The numerical strength, disposition and efficiency of the German army
are more or less well known. The brain and all prevailing power
controlling its fighting force of four and half a million men--or
taking the Triple Alliance into consideration--the forces of which
would in the event of war be controlled from Berlin--a force in round
numbers of 9,000,000 men is, however, not known. Here for the first
time is published an account of the inside workings of the German War
Machine as far as is possible for any one man to give. Through my
intimate connections with the German and other Secret Service systems;
through constant contact with prominent army and navy officers, I had
special facilities of which I availed myself to the full, to gain the
inside knowledge which I here commit to paper.
The most efficient and elaborate system ever devised by the ingenuity
of man, used not only for war and destruction but as an intelligence
clearing house for the whole of the Empire, is the German War Machine.
Conceived by General Stein in the days of the Napoleonic wars, added
to and elaborated by successive administrations, solely under the
control of the ruling house; its efficiency, perfect and smooth
working is due to the total absence of political machinations or
preferences. Brains, ability, and thorough scientific knowledge are
the only passports for entrance in the Grosser General Stab, the
General Staff of the German Empire. You will find blooded young
officers and gray-haired generals past active efficiency, experts
ranking from an ordinary mechanic to the highest engineering expert,
all working harmoniously together with one end in view, the acme of
efficiency. Controlled and directed by the War Lord in person through
the Chef des Grossen General Stabs, in my time General Field Marshal
von Heeringen, this immense machine, the pulsing brain of a fighting
force of four and half a millions of men, is composed of from 180 to
200 officials.
At the Peace of Tilsit, after the crushing defeat of the Prussian
armies at Prussian Eylau and Friedland, Bonaparte had Prussia and the
whole of Central Europe at his mercy. Contrary to the advice of his
generals, especially the succinct advice of his often unheeded mentor
Talleyrand, to completely disintegrate Prussia, Napoleon through his
fondness for pretty women let himself be tricked by Louise of Prussia.
The interesting historical story of this incident may be apropos here,
showing how the world's history can be changed through a kiss. At the
Peace Conference in Tilsit, Napoleon, on the verge of disintegrating
Prussia, met the beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia. Through her
pleadings and the imprint of Napoleon's kiss on her classic arm
Bonaparte granted Prussia the right to maintain a standing army of
12,000 men. That in itself did not mean much but it gave able and
shrewd Prussian patriots the opportunity to circumvent and hoodwink
Bonaparte's policy.
Prussia has always been fortunate in producing able men at the most
needed moments. A man arose with a gift for military organization.
He had every province, district, town, and village in Prussia
carefully scheduled and the able-bodied men thereof put on record. He
selected the 12,000 men permitted Prussia under the Napoleonic decree
and drilled them. No sooner were those men drilled than they were
dismissed and another 12,000 called in. From this point dates modern
conscription--the father of which was General Stein--and this also
inaugurated the birth of the War Machine. In the three years Prussia
had 180,000 well-drilled men and 120,000 reserves, quite a different
proposition from the 12,000 men Napoleon thought he had to face on his
retreat from Moscow, and which played a decisive factor in the
overthrow of the dictator of Europe.
Through the wars of 1864 and 1866 to 1870, the Franco-Prussian War,
the War Machine of Prussia was merged into that of the German Empire
and is a record of increasing efforts, entailing unbelievable hard
work and a compilation of the minutest details. The modern system of
organization, especially the mobilization schedules, are Helmuth von
Moltke's, the "Grosse Schweiger," the Great Silent, the strategist of
the 1871 campaign.
It is curious that there is a great similarity between the late Moltke
and Heeringen. They have the same aquiline features, tall, thin,
dried-up body, the same taciturn disposition, even to their
hobbies--Moltke being an incessant chess player, Heeringen using every
one of his spare moments to play with lead soldiers. He is reputed to
have an army of 30,000 lead soldiers with which he plays the moment he
opens his eyes--much in the same manner as Moltke, who used to request
his chess-board the first thing in the morning. In military circles
Heeringen is looked upon with the same respect and accredited with
quite as much strategical knowledge as Moltke was. It is a
significant fact, that, whenever there is any tension in Europe,
especially between Germany and France, General von Heeringen or his
comrade in arms, General von Thulsen Haeseler--also a great strategist
and iron disciplinarian, immediately takes command of Metz, the most
important base and military post in the Emperor's domain.
There is no man alive who knows one-half as much about the strategical
position of Metz and the surrounding country as General von Heeringen.
