Von Zwehl is the
outward antithesis of von Emmich. He looks like anything but a
fighter--a quiet, gentle-looking soul with kind and a bit tired eyes,
soft silverly hair, and a whimsical sense of humor, a gentleman of the
old school. "But you should just see him in the field during a
fight--he's a regular whirlwind," one of his staff said.
He confirmed the fact that Maubeuge had fallen on schedule time in ten
days and that he had taken over 40,000 French prisoners, that he had
given the French commandant till 7 P.M. (German time) to surrender, and
that the appointment was kept with great promptness, also that the
French were a bit chagrined when they learned they had been "taken in"
by a single corps. I also learned that he and his corps had arrived in
time to stop the first English corps which had crossed the Aisne and was
marching on X.
Gen. von Zwehl praised the English troops against whom he had
successfully fought, and who are now in the North, saying, "The English
soldier is a splendid fighter, especially on the defensive." Asked if
the remark of one of his staff that "the English can't attack" was a
fact, von Zwehl said: "I can only speak as far as my own experience
goes, and that is that the English never were able to carry through a
bayonet charge with success against my troops. They came on bravely
enough, but when our troops would open fire on them at 50 yards and
follow it up with a counter attack, the English would invariably go over
into the defensive, at which they are at their best.
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