Steel Belted Parts Prepared to Defy

,'v: 4 8 THE 'SUN, SUNDAY, AUGUST. 80, STEEL BELTED PARTS PREPARED TO DEFY FOR 1 MONTHS A SIEGE , BY; MILLIONS OF GERMANS Herculean Task That Confronts Kaiser's Army in the In-- ' J 4?" 'VV vestment oi the Most strongly Fortified City in the World --French Have Been Strengthening Defences for Years for Second Coming of Their Ancient Enemies io Parts' Is the Herman bat- armies of Itussla than was first imag. l'arls a parallel among steel, withering stands without ON tle cry Cold Incd? Would this leave a sufficient fortified cities and Is the greatest cli- ylir.i(tul anil the relentless forco to hold the French In check max of military engineering cunning. mull of th? Kaiser's ijray horde uround l'arls, especially as they will More than once opposition was raised are steadily driving the allies ark upon undoubtedly be able to count upon fur- to the stupendous amounts Involved In the Frcn h U fences ruthlessly getting ther substantial assistance from Great the protective works, but the French nearer and .nearer to this Parisian capi- Britain" Time alone will tell, but what have realized their national . peril and ta) Can the Hermans reach their goal? we ate fortunately able to IscIokh have provided the needful funds. For And If the get within striking distance! about the Parisian defences and the thrifty people It Is not difficult to realize ef l'arls can they Invest and starve) preparations at the French capital will the antagonism to further appropria- the city to surrender ns they did In help even a layman to grasp something tions for thee forts, because available of the gigantic task likely to confront figures show that nearly $500,000,000 way Pnri3, confident It is yet a long to and the Germans. nas gone tor their building and re- -' ten should the allies fall to keep the To begin with. Paris enjoys an enor- modelling. The significant part of this German!! In check Mill the blgget task mous advantage strategically because staggering outlay lies In the fact that U ahead of th Kaiser's troops. The In. of natural conditions, and the running well nlgh all of It has gone toward pro- vestment of l'arls would prove a vastly Trench military engineer has availed viding defences on the north, the east thtfefent proposition from that which himself of nil of these topographical ac- and the south. In short, this protec- the soldiers of the fatherland had to cidents. Paris lies at the confluence of tive work blocks the pnths leading east- restate forty-thre- e, years ago; the. threo rivers the Seine, the Marne and ward townrd the German frontier. French have prepared for this second the Olso -- and It Is by the valleys of The defences' enemy of Paris com- coming of their ancient and the these three streams that the enemy pared with the of 1S70. a desperately dis- forts are as we., ome Is apt to he would hnvo to coino when advancing much of an advance a the modern couraging nlfulr. Naturally, the French Into France from the northern and magazine rifle Is upon Icpt as secret t'rontlers, the old muzzle military authorities hne eastern The valley of tho loading muske's of a century back. The M possible the details of thlr defences. trend directly to tho historic circle formed hy 1870, Is common property the forts of But a great deal "gap of Uelfort" which stands between lying beyond the walls of the city at DEFENS5 regarding their general disposition, and the Swiss Jura and the southern distances ranging Vosges. from one to three by patient ichearch some particular The Marne valley leads to the miles, then had an arc of gleaned which deep opening something have been here and there between the Ardennes and llku forty miles, nnd within com- of char- Vosges. valley their afford a pretty fair Index the the northern .while the bined ronea sheltered an area of about acter of the formications which stand of the Olse Is the logical highroad from IJ square miles, of paths by which Helglum. which quite half squ.irel in the various was overspread with fairly thickly pop- logically tn nd- - the Germans would have History has emphasized repeatedly ulated suburbs. Then the region had vani" upon I'm is. how all roads along these vallevs make In the neighborhood of 1.700.000 Inhabi easy ap- The strategic significance) of the Pa- naturally relatively paths for tants. Including the soldiers present for. risian defences hm been mateilally al- proach to Paris from the east and tne citys defence. Beyond this