Often on stormy, bitter cold winter nights, sentries on outposts
stationed and guarding the approaches of Metz are startled to find a
gaunt, limping figure, covered in a gray army greatcoat with no
distinguishing marks, stalking along. Accompanied by orderlies
carrying camp stools and table; night glasses and electric torches,
halting repeatedly, hidden men taking down in writing the short,
croaking sentences escaping between the thin compressed lips, the
"Geist of Metz" prowls round measuring every foot of ground fifty
miles east, west, north, and south of his beloved Metz. The steel
tipped arrow ever pointing at the heart of France is safe in the hands
of such guardians.
The visible head of this vast organization is called Der Grosse
General Stab with headquarters in Berlin. Each army corps has a
"kleine General Stab" who sends its most able officers to Berlin.
These officers in conjunction with the most able scientists, engineers
and architects the Empire can produce, compose the Great General
Staff. The virtual head is the German Emperor. The actual executive
is called "Chef des Grossen General Stabs."
There is a small, dingy, unpretentious room in the General Staff
Gebaude where at moments of stress and tension or international
complications, assemble five men. His Majesty, at the head of the
table; to the right the Chef of Grossen General Stab; to the left his
Minister of War; then the Minister of Railways, and the Chief of
Admiral Stab. You will notice the total absence of the Ministers of
Finance and Diplomacy. When those five men meet the influence of
diplomatic and financial affairs has ceased. They are there to act.
The scratching of the Emperor's pen in that room means war, the
setting in motion of a fighting force of 5,000,000 men.
Here is another instance:
When the feeling and stress over the Moroccan question was at its
height General von Heeringen on leaving his quarters for his usual
drive in the Thiergarten was eagerly questioned by a score of
officers, awaiting his exit.
"Excellency! Geht's los?" ("Do we begin?")
Grimly smiling, returning their salutes and without pause, limping to
his waiting carriage came his answer:
"Sieben Buchstaben, meine Herren!" ("Seven letters, gentlemen!")
In Germany military parlance this means the Emperor's signature,
Wilhelm II, to the mobilization orders.
In order to give the reader a fairly correct view of this mighty
organization, I have to explain each group separately. The whole
system rests on the question of mobilization, meaning the ability to
arm, transport, clothe. and feed a fighting force of four and
one-half million men, in the shortest possible time on any given point
in either eastern or western Europe. For let it be clearly understood
that the main point of the training of the German armies is the
readiness to launch the entire fighting force like a thunderbolt on
any given point of the compass. Germany knows through past experience
the advisability and necessity of conducting war in an enemy's
country. The German army is built for aggression. There are four
main groups:
1. Organization.
2. Transportation.
3. Victualization.
4. Intelligence.
Each of these groups is, of course, subdivided into numerous branches
which we shall go into under each individual head.
ORGANIZATION
First comes organization. The German army is composed of three
distinct parts: the standing army, the reserves, and Landwehr.
The standing arm comprises 790,000 officers and men. This body of men
is ready at an instant. It is the reserves who need an elaborate
system of mobilization. The reserves are divided into two classes,
first and second reserves. So is the Landwehr, having two levies--the
first and second Aufgebot. Every able-bodied man on reaching the age
of twenty-one can be called upon to serve the colors. One in five
only is taken, as there is more material than the country needs--the
fifth being selected for one of five branches: infantry, cavalry,
artillery, Genie corps, or the navy. The time of service in the
infantry is two years; in the cavalry three, in the artillery three,
in the Genie corps two, and in the navy three. Well-conducted men get
from two to four months of their time. This is by no means a charity
on the part of the authorities, but a well-thrashed and deep-laid
scheme to circumvent the Reichstag as it gives the Emperor another
75,000 men. A certain class of men passing an examination called
Einjahriges Zeugniss or possessing a diploma called Abiturienten
Examen (the equivalent of a B. A.) serve only one year in each branch.
This class provides most of the reserve officers. The active
officers, usually the scions of an aristocratic house or the sons of
the old military or feudal families in Germany, are mostly educated in
one of the state Kadetten-Anstalten, military academies, of which
Gross-Lichterfelde bei Berlin is the most famous. The real backbone
and stiffening of the German army and navy is the noncommissioned
officers recruited from the rank and file. In fact, this body of men
is the mainstay of the thrones in the German Empire, especially of
Prussia. These men, after about twelve years of service in an army
where discipline, obedience, and efficiency are the first and last
word, are then drafted into all the minor administrative officers of
the state, such as minor railway, post, excise, municipal, and police.
The reader will see the significance of this when it is pointed out
that not only the Empire but the War Machine has these well-trained
men at its beck and call. The same thing applies to the drafting of
officers to hold the highest administrative positions in the state.
There are twenty-five army corps all placed in strategical position.
