited habits of hard work. For he is as "tenacious 
and patient and energetic as the business man must be who 
wishes (o succeed. He possesses also that quality which is 
so rare among the German nobility, of sympathising only 
superfically with the military caste, while he is profoundly 
attached to the industrial classes, which, for him, represent 
the true future of his country. 
Ke is related, through the family of his wife. Marguerite, 
Baroness Stumm, and through his mother, Anna, Baroness 
Kedw^itz, with the best of the German aristocracy. In t'lat 
way he is connected by his ancestry and his marriage with all 
the governing classes of the Empire, but, as he does not belong 
exclusively to any one class, he is able to estur.ate them all 
at their proper value impartially. • 
Nature has further favouredhim in giving him good looks. 
He IS a fine figure of a man and has none of that obesity 
which IS so common on the other side of the Rhine. Hi's 
pleasant face and smile are full of an independent spirit and 
I'uT .?•* ^'"^*^^ ^" expression of candour and good feiluwsiiip 
that disarms everybody who does not know him well. His 
Jiand-shake IS cordial, rather rough, but giving the impression 
of perfect^ sincerity. In the popular phrase, he is"liail fellow 
well met. Nothing in his outward appearance suggests the 
diplomat— I should say tlie diplomat of the old schooh He has, 
however, charming manners. He has an exquisite polite- 
ness towards everyone who comes to him. but he is so simple, 
so free from any affectation, that one would believe him to be an 
absolutely splendid fellow witliout the least malice in his com- 
position He means everything he says, tliough he docs not 
speak all his thoughts. He has excellent health and appears 
