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AMERICANS OUT TO WIN It is just possible Foch will continue on the offensive this year The suggestion that Kupprecht will be used against the ISritish front seems gra ¬ tuitous Haig has maintained a superior attitude toward the foe during the past mouth and in raids and reconnaissance actions proved the high power of his men llaig would jump at the chance to cooperate with the French and Americans to carry out the terms agreed on for the campaign of 1017 French officers have developed the scientific capac ¬ ity of offensive and defensive war with minimum of losses and they will continue to adhere to those tactics Hut the Americans are out to win They will observe reasonable caution but their blood is up now and Fritz must pay According to General March United States Chief of Staff there are 1350000 American troops overseas five corps of t70000 men The United States Army Corps in ¬ cludes six divisions of 43000 men of whom 27000 are combatant and 18000 supply and service troops to the division With that great host available under General rershing it is just possible Foch will call upon llaig and Petain to cooperate with 1ersh ing in an offensive with an objective not only of winning back the terrain lost in March and April 1918 but of driving the invader back to a new line say front Verdutt north along the Meuse to Xamur thence westerly north of Mous and as close back to Brussels and Antwarp as possible tins year The successful British 1917 offensive was not sustained by simultaneous action along the line south of the Somme and east as is possible now Last years campaign dragged on into the mud season Cana ¬ dian troops at Fresnoy could have got into Douai but for the mud It was impossible to get the guns through Both Lille and Douai would soon be taken Lens also would be an easy prey It has long been a charnel house for the enemy It would be idle to put a low estimate on the defensive power of the German army but there has been a tendency to overestimate Prussian prowess Once Foch is ready to strike his allied army under the triumvirate of tried generals llaig Petain and Pershing will respond with uuited high power that will be dismaying to the Germans and set the allied world afire witlt enthusiasm Toronto Mail and Dispatch