en- tered l the ileveloiunenta since war north, and the military problem Is, ac- ceinte of forts, at a Judicious distance, wa declared rndouhtcdly the unex- cordingly, that of defending these some-wh- lay the Investing Germans, nnd allow, pected opposition on the part of the Bel-pia- narrowed lanes by which the tra- lug '5,000 men per mile, and the arc and the British cooperation with ditional foe must come. Therefore, the one of about fifty miles, that meant a the French have added to the gravity tusk nt the defence Is strategically aided permanent force on the firing lines of of the problem confronting the Kaiser's by this natural prescribing of the routei IJO.OOO troops General Staff, because the Incident dc-la- which the Germans must adopt whether To-da- y l'arls hi n population come by a single one or movo of LYON 9 have given the lllisslans the time thrv quite 3,n00.oon sou: and the outermost fO mo- simultaneously over all in which to effect their complete three fortified :one cover, mor- - than double TO OKLCAN8 bilization. There Is every reason to sup. Way back In 1S40 M. Thler planned the distance of that embraced by ... the pnse that the Intent Ion of the Germans the advance fortifications of the capl lu.iiivu inriH o: js.u. inaeetl. the en- - was to strike swiftly and overpower-Injrl- y tni. men supplementing me uamemeni3 vuons or north, enst and south I'arlo the enemy to the south, and then girding the city by a belt of sixteen do-- 1 are divided into thrro great Intrenched A, B, ,C Intrenched, camps Nos. No, 13 .Fort de Villiers. No. 27 Fort de Villeneuve St. No. 40 Fort de St. Cyr. n on to Paris to effect Its Invest- Inched forts on the northeast and south- campfl. with their margins protected i, a and 3 respectively. No. 14 Fort de .Champijgny. Georges. No. 41 1 done, with troops left niiproachi-- s How well he bat-N- o. ment This and east to Paris. by many new permanent batteries and No. : Fort Cormellles. No. is Fort de Secy. No. 38 New works. No. 43 . Fort de Marly and I cover 16-F- behind to maintain a siege and to planned was amply proved during the forts. The circle of thesn new defences No. a Fort Cotillons. ' No. ort de Mainvllle.. No. 39 Fort d'Athis. 43 teries. Her-man- 1571, the. lines of communication back to winter of 1S70 to and since then has a sweep of elghty-flv- c miles, and No. 3 Fort Franconvllle. No. 17 Fort de wptsy (inner;. No. 30 Fort de Lonjoumeau. No. 44 Fort Valerien. corps could then the army that the Government has added a third lielt the guarded zones hive a combined No. 4 Double Coronne du Nord. No. 18I de Rduiy. - No. 31 Fort Palalseau. No. 45 Fort Aigrcmont. he (spared were to be rushed townrd the or zone of defences covering a much area of nearly t'.OO square miles. The No. 5 ForV Stains. No. 19 Fort de Fontenay. No. 33 Fort d'Issy. No. 46 Fort de l'Hautie. north and east to met the Czar's nrmls wider arc and therefore necessitating older defences were hampered by No. .6 Fort de l'Est. No, 20 Fort de Nogent. No. 33 Fort de Chatillon. No. 47 sort de Vadvres. or urad-vnncc- d 1 either at the German frontier thi employment of a greater force on neighboring towns, hut of tho r resent No. 7 Fort Oudervillers. No. t Fort de Joinvllle. No. 34 No. 48 Fort Redout de St. Cyr. positions previously secured In the part of a potential foe. territory now gunrdtd probably not No. 8 Fort Liory. No Fort de Charenton. No. 35 Batteries. No. 4Q Fort de Domont. Ji I neighboring Ilusslan territory. this third enceinte, the older more than one-fift- h of It. If that much. No. 9 Fort Blanc Mesml- - No. 33 Fort d'lvry. No. 36 No. 50 Fort de Montlignon. Somehow the wheels of the Ilusslan forts have been rcatmetl ami remodelled, Is built upon, the greater pnrtlcn of, No. to Fort Vtujours. No. 34 Fort de Bicetre. No. 37 Fort Villeras. No. 51 Fort'dc Montmorency. ortrant-itlo- n have moved faster than nnd the old battlements Immediately It being for agriculture and No. ii Fort Chells. No. 35 Fort de Montrouge. No. 38 Fart du Haut Buc. Details of most important ones was believed possible by Gen. von around the city, having a perimeter of crazing. You will understand the value No. i a Fort de Noisy. No. 36 Fort de Lamall. No. 39 Batterie Bouviers. are given in the text. Moltke and his associates of the twenty miles, have been strengthened of this difference u little later on. Kaher's General Staff, and the question with modern ordnance.

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