ation--whilst leaving only individual brigades, or
even regiments, to those fractions of the Army which for the moment
can best dispense with Cavalry support.

Of course, an Army taking the field with a great superiority of
Cavalry can afford to deal less sparingly with it for secondary
purposes; on the other hand, the numerically weaker side is driven to
the utmost economy of its forces, and the utmost energy in its
employment at the decisive moment. It will therefore be essential for
the latter to concentrate at the commencement of the campaign the bulk
of its Cavalry upon the decisive line of operations--that is to say,
on that line on which, from the general strategical situation, one can
expect to penetrate into the chief district of concentration of the
enemy's Armies, and hence to find out what it is of the greatest
importance for us to know, or, on the other hand, when it is to our
interests to conceal our own operations, and hence to beat the enemy's
Cavalry as thoroughly as possible wherever it shows itself. On the
remaining portion of the front we must endeavour to employ as little
Cavalry as possible, and to supplement it in the duties of security by
Infantry, whilst leaving reconnaissance to be dealt with by patrols.
If we thus gain the victory on the principal line, the results will
soon be apparent in a reduction of pressure on the adjacent sections
of the front, and then the Cavalry will find its opportunity for
increased activity in offensive enterprises. For, once the enemy's
horsemen are beaten, either he will concentrate his remaining Cavalry,
from every direction, towards the threatened points, or the victor
will be in a position to utilize the superiority he has acquired to
support any portion of his force which may have got into temporary
difficulties.

If, thus, it is the necessity of beating the enemy's Cavalry out of
the field at the very commencement of the campaign which compels the
concentration of important numbers in the decisive direction, it
follows naturally that this point of view must be fully considered in
the plan of strategical deployment.

In the further stages of Cavalry activity--_i.e._, after it has
defeated the mass of the enemy's Cavalry--the tasks which can confront
the Arm make the employment of considerable forces essential, unless,
as so often happened in 1870, its operations are to be interfered
with, if not altogether stopped, by weak Infantry detachments, or even
b