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INTRODUCTION 7

INTRODUCTION

"To attack always, to attack everywhere, and to overlap in the attack" is the essential principle of German military training. This is the principle which is acted upon when hostilities definitely open and the diplomatist retires into the background. There is only one means by which it can be carried into effect, and that is to have overwhelming numbers of men ready to pour into the field and bear down opposing forces by sheer weight. At Li?ge, at Namur, at Charleroi, or in the Vosges, the mowing down of the invading hosts by rifle or cannon must have seemed to the defensive troops as wearying and useless a task as cutting off the heads of a hydra; for two German soldiers appeared to rise out of the ground for every single one that fell.

This was one great advantage with which the German army entered upon the war. For years past strategic railways have been under construction on the Belgian border--railways designed, not for the conveyance of goods or passenger traffic , but for the conveyance of German troops from Cologne and other places to north-east France through Belgium and Luxemburg. The plans of the German General Staff were admirably conceived. One observer compared the advance of the invading army to a human tidal wave spreading through the valley of the Meuse. True, there were one or two small hitches. It was clear from the stories told by the prisoners taken by the Belgians at Li?ge that the German commissariat was unexpectedly defective. Again, insufficient preparations had been made for besieging Li?ge itself, and it was not for some days that it was found possible to bring up the great siege guns which should have been there from the very beginning. These faults, however, were not the result of negligence so much as of conceit and of too great a belief in the invulnerability of the German arms. According to a message quoted in the present volume, the Kaiser waved his hand through the air and said: "I will go through Belgium like that." He did not; and the delay consequent upon the stubborn defence of Li?ge interfered with the German plans at the outset and gave the French time to complete their mobilisation. The effects of this delay are, indeed, incalculable, especially in view of the unexpected rapidity of the Russian mobilisation, and General Rennenkaempf's advance through East Prussia. Still, once the Germans realised that they had to meet resistance in Belgium it must be acknowledged that they took immediate steps to break it down. Large siege guns were hurried to the front, with the result, so far as can be ascertained from the meagre news which is allowed to pass the Censors on both sides of the Channel, that four of the strongest forts at Namur fell after a three days' siege. Nothing, at first, seemed to be able to stop, or even to check, the advance of 2,000,000 Teutons.

Although only a few details have been allowed to leak out, the admitted facts all go to show that the German onslaught on France through Belgium has been successful, but delayed. It is said that the invaders expected to be in Paris within two weeks of crossing the frontier, after which they expected to be able to turn the bulk of their mighty army towards Russia before the Tsar's forces could be properly mobilised--before, at any rate, they could take the field and begin their advance into East Prussia. To this extent the plan has miscarried, thanks to the gallant resistance of Li?ge. Unless the Germans were in full possession of the railways at Li?ge and Namur an entry into France would have been dangerous, since the free passage of reinforcements could not be guaranteed. As it was, the Russians were in possession of Eydkuhnen before the Germans were in possession of Li?ge; and the German advance on Namur coincided in point of time with the Russian advance on Insterburg.

While the German plans have miscarried to this extent, it would be foolish not to realise that they have succeeded in other respects. A glance at the map will show this; for if the official communiqu?s tell us little else they tell us, at least, what the approximate position of the armies was at given dates. On August 15th and 16th, for instance, and even, we may assume, on the 17th, the German army stretched in an irregular line from Maastricht to Alt Breisach, through Huy, Arlon, Longwy, and Metz. The southern portion of it, composed chiefly of Bavarians, lay from Ch?teau Salins to Strassburg, and thence to the end of the long line in the neighbourhood of Alt Breisach. The French army lay opposite in a nearly parallel line. French regiments had reached and reinforced the Belgian lines at Malines and Louvain, and the main body of the French army was spread out along a front of nearly three hundred miles from Tirlemont to M?lhausen, via Namur, M?zi?res, Verdun, Sarreburg, Cirey, and Colmar.