The strongest is in Alsace-Lorraine and along the Rhine; the second in
importance garrisoning the Prussian-Russian border. The whole country
is subdivided into Bezirks commandos (districts posts) whose business
is to have on record not only every able-bodied man--reservists--but
every motor, horse, and vehicle available; also food and coal
supply--in fact, everything likely to be wanted or useful to the army.
Every German reservist, or otherwise, knows the reporting place of his
district and has to report there when notified within twenty-four
hours. The penalties for noncompliance are high even in peace times.
In the event of war or martial law they are absolutely stringent. The
commandos are so placed that they could forward their drafts of men
and material to their provincial concentration points at the quickest
possible notice. These provincial concentration points, being railway
centers, are so located that the masses of men and materials pouring
in from all sides can be handled and sent in the wanted and needed
direction without any congestion. How this is done I shall explain
when I come to transportation. In each of those district commandos
are depots, Montirungs-Kammern (arsenals), where a full equipment for
each individual on the roll is kept. The marvelous quickness with
which a civilian is transferred into a fully equipped military unit
must be seen to be believed, and is only made possible through
systematic training and constant maneuvers. These maneuvers are
costly, but have long been recognized in German military circles as
essential in training the units and familiarizing the commanders with
the handling of enormous masses of men. In the last Kaiser maneuvers
over half a million men were concentrated and massed; in fact,
shuttlecocked from one end of the Empire to the other without a hitch.
The control of the army in peace or in war lies with the Emperor. He
is the sole arbiter and head. No political or social body of men has
any control in army matters. No political jealousies would be
permitted. Obedience and efficiency are demanded. Mutual jealousies
and political tricks such as we have seen in the Russian campaign in
the East and lately in France are impossible in the German system, for
the Emperor would break instantly, in fact has done so, any general
guilty of even the faintest indication of such an offense. And there
is no appeal to a Congress, a Chamber of Deputies, or political organ
against the Emperor's decision.
Last but not least, under the heading of the organization comes the
financial aspect. Out of the five milliards of francs, the war
indemnity paid by France to Germany in 1871, 200,000,000 marks in gold
coin, mostly French, were put away as the nucleus of a ready war
chest. In a little medieval-looking watch tower, the Julius Thurm
near Spandau, lies this ever-increasing driving force of the mightiest
war engine the world has ever seen. Ever increasing, for quietly and
unobtrusively 6,000,000 marks in newly minted gold coins are taken
year by year and added to the store. On the first of October each
year since 1871, three ammunition wagons full of bright and glittering
twenty-mark pieces clatter over the drawbridge and these pieces are
stored away in the steel-plate subterranean chambers of the Julius
Thurm, ready at an instant's notice to furnish the sinews to the man
wielding this force. This is a tremendous power in itself, for there
are now close to 500,000,000 marks ($120,000,000) in minted gold
coinage in storage there. This provides the necessary funds for the
German army for ten calendar months. The authorities have no
necessity to ask the country, warring politicians--in this instance
the Reichstag--for money to start a campaign. They have got it ready
to hand. Once war is declared and started, if needed they'll get the
rest.
This money is under the sole control of military authorities. It has
often been declared a myth. I know it to be a fact. Notwithstanding
the financial straits Germany has gone through at times or may go
through, this money will never be touched. It is there for one
purpose only and that purpose is war. Needless to say, it is amply
guarded. Triple posts in this garrison town, devices to flood
instantly the whole under fifteen feet of water from the river Havel,
are but items in the system of protection. Twice a year the Emperor
in person, or his heir apparent, personally inspects his war chest.
Mechanical-balanced devices are employed to check the correct weight.
It is a marvelously simple mechanism by means of which in less than
two hours the whole of this vast hoard of gold can be accurately
checked and the absence of a single gold piece detected.
TRANSPORTATION
One of the most important parts of the organization is the question of
transportation. Hannibal's campaigns against Cæsar and Napoleon's
central European wars owed their success in a great measure, if not
wholly, to their quickness of motion. This applies about tenfold in
modern warfare. In actual armament the leading powers in Europe are
practically on a par. The personnel, as regards personal courage,
stamina, _elan_, or whatever you wish to call it, is fairly equal
also. There is little difference in the individual prowess of French,
Russian, English, and German soldiers. This is well known to military
experts. The difference is mainly a question of discipline,
technique, and preparedness, the main factor being, as indicated, the
ability to throw the greater number of troops in the shortest possible
time against the enemy at any given point, without exhausting man and
beast unnecessarily and enervating the country to be traversed. It is
therefore necessary to have numerous arteries of traffic at disposal.
This will lead us later to the question of victualization, Germany
following closely one of Moltke's axioms: "March separately, but fight
conjointly."
