rompt arrival its striking radius will depend? How, with
insufficient mobility, will they maintain the connection between the
combatants in front and the standing magazines, or even with the
movable supply depots following behind the marching Army?

Here we come upon one of the most difficult problems of the day, and
it cannot be insisted on too strongly that its solution during Peace
is an indispensable condition of the efficiency of the Arm in War. The
Cavalry trains must be organized in such a manner that they will be
able to march at least as fast as the Cavalry itself, and be adequate
in number to carry from five to six days' corn. Only when this demand
has been complied with will it be possible to count on the attainment
of the strategical independence at which we aim, and to attempt all
that this implies with less would only lead to the complete breakdown
of the Arm, which, as we have already seen, under existing conditions,
can never be efficiently replaced during the same Campaign.

It is not alone with the splendid chaussees of France that we must
reckon, but with the sand roads of East and West Prussia, the swamps
of Poland and Russia, and so forth, on all of which the same degree of
mobility must be developed, for the speed of the Cavalry itself is
practically independent of the nature of the roads. Without going
further into the detailed measures necessary to attain this ideal, the
importance of which must be evident to every practical soldier. I
would call attention to only one fundamental consideration: the desire
to curtail the length of supply columns by concentrating the loads,
with the object of lessening the congestion of the roads and
diminishing the time needed to bring their contents to the troops, is
sound as long as it attains its object, fatal everywhere else.[18]

[Footnote 18: Generally defeats its own object; the heavy
load destroys the roads, causes breakdowns and delays, etc.]

Now, the Cavalry Masses move under different conditions to the rest of
the Army. Either they are in the front of or on the flanks; in the
latter case, they have roads at their own disposal, in the former,
being generally some days' march in advance, they clear the front when
collision is imminent by moving to the flanks, and only quite
exceptionally retire through the advancing columns, and in all cases
they must be able to get off the roads quickly. The depth of these
columns is comparatively u