As the Germans had opened their southern campaign by invading French territory at Cirey and Longwy, the position of the French army at this time makes it clear that General Joffre had taken the offensive. The Germans had been driven back over their original lines; Alsace had been invaded by the French; Altkirch and M?lhausen had been captured, and even Strassburg was menaced. This right wing of the French forces--the wing which had been thrust forward into Alsace--was based, of course, on the impregnable fortresses of Belfort and Epinal. As the subsequent developments showed, this invasion of Alsace was a strategic error, and this was acknowledged almost in so many words before a week had passed.

Why, at this early stage, a forward move was made in this direction was never explained. There were critics who not unreasonably called it "fancy work." Certainly, it was to be expected that the Germans would advance from their southern base of Strassburg, and their central base of Metz; but the really serious work of the campaign, as everybody expected, was to be in the north-east. The advance into Alsace gave General Joffre an opportunity of issuing a proclamation to the Alsatians which, in view of their treatment by the Germans for more than a generation, naturally rejoiced them. But it was an advance which had to be paid for in another direction, when the main body of the German army began to make its way across the Upper Meuse.

The result of the first stages of the Charleroi fighting made one or two things evident. In the first place, it was then known that the strength of the opposing German armies had been considerably under-estimated; they had succeeded in bringing up very strong reinforcements, with field guns and adequate munitions, through Li?ge. Secondly, it was seen that the French had not advanced northwards in sufficiently strong force. General Joffre had concentrated on Alsace and the Ardennes, rather than on the Namur front. The official statement published in Paris shows the French position at the commencement of the battle:

An army starting from Northern Woevre and proceeding towards Neufchateau is attacking the German forces which have marched through the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg on the right bank of the Semois, and are going in a westerly direction.

Another army, which had started from the region of Sedan, is crossing the Ardennes, and is attacking the German forces which are marching between the Lesse and the Meuse.

A third army, from the region of Chimay, has begun an attack on the German right between the Sambre and the Meuse. This army is supported by the English army, proceeding from the Mons region.

In this statement, as Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett remarked at the time, several very important facts stood forth clearly:

The French armies had never held the line of the Meuse and of the Sambre in any strength.

The German armies, before the commencement of the fighting at Charleroi, were in possession of the country contained within the triangle, of which Namur is the apex, between the Sambre and the Meuse.

Before some of its forts fell, Namur must have been entirely isolated, and attacked not only from the north but also from the south; and the French armies were not in a position to reinforce the garrison unless they sent forward some detachments before the Germans crossed the Sambre.

r boy grow up--"

"He's growing up fine; and I am going in to see him."

"Mr. Tilman!"

"Mr. Tilman--no! No, please. I'm sorry. Let the boy scrawl a bit; perhaps it won't hurt him. Go in and see him if you must, but do try not to upset him or-- All right, all right. But please Mr. Tilman, my switch--"

"Very well Nana. I'll leave it. This time."

"Thank you, Mr. Tilman."

"So we understand each other, Nana. Though, matter of fact, I'm hanged if I ever did quite see why you senior-level robots get so worked up about your identities."

"Wouldn't you, Mr. Tilman?"

"Of course. But--well, yes, I suppose I do see, in a way. Let's go see Bennie-boy."

So Ben Tilman went into the nursery and enjoyed every second of a fast fifteen-minute roughhouse with his round-faced, laughing, chubby son and heir. No doubt it was very bad, just after supper. But Nana, with a rather humanly anxious restraint, confined herself to an unobtrusive look of disapproval.

He left Bennie giggling and doubtless upset, at least to a point of uneagerness for Nana's bedtime story about Billie the oldtime newsboy, who sold the Brooklyn Bridge.

So then he was run through a fast ten-minute shower, shave and change by Valet. He floated downstairs just as Betty came out of the cocktail lounge to say, "Code 462112 on the approach indicator. Must be the Stoddards. They always get every place first, in time for an extra drink."