Only in a country where all railroads, highways, and waterways, and
where post and telegraph are owned and controlled by the state, is it
possible to evolve and perfect a system of transportation such as is
at the disposal of the German General Staff. Every mile of German
railroads, especially the ones built within the last twenty years, has
been constructed mainly for strategical reasons. Taking Berlin as the
center you will find on looking at a German, more especially a
Prussian, railroad map, close similarity to a spider's web. From
Berlin you will see trunk lines extending in an almost direct route to
her French and Russian frontiers. Not single or double, but treble
and quadruple lines of steel converging with other strategic lines at
certain points such as Magdeburg, Hanover, Nordhausen, Kassel,
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Cologne, or Strassburg--to name but a few.
Places such as enumerated are invariably provincial commandos, having
garrisons, arsenals, and depots on a large scale.
The capacity of the railroad yards for handling large bodies of men
and vast amounts of goods swiftly is judiciously studied. At any
given time, especially at tense political moments, at every large
strategical railway center in Germany there are a certain number of
trucks and engines kept for military purposes only--sometimes, as in
the Rhine division during the acute period of the Morocco question,
with steam up.
As previously related, 90 per cent. of all the railway officials are
ex-soldiers. Five minutes after the signing of the mobilization
orders by the Emperor, the whole of the railway system would be under
direct military control. Specially trained transportation and railway
experts on the General Staff would take over the direction of affairs.
Besides this, there exists in the German standing army a number of
Eisenbahn Regimenter (railway corps)--all trained railroad builders
and mechanics. Elaborate time-tables and transportation cards are in
readiness to be put into operation on the instant of mobilization,
superseding the civil time-tables of peace. Theoretically and
practically the schedules are tested twice a year during the big
maneuvers.
The same applies to the waterways and highroads of the Empire. A keen
observer will often wonder at the broadness, solidness, and excellent
state of repair of the chaussees and country roads, out of all
proportion to the little traffic passing along. They are simply
strategical arteries kept up by the state for military purposes. The
heads of the transportation and railway corps in Berlin sit before the
huge glass-covered tables where the whole of the German railway system
to its minutest detail is shown in relief, and they by pressing
various single buttons can conduct an endless chain of trains to any
given point of the Empire.
To show the accurate workings of this system I shall relate an
incident. During the Kaiser maneuvers in West Prussia a few years ago
I happened to be at headquarters in Berlin delivering some plans and
records of the English Midland Railway system when a General Staff
Officer entered the signal hall and made inquiries as to the
whereabouts of a certain train having a regiment on board destined to
a certain part of the maneuver field. One of the operators through
the simple manipulation of some ivory keys in the short space of two
and a half minutes (as I was keenly interested, I timed it) could show
the exact spot of the train between two stations, the train being over
310 miles distant from Berlin.
As every class A1 vessel in the merchant marine of Germany, especially
the passenger boats of the big steamship lines, can be pressed into
government service, so can all motor vehicles, taxis, and trucks owned
either privately or by corporations be called upon if considered
necessary. Through this vast and far-reaching system of
transportation Germany is enabled to throw a million fully equipped
men on to either of her frontiers within forty-eight hours. She can
double this host in sixty hours more.
VICTUALIZATION
Napoleon's dictum that an army marches on its stomach is as true
to-day as it was then, adequate provisions for man and beast being the
most important factor in military science. The economic feeding of
three-quarters of a million men in peace time is work enough. It
becomes a serious problem in the event of war, especially to a country
like Germany which is somewhat dependent on outside sources for the
feeding of her millions. The authorities, quite aware of a possible
blockading and consequent stoppage of imports, have made preparations
with their usual thorough German completeness. At any given time
there is sufficient foodstuff for man and beast stored in state
storehouses and the large private concerns to feed the entire German
army for twelve months. This might seem inadequate, but is not so,
the authorities being well aware that war in Europe at the present
time could and would not last longer than such a period.
Once a year these storehouses are overhauled and perishable or
deteriorating provisions replaced. Tens of thousands of tons of
foodstuffs, especially fodder, are sold far below their usual market
prices to the poorer classes, notably farmers. Likewise the material
used by the army is as far as possible supplied by the farmer direct.
The total absence of bloated, pudgy-fingered army contractors in
Germany is pleasant to the eyes of those who know the conditions in
some other countries I could mention.
Besides, the whole of the German fighting machine is so organized that
in all probability decisive battles would be fought in the enemy's
country, in which case the onus of feeding the troops would fall on
the enemy, called in military parlance "requisitioning and
commandeering." In this, German, and especially Prussian,
quartermasters are in no way behind their English confrères of whose
activity in the Boer War I know from personal experience.
