a task in the solution of
which it can achieve results of _decisive importance_ in a new
direction, for the following reasons: The relative importance of the
Arm during actual operations having been materially increased, the
period of concentration preceding actual collision (notwithstanding
the fact that the actual effectiveness of Cavalry in the face of
modern firearms has been decreased) offers opportunities which under
certain conditions promise higher results than formerly.

If every delay in the march which may be caused by the action of
Cavalry against the flanking lines of advance of an Army concentrating
for battle is detrimental, how much greater would be the
disorganization resulting from similar operations after defeat! Very
rarely in such a case would it be possible to retire eccentrically by
the same roads which were used for advance. The beaten troops
generally drift back quite involuntarily in the direction into which
they have been compelled by the results of the tactical decision. The
wider the original front, the greater the masses of the troops
concerned (which are now not only in a demoralized condition, but are
compelled, under pressure of pursuit, to change their communications
into new directions, and for this purpose to disentangle the columns
drawn in for the concentration) and the greater the certainty that
conditions must arise which will give to an active Cavalry an even
richer opportunity of harvest than was formerly open to them.

This will in future be all the more the case when troops of lower
quality, and therefore more liable to become shaken and dispirited,
have to be employed. Reserve formations--Landwehr and the like--which
under favourable conditions might render excellent service, when once
beaten, without officers, weary and hungry, lose all cohesion, when,
with baggage, wounded, and stragglers, they are driven back over
crowded roads; and then, no matter how well they are armed, they are
an easy prey to a pursuing Cavalry.

The man who throws his rifle away or shoots in the air will not find
salvation either in clip-loading or smokeless powder against the lance
in the hands of a relentless pursuing Cavalry.

The same holds good for the fight itself. We cannot attack even
inferior Infantry as long as it only keeps the muzzles of its rifles
down and shoots straight; but once it is morally broken and surprised,
then the greatest results are still to be achieved even on an open