ible retribution than with the Cavalry.

Nevertheless, though the principle must be held inviolate, its
application must not degenerate into hide-bound rigidity. 'Strategy is
founded on a system of expedients' (Moltke), and hence expediency
remains always our highest ideal.

The essential point, however, is that our organization must be made so
elastic that we can alter the strength of our units to meet the
varying circumstances which may confront us, so that forces may not
remain unutilized in one place whilst they may be most urgently
required at another.

It is no way essential that the units combined for the express
purposes apparent at the commencement of the campaign should remain
intact throughout the War. One should be able to detach from or
reinforce them, as circumstances require; break up Corps and
Divisions, to reform them elsewhere; and employ their Leaders and
Staff first with one, then with the other.

As an example of what I have just said, I would cite the manner in
which the German Headquarters Command dealt with the Armies during the
war of 1870-1871. According to the demands of the moment, the
individual Corps or Divisions were grouped in manifold proportions to
constitute such units, and the adaptability of this organization
proved sufficient to cope with every eventuality.

As an almost ideal type we can take the manner in which Napoleon
dealt with his Cavalry Corps for the same purpose. At one moment his
bodies of horsemen unite into Divisions and Corps; at another they
dissolve into independent Brigades or regiments, operating singly,
only once more to be united into formidable 'Masses,' as circumstances
dictate. Here we see no rigid adherence to any rules, nothing pedantic
in the method of employment, and the leader and troops deftly adapt
themselves to the ever-changing conditions.

This is the ideal to which we Germans should strive to attain, and all
the more so in proportion as we are threatened by superior numbers.

CHAPTER IV

INCREASED IMPORTANCE OF DISMOUNTED ACTION

If the changed conditions of modern war have brought about new
conditions and demands which require to be considered in the
strategical combinations of the Cavalry, I believe that a similar
influence must make itself felt in the field of tactics. Whereas
formerly the _arme blanche_ was recognized as the principal method by
which the Cavalry made its inherent fighting power felt, the
employment of dismount