ing troops, and especially unloading trains conveying baggage or supplies, are operations, it should be remembered, requiring no inconsiderable amount of time."[1] In 1870, the Germans did actually mass a combatant force of 16,000 officers, 440,000 men, 135,000 horses, and 14,000 guns, on the French frontier in sixteen days, and we will assume that they can do the same to-day; but, so far as concentration for an invasion of England is concerned, such speed would rather be deprecated than desired, for there would be no use in overcrowding the ports with troops and material, until such time as the ships on which they are to embark are ready to receive them. A part of the Infantry should be first on the spot to help in the tedious task of unloading the trains of
- ↑ "In some cases, where local arrangements are ill adapted for the purpose, the difficulties may be so great as to cause the railway station in question to be practically excluded, or at any rate only considered as available at long intervals of time." —The Duties of the General Staff,, p. 339,
