In the depots in which the new soldiers are being trained the services
of many officers and non-commissioned officers discharged as
convalescents after being wounded are utilized in order to give a
practical turn to the instruction. There are still many voluntary
enlistments, and with all these resources of men the army can count upon
reinforcements soon to be available which will considerably augment its
offensive power.
The quality of the troops has improved perceptibly since the beginning
of the war. The men have become hardened and used to war, and their
health--largely owing to the excellence of the commissariat--is
extremely satisfactory. In spite of the severity of the Winter hardly
any cases of disease of the respiratory organs have occurred, and the
sanitary returns of the army show an appreciable improvement on those of
the preceding Winter.
With regard to the reserves, experience has verified the dictum of the
Serbian and Bulgarian Generals in the war of 1913, namely, that "two
months in the field are necessary in order to get at the full value of
reserves." Our infantry is now accustomed to the rapid and thorough
"organization" of the defensive. In August it neither liked nor had the
habit of using the spade. Today those who see our trenches are
astounded. They are veritable improvised fortresses, proof against the
77-millimeter gun and often against artillery of higher calibre. During
the last five months not a single encounter can be cited in which our
infantry did not have the advantage over the German infantry. All the
enemy's attacks have been repulsed, except to the north of Soissons,
where their success was due to the flooded state of the Aisne and the
carrying away of our bridges. Our attacks, on the other hand, have
yielded important results, and have been carried out with plenty of
spirit, although without the imprudence which cost us such heavy losses
in August.
The cavalry has made remarkable progress. Throughout October this branch
was called on to eke out the inadequate numbers of the infantry, and
showed itself perfectly adapted to the necessities of fighting on foot.
Several regiments of cavalry have been used as infantry, and, armed with
rifles, have rendered the most valuable services.
The artillery has displayed a superiority in the use of its admirable
material, which is recognized by the Germans themselves.
_LONDON, March 27, (Correspondence of The Associated Press.)--Further
installments of the French official review of the condition of the
French Army after six months of war have been obtained by The Associated
Press. The sixth installment deals with material, artillery, transport,
and supplies, and the seventh takes up the situation of the German Army
and makes an analysis of the German forces in the field and available
for service._
_The first chapter of the seventh installment, headed "The German
Effort," opens with a statement as to the German forces at the beginning
of the campaign. The writer says:_
The military effort of Germany at the outset of the campaign exceeded
all anticipations. Her design was to crush the French Army in a few
weeks under a tremendous mass of troops. Nothing was neglected to bring
that mass together.
The number of German army corps in time of peace is twenty-five. When
war began the German General Staff put in the field on the two theatres
of operations: 1, as fighting troops, (active, reserve, Ersatz or
Landwehr,) sixty-one army corps; 2, as troops to guard communications
and territory, formations of the Landsturm.
In October six and a half new army corps made their appearance, plus a
division of sailors--in all seven corps. From the end of November to the
end of December there was only an insignificant increase, consisting of
the division of sailors. In January, 1915, the number of fighting
formations put into line by the German Army was therefore sixty-nine
army corps, divided as follows:
Active corps, twenty-five and a half; reserve corps, twenty-one and a
half; Ersatz brigades, six and a half; reserve corps of new formation,
seven and a half, and corps of Landwehr, eight and a half.