of the depth of penetration.  The lines might have to be rectified; Verdun might have to be abandoned; the Vosges frontier line might have to be drawn in.  But even so the French and British armies would both be intact; both biding their time when, with full force of their own and a million or more American troops, Germany could be beaten.  In short, an attack against the French at any point, while promising new gains in territory, promised nothing in the way of a decision, and, be it remembered, this is Germany’s last effort; it must reach either victory or defeat.  The Battle of Picardy must and will produce a definite, positive result.  It cannot end in indecision.

[Sidenote:  British army trained only for trench warfare.]

[Sidenote:  The French positions.]

[Sidenote:  The British railway connections might be taken.]

An attack against the British offered none of the disadvantages which attended an attack against the French.  The British were stronger it is true.  But this army, unlike that of the French, was trained for but one thing—­trench warfare.  If Germany could restore war in the open—­a war of movement—­this strength might be offset by a wider experience.  In attacking the British, the French could be held in check by defensive tactics with not a great deal of difficulty; as in such operations the terrain was greatly in Germany’s favor.  To take a hurried glimpse of the French positions, we find them in the valley of the Ailette north of the Chemin des Dames facing the high slopes of the plateau on which is found Laon.  In the Champagne they are facing a high rolling country, studded with good artillery positions and points of observation.  In the Vosges, their problem is identical with that of the Germans—­forcing the gaps in a barrier otherwise impassable.  There would be then a minimum of danger from the French while Germany was engaged on the British front.  Moreover, behind the British line was, first, Amiens, through which passed the great railroad systems from Calais, Boulogne, and Abbeville, binding together the British north of the Somme to the French in the south.  With Amiens in German hands this connection would be badly ruptured.  And farther on still was the sea, which, if Germany could reach it, would physically separate the great Allied army into two armies, without connection, each of which could be dealt with separately.  And unlike an advance through Champagne, the farther the Germans pushed through, the closer the Allies came to total disaster and defeat.  Germany, therefore, selected the British front for attack and took up the task of destroying the British army.

[Sidenote:  The main blow is to fall along the Oise.]

[Sidenote:  Plan to drive through Amiens.]

[Sidenote:  High ground near Lens and Ypres to be retaken.]