an hope to have a repetition of the conditions of weather and
darkness which prevailed this week. It should be possible, more or less,
to ascertain the nights in every month in which, given other suitable
circumstances, raids are likely to be made. In view of the probability
that the attacks made by British aviators on the Zeppelin bases at
Duesseldorf and Friedrichshafen caused a delay in the German plans for
making this week's attack, it would appear that the most effective
antidote would be a repetition of such legitimate operations.
JULIUS CAESAR ON THE AISNE
[From The New Yorker Herold (Morgenblatt.)]
It has repeatedly been pointed out that 2000 years ago Julius Caesar
fought on the battlegrounds of the Aisne, which are now the location of
the fierce fighting between the Germans and the French. It is probably
less known, however, that in this present war Caesar's "Commentarii de
Bello Gallico" are used by French officers as a practical text book on
strategy. The war correspondent of the Corriere della Serra reports this
some what astonishing fact.
A few weeks ago he visited his friend, a commanding Colonel of a French
regiment, in his trench, which was furnished with bare necessities only.
In a corner on a small table lay the open volume of "Commentarii
Caesaris," which the visitor took into his hand out of curiosity in
order to see what passage the Colonel had just been reading. There he
found the description of the fight against the Remer, who, at that time,
lived in the neighborhood of the present city of Rheims. Principally
with the aid of his Numidian troops, Caesar at that time had prevented
the Remer from crossing the River Axona, today called the Aisne.
Caesar's camp was only a few kilometers from Berry-au-Bac, in the
vicinity of Pontavert, the headquarters of the division to which the
regiment of the Colonel belonged. This Colonel had received the order to
cross the River Aisne with Moroccans and Spahis, and for this purpose he
had studied the description of Caesar. To the astonished question of the
reporter, what made him occupy his mind with the study of Caesar, the
Frenchman replied:
"Caesar's battle descriptions form a book from which even in this
present day war a great deal may be learned. Caesar is by no means as
obsolete as you seem to think. I ask you to consider, for instance, that
the trenches which have gained so much importance in this war date back
to Julius Caesar."
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