Not criticism wanted of what is now in existence, but its further development--Fighting power and tactical efficiency--Strength of the peace establishment--Number of officers and N.C.O.'s, especially in the infantry--Relations of the different arms to each other--Distribution of machine guns--Proportion between infantry and artillery--Lessons to be learned from recent wars with regard to this--Superiority at the decisive point--The strength of the artillery and tactical efficiency--Tactical efficiency of modern armies--Tactical efficiency and the marching depth of an army corps--Importance of the internal organization of tactical units--Organization and distribution of field artillery; of heavy field howitzers--Field pioneers and fortress pioneers--Tasks of the cavalry and the air-fleet--Increase of the cavalry and formation of cyclist troops--Tactical organization of the cavalry--Development of the air-fleet--Summary of the necessary requirements--Different ways of carrying them out--Importance of governing points of view for war preparations
The spirit of training--Self-dependence and the employment of masses-- Education in self-dependence--Defects in our training for war on the grand scale--Need of giving a new character to our manoeuvres and to the training of our commanders--Practical training of the artillery-- Training in tactical efficiency--Practice in marching under war conditions--Training of the train officers and column leaders-- Control of the General Staff by the higher commanders--Value of manoeuvres: how to arrange them--Preliminary theoretical training of the higher commanders--Training of the cavalry and the airmen; of the pioneers and commissariat troops--Promotion of intellectual development in the army--Training in the military academy
CHAPTER XII PREPARATION FOR THE NAVAL WAR
The position of a World Power implies naval strength--Development of German naval ideals--The task of the German fleet; its strength --Importance of coast defences--Necessity of accelerating our naval armaments--The building of the fleet--The institution of the air-fleet--Preliminary measures for a war on commerce-- Mobilization--General points of view with regard to preparations for the naval war--Lost opportunities in the past