Two soldier-servants served the meal. There was red wine, but none of
the officers touched it. The conversation was general and animated. We
spoke of public opinion in America, of the resources of Germany and
her starvation cry, of the probable length of the war. On this
opinions varied. One of the officers prophesied a quick ending when
the Allies were finally ready to take the offensive. The others were
not so optimistic. But neither here, nor in any of the conversations I
have heard at the headquarters of the Allies, was there a doubt
expressed as to ultimate victory. They had a quiet confidence that was
contagious. There was no bluster, no assertion; victory was simply
accepted as a fact; the only two opinions might be as to when it would
occur, and whether the end would be sudden or a slow withdrawal of the
German forces.
The French Algerian troops and the Indian forces of Great Britain came
up for discussion, their bravery, their dislike for trench fighting
and intense longing to charge, the inroads the bad weather had made on
them during the winter.
One of the officers considered the American press rather pro-German.
The recent American note to Sir Edward Grey and his reply, with the
press comments on both, led to this statement. The possibility of
Germany's intentionally antagonising America was discussed, but not at
length.
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