Mcallen Daily Press

Small Scale Blitzkrieg
Hits Brits
By J. W. T. MASON
United Press War Expert

The cumulative intensity of German air raids over Great Britain during the present week is assuming the form of a semi-blitzkrieg.

A full blitzkrieg, seeking to destroy British resistance and force capitulation would require far more airplanes than have yet been used and would necessitate the bombing of London where British defenses are directed.

To the present the German attacks have deliberately avoided London-the Germans presumably not relishing retaliation against Berlin. The purpose of the present modified blitzkrieg thus does not seem to be aimed at quick annihilation, Though the German attacking planes are numbered by the hundreds. the daily visitations must be regarded as experimental intended to discover how' the British defenses react to large-scale assaults.

If the German high command decides that the British defenses are weakening and that mass attacks can dominate the air then the real blitzkrieg may be expected. But it is well within the requirements of realistic strategy for the Germans to withhold a truly major offensive until they have experimented further with their large squadrons. This form of war is new and the Germans themselves must learn by experience how to plan an attack involving a thousand or more planes.

There is no indication that the present bombing is preliminary to an invasion, The Germans could not assemble secretly the great fleet essential for transporting an army to the British coast and British reconnaissance planes have reported no such concentration.

The Germans announce damage to towns, ports, and airdromes but do not mention attacks on British defensive coastal positions.

If the Germans could dominate the air over the entire British coast and maintain their control. an invasion might possibly be ordered by Hitler. At present. however. much of the German bombing is against inland positions.

Berlin's unofficial claim that the Germans have control of the air over Dover would have major importance if an invasion were being launched against the almost impregnable cliff coast of Britain But with the air battle moving quickly from place to place. control of a small air area means at best no more than temporary ability to drop more bombs. It is not the same as control of a city by an army during land operations.

The Germans are not concentrating on specified areas as would be the case in land fighting. They have taken all Britain as their objective and the channel as well This would seem to imply continuation of efforts to feel for undisclosed British weaknesses and uncertainty by the Germans as to the proper positions where their offensive might be centralized

Last week the Germans seemed about to concentrate against convoyed channel shipping. Their latest reports of channel operations, however. states that out of a convoy of 70 ships only three were sunk. Following this announcement the new intensification of bombing over Great Britain began while attacks on convoys have lessened.

It would thus seem that the Germans have not formulated a plan for concentration of their offensive. They change from one experimental attack to another and do not continue to operate long against a single major objective.

Such scattering of effort is not in accord with past German war methods, The German school of military science, more than any other, teaches the advantages of a single objective and persistent effort to follow through once attack starts The German air command. hitherto, has not followed this method against Britain, The present concentrated large-scale air attack may represent a return to basic German methods, but that will depend on the effectiveness of the British defense. For. a second German military teaching is to halt an offensive when it becomes too costly and feel for weakness elsewhere.