GERMAN STRATEGY Sin,...-One would have thought that the Germans from
Spain—Rou- mania (and beyond) had shown very good consecutive long-range vision—a good deal better vision than ourselves, in fact. Surely ton Kludc's " swerve " from Paris was in accordance with well- established principles of destroying the enemies' field forces before getting messed up with fortified cities?—and the defeat of the Mame due to the gap, which he was trying to close, between himself and the next army, and, as we like to think, to the threat of our army advancing (should I say driving?) into it, as well as to Checks further /1St. As regards failure to invade on June 5th. Surely the Germans could not just have embarked on a flotilla and got across as casually Is that with any chanee of success (was there a flotilla ready?). Surely considerable and lengthy preparations would have beep necessary in any case, quite enough to give us the chance of resistance; and would it be Quite a fantastic guess that the completeness of the German success against France was as unexpected to them as to others? Strittegicus' articles have been a comfort, but I confess this last is rather a blow to my confidence. By the way, it is odd that while he accuses the Germans of opportunism, &c., the Sunday Times' critic says they rarely show adaptability or initiative, though to the layman they seem to have been the first, if not to invent, to adopt defence in depth and infiltration attack, and to have owed their victory in France very greatly to skilful subordinate exploitation of unexpected. successes. Strategicus was, I think, the first to stigmatise the idiotic and defeatist beleaguered fortress myth. It would be wise now to have a little less of the equally sententious and odious "Battle of or for . Britain." The attack on London is only a part of the battle of or for Germany and Italy. In any case, the use of the beastly word Britain, besides being historically (overdriven word) inappropriate to any part of thc United Kingdom except perhaps some small part of Wales, is a poor -compliment to Northern Ireland, which has played such a great part in our joint history and which has always repudiated the horrid calumny for its own country—as also, of course, only more so, the Irish Free State. N. E. F. CORBETT. Orchard Cottage, Fetcham, Leatherhead.
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