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CONSTITUTION OF INVADING FORCE
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reduced), and we shall be left with a fleet weaker by one battleship than Germany, but stronger by 12 armoured cruisers, 13 protected cruisers, and 137 scouts and destroyers, specially adapted for acting against transports conveying troops—a superiority sufficient to justify Sir Arthur Wilson's confidence that, with half our Home Fleet away, " the other half, in conjunction with destroyers and submarines, would be quite sufficient to sink the greater part of his [the enemy's] transports, even if supported by the strongest fleet he could collect."

Having established the naval conditions under which a German Invasion would be carried out, we must next Institute a comparison between the attacking and the defending military forces.

According to Lord Roberts's last condition, the former is to consist of 150,000 troops, and we may assume that they will