To give but another instance of the scientific thoroughness in detail,
take a single food preparation--the Erbswurst (pea-meal sausage), a
preparation of peas, meal, bacon, salt and seasoning, compressed in a
dry state into air- and water-tight tubes in the form of a sausage,
each weighing a quarter of a pound. Highly nutritious, light in
weight, practically indestructible, wholesome, this is easily prepared
into a palatable meal with the simple addition of hot water. Of this
preparation huge quantities are always kept in stock for the army.
INTELLIGENCE
Without doubt the most important division of the General Staff and
upon whose information and efforts the whole machine hinges is the
Intelligence Department--really covering many different fields--for
instance, general science, especially strategy, topography,
ballistics, but mainly the procuring of information data, plans, maps,
etc., kept more or less secret by other powers. In this division the
brightest young officers and general officials are found. The
training and knowledge required of the men in this service are
exacting to a degree. It requires in most cases the undivided
attention--often a life study--to a single subject.
It has been the unswerving policy of the Prussian military authorities
to know as much of the rest of the European countries as they know of
their own. In the war of 1870-71, German commanders down to a
lieutenant leading a small detachment had accurate information, charts
and data of every province in France, giving them more accurate
knowledge of a foreign country than that country had of itself. It is
a notorious fact that, after the defeat of the French armies at
Weissenburg and Worth and later at Metz, the French commanders and
officers lost valuable time and strategical positions through sheer
ignorance of their own country. This is impossible under the Prussian
system. To-day there is not a country in Europe but of which there
are the most elaborate charts and maps, topographically exact to the
minutest detail docketed in the archives of the General Staff. This
applies as a rule to the General Staff of most nations, but not to
such painstaking details.
While undergoing instructions in the Admiral Stab in the
Koenigergratzerstrasse 70, previous to my being sent on an English
mission, a controversy arose between my instructor and myself as to
the distance between two towns on the Lincolnshire coast. He pushed a
button and requested the answering orderly to bring map 64 and the
officer in charge. With the usual promptness both map and officer
appeared. The officer, who could not have been more than twenty-five
years of age, discussed with me in fluent colloquial English the whole
of this section of Lincolnshire. Not a hummock, road, road-house,
even to farmers' residences and blacksmith's shop of which he did not
have exact knowledge. I expressed astonishment at this most unusual
acquaintance with the locality, and suggested that he must have spent
considerable time in residence there. Conceive my astonishment when
informed that he had never been out of Germany and the only voyage
ever taken by him led him as far as Helgoland. Subsequently through
careful inquiries and research--my work bringing me into constant
contact with the various divisions--I found that the whole of England,
France and Russia was carefully cut into sections, each of those
sections being in charge of two officers and a secretary whose duty it
was to acquaint and make themselves perfectly familiar with everything
in that particular locality. Through the far-reaching system of
espionage, the latest and most up-to-date information is always
forthcoming, and time and again I myself, often returning from a
mission like one of those to the naval base in Scotland, have sat by
the hour verbally amplifying my previous reports.
A part of the intelligence system is the personality squad, whose duty
it is to acquaint themselves with the personality of every army and
navy officer of the leading powers. I have seen reports as to the
environments, habits, hobbies, and general proclivities of men such as
Admiral Fisher, commanding the Channel Squadron of the British Navy,
down to Colonel Ribault, in charge of a battery in Toulouse. To
military or naval officers and men of affairs, the reason and benefit
of such a system are obvious. The general reader, however, may not
quite see the point. The position of a commander in the field is
analogous to the executive head of a big selling concern. A
semi-personal knowledge of the foibles and characteristics of his
customers without doubt gives him an advantage over a rival concern,
neglecting the personal equation being really more important than is
generally understood. This has long been recognized and fully taken
advantage of by the German Army author ities.
AÃRIAL
Within the last few years an entirely new and according to German
ideas most important factor has entered and disturbed the relative
military power of European nations. This is the aerial weapon.
Since the days of Otto Lilienthal and his glider it has been the
policy of Germany to keep track of all inventions likely to be
embodied and made use of in the War Machine. It is a far cry from
Lilienthal's glider to the last word in aërial construction such as
the mysterious Zeppelin-Parseval sky monster that, carrying a
complement of twenty-five men and twelve tons of explosives, sailed
across the North Sea, circled over London, and returned to Germany.
Lilienthal's glider kept aloft four minutes, but this new dread-naught
of Germany's dying navy was aloft ninety-six hours, maintaining a
speed of thirty-eight miles an hour, this even in the face of a storm
pressure of almost eighty meters. Such feats as these are
significant. They are at the same time the outcome and the cause for
the development of this part of the War Machine.
