what that fate
should be. Yet the historic sense is amplified even more by remembrance
than by prophecy, for in the territory confronting that huge arc on
which 1,400,000 German and Austrian soldiers lay encamped, awaiting what
even the German generals declared to be "the great decision," there
lies, on the old Roman road running from Chalons a vast oval mound,
known to tradition as "the Camp of Attila." In that country, a Roman
general, Aetius, leading a host of soldiers of whom many were Gauls,
broke a vast flood wave of the Huns as those savage Mongol hordes hurled
themselves against Rome's westernmost possession. On that occasion,
however, the Visigoths, under their King Theodoric, fought side by side
with the Gauls. Then, the dwellers on the banks of the Rhine and on the
banks of the Seine were brothers in arms, now, that same countryside
shall see them locked in deadly conflict.

The morale of tradition is a curious thing, and often will nerve a sword
arm when the most impassioned utterance of a beloved leader may fail.
There were few among the soldiers of France who forgot that in the south
of this same plain of Champagne-Pouilleuse was the home of Joan of Arc,
the Maid of Orleans, patriot and saint, and more than one French soldier
prayed that the same voices which had whispered in the ear of the virgin
of Domremy should guide the generalissimo who was to lead the armies of
France upon the morrow. Here, tradition again found old alliances
severed and new ones formed, for the Maid of Orleans led the French
against the English, while in the serried ranks awaiting the awful test
of the shock of battle, English and French soldiers lived and slept as
brothers.

The topography of the region of the battle field is of more than common
interest, for modern tactics deal with vaster stretches of country than
would have been considered in any previous war. This is due, partly, to
the large armies handled, partly to the terrific range of modern
artillery, and also to what may be called the territorial perceptiveness
which aeronautical surveys make possible to a general of to-day. While
war has not changed, it is true that a commander of an army in modern
campaign is compelled to review and to take into account a far larger
group of factors. A modern general must be capable of grasping increased
complexities, and must possess a synthetic mind to be able to reduce all
these complicating factors into a single whole. The first