"Fred and Alice, yes. But damn their taste for gin, don't let Barboy keep the cork in the vermouth all evening. I like a touch of vermouth. I wonder if maybe I shouldn't--"

"No, you shouldn't mix the cocktails yourself and scandalize everybody. You know perfectly well Barboy really does do better anyway."

"Well, maybe. Everything all set, hon? Sorry I was late."

"No trouble here. I just fed Robutler the base program this morning and spent the rest of the day planning my side of our Sell. How to tantalize the girls, pique the curiosity without giving it away. But you know--" she laughed a little ruefully--"I sort of miss not having even the shopping to do. Sometimes it hardly seems as though you need a wife at all."

Ben slid an arm around her waist. "Selling isn't the only thing robots can't do, sugar." He pulled her close.

"Ben! They're at the door."

They were, and then in the door, oh-ing and ah-ing over this and that. And complimenting Barboy on the martinis. Then the Wilsons came and the Bartletts and that was it.

"Three couples will be right," Ben had analyzed it. "Enough so we can let them get together and build up each others' curiosity but not too many for easy control. People that don't know us so well they might be likely to guess the gimmick. We'll let them stew all evening while they enjoy the Country Gentleman House-Warming hospitality. Then, very casually, we toss it out and let it lie there in front of them. They will be sniffing, ready to nibble. The clincher will drive them right in. I'd stake my sales reputation on it." If it matters a damn, he added. But silently.

They entertained three couples at their house-warming party. It was a delightful party, a credit to Ben, Betty and the finest built-in house robots the mind of Amalgamated could devise.

Then they floated off upstairs together, ostensibly to see Nana and little Bennie.

Fred Stoddard: "Some place they have here, eh? Off-beat. A little too advanced for my taste, this single dwelling idea, but maybe--Ben sure must have landed something juicy with Amalgamated to afford this. What the devil is he pushing, anyway?"

Scoville Wilson : "Beats me. You know, before dinner I cornered him at the bar to see if I could slip in a word or two of sell. Damned if he didn't sign an order for my Cyclo-sell Junior Tape Library without even a C level resistance. Then he talked a bit about the drinks and I thought sure he was pushing that new model Barboy. I was all set to come back with a sincere 'think it over'--and then he took a bottle from the Barboy, added a dash of vermouth to his drink and walked off without a word of sell. He always was an odd one."

Lucy Wilson : "Oh no! I knew it wasn't the Barboy set. They wouldn't have him set so slow. Besides didn't you hear the way she carried on about the nursery and that lovely Nana? That must have been a build-up, but Ben goofed his cue to move in on Sco and me for a close. Doesn't Amalgamated handle those nurseries?"

Tom Bartlett: "Amalgamated makes almost anything. That's the puzzle. I dunno--but it must be something big. He has to hit us with something, doesn't he?"

Belle Bartlett: "Who ever heard of a party without a sell?"

Nancy Stoddard: "Who ever heard of a party going past ten without at least a warm-up pitch? And Betty promised Fred to send both Ben and Bennie to the Clinic for their Medchecks. You know we have the newest, finest diagnosticians--"

Fred Stoddard: "Nancy!"

Lucy Wilson: "Sh-h-h! Here they come."

Smiling, charming--and still not an order form in sight--Ben and Betty got back to their guests. Another half hour. Barboy was passing around with nightcaps. Lucy Wilson nervously put a reducegar to her sophisticated, peppermint-striped lips.

Quickly Ben Tilman was on his feet. He pulled a small, metal cylinder from his pocket with a flourish and held it out on his open palm toward Lucy. A tiny robot Statue of Liberty climbed from the cylinder, walked across Ben's hand, smiled, curtsied and reached out to light the reducegar with her torch, piping in a high, thin voice, "Amalgamated reducegars are cooler, lighter, finer."

"Ben! How simply darling!"

"Do you like it? It's a new thing from Amalgamated NovelDiv. You can program it for up to a hundred selective sell phrases, audio or visio key. Every salesman should have one. Makes a marvelous gift, and surprisingly reasonable."

"So that's it, Ben. I just love it!"

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