It is my purpose here to tell you how far Germany has advanced and
progressed in this struggle for mastery of the sky. I shall disclose
facts about her system that have never appeared in print--that have
never been heard in conversation. They are known only to the General
Staff at Berlin, not even in the cabinets of Europe.
Germany without doubt has the most up-to-date aërial fleet in the
world. The Budget of the Reichstag of 1908-1909 allows and provides
for the building and maintenance of twelve dirigibles of Zeppelin
type. As far as the knowledge of the rest of the world is concerned
this is all the sky navy that Germany possesses. It is a fact,
though, that she has three times the number which she officially
acknowledges.
The dirigible balloon centers in Germany are five and they are
situated at vitally strategic points. There are two on the French
border, one on the Russian border, one on the Atlantic Coast, and a
central station near Berlin. The exact places are Strassburg,
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Posen, Wilhelmshafen, and Berlin. This does
not include the marvelous station at Helgoland in the North Sea, this
being a strategic point in relation to Great Britain. Nothing is
known about this Helgoland station. No one but those on official
business are permitted within a thousand yards of it. I shall tell
things concerning it.
Besides these purely military posts, there are a number of commercial
stations necessary as depots of the regular transportation aerial
lines that operate for the convenience of the public. Like Germany's
commercial steamers, however, they are controlled and subsidized by
the Government. At a few hours' notice they can be converted and made
use of for Government purposes. Taking these transportation lines
into consideration, it is safe to state that by summer of the present
year Germany could send fifty huge airships to war.
It may be a puzzle to Americans why, in the face of disasters and
accidents to these Zeppelins, Germany is spending about $4,000,000 on
her aerial fleet. Now we come to a very significant point. I know
and certain members of the German General Staff know, as well as
trusted men in the aërial corps, that there are two conditions under
which airships are operated in Germany. One is the ordinary more or
less well-known system which characterizes the operation of all the
passenger lines now in service in the Empire. It is the system under
which all the disasters that appear in the newspapers occur. Airships
that are used in the general army flights and maneuvers are also run
under the same system as the passenger dirigibles--for a reason.
The other system is an absolute secret of the German General Staff.
It is not used in the general maneuvers, only in specific cases, and
these always secretly. It has been proved to be effective in
eliminating 75 per cent. of the accidents which have characterized all
of Germany's adventures in dirigibles and heavier-than-air machines.
These statistics are known only by the German General Staff office.
Let us go into this further. Critics of the German dirigible who
foolishly rate the French aëroplane superior point out that the
Zeppelins have three serious defects--bulk and heaviness of structure,
inflammability of the gas that floats them, and inability to store
enough gas to stay in the air the desirable length of time without
coming down. The secret devices of the German War Office have
eliminated all these objectionable features. They have overcome the
condition of bulk and heaviness of structure by their government
chemists devising the formula of a material that is lighter than
aluminum, yet which possesses all of that metal's density and which
has also the flexibility of steel. Airships not among the twelve that
Germany admits officially are made of this material. Its formula is a
government secret and England or France would give thousands of
dollars to possess it.
The objection of inflammability of the lifting power has also been
overcome. The power of the ordinary hydrogen gas in all its various
forms has been multiplied threefold by a new dioxygen gas discovered
at the Spandau government chemical laboratory. This gas has also the
enormous advantages of being absolutely noninflammable. I have seen
experiments made with it. It cannot be used for illuminating
purposes. Dirigibles that are equipped with it are not liable to the
awful explosions that have characterized flights under the ordinary
system. The new gas has also the enormous advantage of having a
liquid form. To produce the gas it is only necessary to let the
ordinary atmosphere come in contact with the liquid. Carried in
cylinders two feet long and with a diameter of six inches it is
obvious that enough of this liquid can be carried aboard the big war
dirigibles to permit their refilling in midair. So, you see, all the
objections to the commonly known system of operation have been
overcome by the War Office.
The last dirigible tried by the War Office in 1912, the mysterious
Zeppelin X, made a continuous trip from Stettin over the Baltic to
Upsala in Sweden, thence across the Baltic again to Riga in the Gulf
of Finland, where it doubled and sailed back to Stettin. This was a
journey of 976 miles. The airship had a complement of twenty-five men
and five tons of dead weight. It traveled under severe weather
conditions, the month being March, and snow-storms, hail and rain
occurring throughout the voyage. The significance of this flight can
be easily understood if you consider the distance from Strassburg or
Dusseldorf to Paris or other strategical points to France is
approximately 298 miles. A ship like the Zeppelin X could sail over
the French border, dynamite the fortifications around Paris and
return, the journey being roughly 900 miles--76 miles less than the
actual trip made by the Zeppelin X. Moreover, the German military
trials have shown the possibility of an aerial fleet leaving their
home ports and cruising to foreign lands and returning without the
necessity of landing to replenish their gas tanks or fuel.
