Morris tribune., 1901-11-23
TEIIlT0N AND !! L ]. BRI'Tl [
German Army Officer Talks Of
Conflict With England.
VIEWS OF BARON Won EDELsHE1Ml

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Claims One Hundred Thousand Mer
COnld BE LANDED ON the Enslish
Coast In About ThiRty Hours Quicll
Naval Actaon Might Gain Tempo-
EaiAEy sueSess-An to war with
Americans.
Considerable attention is attracted II
Berlin by q pamphlet just published
by Baron Won Bdelsheim, an officer in
the chief general staff Of the German
army, in which he declares that Ger,
many could throw 100000 men on the
English coast within a very short time,
The baron put forward his statement
as a matter Of absolute certainty, and
1t is considered somewhat curious that
he is permitted by his government to
publish 1t, says the New York Sun. He
also discusses the possibility Of landing
troops in Russia and France and pro-
ceeds to contemplate the hypothesis Of
a war between Germany and the Unit
ed States.
He starts from the assumption that
Germany must one day be inEolyed in
conflict because the growth of her
traffic and commerce is a source of
danger to England. He holdssthe opin-
ion that Germany might hope to secure
some success at sea shortly after hos
tilities began, as the German navy
would start mobilization first, but be-
fore long England would be able to set
such powerful naval forces in action
that Germany would be reduced to de-
fensive tactics, in which success could
not be reckoned upon. His paper pro-
ceeds: ~
"England's weakness is our strength.
The land forces Of the English army
correspond neither in strength nor in
quality with her position as q great
power. England is convinced that ev-
cry hostile invasion can be prevented
by her feet, but this conviction is not
by any means well founded. Even if
England after time could set in mo-
ton great naval forces, those which
would be ready at the beginning are
aot so overwhelming that an opponent
essentially weaker at sea who has ev-i
erything ready may not have a chance
of scoring | temporary success. Ger,
many must threw part Of her land
forces on the English coast and thus
bring the conflict to an issue on land.
where German troops are much supe-'
rior to English"
After summing up the shortcomings
of England's land forces the baron de-
clares that only her present standing
army and regular reserve can be. count
ed on in case Of sudden invasion, as
the others would take a considerable
time to mobilize He observes:
eve must also take account of their
slight fighting value compared with
well trained German troops. The only
troops ready In England for action are
three divisions of the First army corps,
about two divisions of the Second and
a combined division of the Third, to-
gether with three cavalry brigades.
The strength Of an English division on
a war footing is only 10000 men, while
a similar German division numbers
about 10000 men. Germany can trans
port six infantry divisions or one cav
airy brigade and five infantry divisions
to England in a very short time. How
the operation could be carried out must
not, Of course, be explained here, but
this. can be said, that it can be done
within little more than thirty hours in
favorable weather from German har-
bors in the North sea. Large tracts CT
The English coast furnish good landing
places for troops, and the country itself
has SO many resources that an inyad-
ing army could live on them for a long |
time. On the other hand, the island is
not large enough to allow English |
troops to destroy a once victorious hos
lie army, It is unlikely that such a
war would last very long, and consid-
,rable re-enforcements would, there
ore, not be needed"
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