Let me show you how the German aërial corps is made up. It is called
the Luftschiffer Abteilung and is composed of ten battalions, each
consisting of 350 men. They are all trained absolutely for this
branch of the service. Only the smartest mechanics and artificers are
selected. In the higher branches the most intelligent and bravest
officers hold command. Considering the usual pay in continental
armies, the wages of the men in the General aërial corps are
exceptionally high. In fact they are the highest paid in the German
army. They are not ordinary enlisted men, meaning that they serve
only their two years' time. Most of them have agreed to serve a
lengthy term. Married men are not encouraged to enroll in this branch
of the service. It is obvious from the nature of the work that the
hazards are often great. The wonderful system of the German War
Machine has been installed with rare detail in the aërial corps. The
equipment of the different stations is really marvelous. For
everything human ingenuity has been able to devise concerning the
dirigible you will find in application. Each station is fully
equipped and is an absolutely independent center in itself. Take the
base at Helgoland. It is the newest and the one that is always
cloaked with secrecy.
At the extreme eastern corner of the island of Helgoland one sees,
amid the sandy dunes, three vast oblong, iron-gray structures. At a
distance they are not unlike overgrown gasometers. I say at a
distance, for it is impossible for any visitor to get within a
thousand yards of the station. The solitary approach is guarded by a
triple post of the marine guard. If you walk toward the station,
before you come within a hundred yards of the guard, you will find
large signs setting forth in unmistakable and terse language that dire
and swift penalties follow any further exploration in that direction.
Not only English but German visitors to Helgoland have found out
through their course that even the slightest infringement of the rules
of these signs is dangerous. I shall however, take you a little
closer.
Walking on until you are within fifty yards of the great balloon
sheds, you pause before a tall fence of barbed wire, this connected
with an elaborate alarm-bell system that sounds in the two guard
houses. For instance, if an enterprising secret agent of France were
to try to steal up on the station, if he came by night and cut through
the barbed wire, a series of bells would immediately sound the general
alarm. Having passed through the six strands of barbed wire a tall
octagonal tower meets the eye. In this tower are installed two
powerful searchlights as well as a complete wireless outfit. All the
Zeppelins carry wireless. By means of elaborate reflectors, it is
possible with the searchlights to flood the whole place with daylight
in the middle of the night. Thus ascensions can be made safely at any
hour of the twenty-four. The three oblong sheds stand in a row, the
middle being the largest, having spaces for two complete dirigibles,
while the other sheds house but one each. They are about 800 feet
long, 200 feet broad and 120 feet high. The whole structure itself
can be shifted to about an angle of forty degrees, this being worked
on a plan similar to the railroad engine turntable. The reason for it
is that with the veering of the wind the sheds are turned so that the
doors will be placed advantageously for the removal of the airship
from its place of shelter.
The whole layout and the vast area of space show that it is the
Government's intention to still further increase the plant. In fact,
on my last visit to Helgoland--and it was more than two years ago--I
saw the evidence of another shed about to be built. At the station is
the most efficient meteorological department of all the stations. The
most up-to-date and sensitive instruments connected with this science
are there in duplicates and the highest experts such as only Germany
can produce are in charge of the department.
When I was at Helgoland I noticed a vast difference in the strength of
the fortifications compared to what they had been. They used to be
tremendous, but since the addition of the naval base they have become
secondary. Half the soldiers on duty there have been transferred
elsewhere; so with the big guns. There is no longer any need for
them. As I stated, I saw a fourth big balloon shed in the course of
construction. I have not been on the island for two years. Nobody
has been near the extreme eastern end except those closely identified
with the service. Considering that Germany has not built more than
one extra shed, that means five dirigibles, and there is nothing on
earth that could stand up against them. Helgoland does not need forts
any more. The new forts float in the sky and can rain death.
Helgoland has always been a sore spot of British diplomacy.
Originally England owned the island; now it is a menace to England.
When Lord Salisbury was Prime Minister of England, he conceived what
he believed to be a shrewd diplomatic move. He offered Bismarck the
island of Helgoland in exchange for some East African concessions.
Helgoland is now the key and guard of Germany's main artery of
commerce, being the key to Hamburg. With the dirigible station of
Helgoland to guard her, Hamburg is impregnable and on England's
northern coast they have a way of looking out across the North Sea
with troubled eyes, for who knows when those terrible cartridge-shaped
monsters will rise into the air and sweep over the sea? Stranger
things have happened, even though the countries have their secret
diplomatic understandings.
Let us consider one of these new war monsters, the latest and most
powerful, the X 15. The lateat Zeppelins, charged with the newly
discovered dioxygenous gas, giving these sky battleships triple
lifting capacity; the perfecting of the Diesel motor, giving enormous
consumption (fifty of these Diesel engines, their workings secret to
the German Government, are stored under guard at the big navy yards at
Wilhelmshafen and Kiel, ready to be installed at the break of war into
submarines and dirigibles), have given the German type of aircraft an
importance undreamed of and unsuspected by the rest of the world.
The operating sphere of the new balloons has extended from 100 to
1,200-1,400 kilometers. Secret trial trips of a fully equipped
Zeppelin like X 15, carrying a crew of twenty-four men, six
quick-firing guns, seven tons of explosive, have extended from
Stettin, over the Baltic, over Swedenburg in Sweden, recrossing the
Baltic and landing at Swinemunde, with enough gas, fuel, and
provisions left to keep aloft another thirty-six hours. The distance
all told covered on one of these trips was 1,180 kilometers. This
fact speaks for itself. The return distance from Helgoland to London,
or any midland towns in England, corresponds with the mileage covered
on recent trips. In the event of hostilities between England and
Germany, this statement needs no explanation. That is why I mentioned
that the latter-day Zeppelins were a powerful factor in bringing about
an amiable understanding between those two powerful countries. For
neither the historic wooden walls of Nelson's day nor the steel plates
of her modern navy could help England or any other nation against the
inroads of the monsters of the air.
The capacity of seven tons of explosive does not exhaust the resources
of this type of weapon. I have it on good authority that the new
Zeppelins can carry double that quantity of explosive if necessary.
As the size of these vessels increases, so does the ratio of their
carrying capacity.
Picture the havoc a dozen such vultures could create attacking a city
like London or Paris. Present-day defense against these ships is
totally inadequate. In attacking large places, the Zeppelins would
rise to a height of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, at which distance these
huge cigar-shaped engines of death, 700 feet long, would appear the
size of a football, and no bigger. I know that Zeppelins have
successfully sailed aloft at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Picture them
at that elevation, everybody aboard in warm, comfortable quarters,
ready to drop explosives to the ground. The half informed man--and
there appear to be many such in European cabinets, which recalls the
proverb about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing--likes to say
that a flock of aëroplanes can put a dirigible out of business.
Consider now an aëroplane at an elevation of 6,000 feet and remember
that the new Zeppelins have gone thousands of feet higher. An aviator
at 6,000 feet is so cold that he is practically useless for anything
but guiding his machine. How in the world is he or his seat-mate
going to do harm to a big craft the size of the Zeppelin that is far
above him? An aviator who has ever gone up, say 8,000 feet, will tell
you when he comes down what a harrowing experience he has had. What
good can an individual be, exposed to the temperature and the elements
at such an altitude, in doing harm to the calm, comfortable gentlemen
in the heated compartments of the Zeppelin?--Quatsch! which is a
German army term for piffle!
At 8,000 feet the small target a Zeppelin affords would move at a rate
of speed of from thirty-five to sixty miles an hour. The possible
chances of being hit by terrestrial gunfire are infinitesimally small.
This does not take into account the vast opportunities that a
dirigible has for night attacks or the possibility of hiding among the
clouds. The X 15, sailing over London, could drop explosives down and
create terrible havoc. They don't have to aim. They are not like
aviators trying to drop a bomb on the deck of a warship. They simply
dump overboard some of the new explosive of the German Government,
these new chemicals having the property of setting on fire anything
that they hit, and they sail on. They do not have to worry about
hitting the mark. Consider the size of their target. They are simply
throwing something at the City of London. If they do not hit
Buckingham Palace they are apt to hit Knightsbridge. And remember
that whatever one of the new German explosives strikes, conflagration
begins.
Aëroplanes, biplanes, monoplanes, and the other innumerable host of
small craft so often quoted as a possible counterdefense against the
Zeppelin, are overrated, and are in any case theoretical. The German
authorities have made vast and exhaustive trials in these matters.
The strenuous efforts on the part of this Empire to increase its
dirigible fleet is to my way of thinking answer enough. The German
General Staff at Berlin tries out more thoroughly than any nation in
the world every new device of warfare. They have tried the aëroplane
and the dirigible. I have heard the leading experts and aviators who
have been assigned to both types agreeing that the Zeppelins of the X
15 type have nothing to fear from any present-day flying machine--and
that is good enough for me.