e sea, but she would not be prepared to
protect her Canadian provinces, with which the Americans could
compensate themselves for a total or crushing defeat on the sea. None
of the other great powers can provide the necessary transport fleet to
attempt an invasion.

II. VIEWS ON COLONIAL EXPEDITIONS

All operations for colonial expeditions can be undertaken successfully
because of the small forces necessary to transport over the sea to
make war upon a country which does not possess modern equipment and
trained troops. Just such an expedition was unostentatiously carried
out in China before our own eyes.

The sending of an expedition to East Asia affords an interesting
example of what can be done. Without resistance we have set up
governments at a distance from the home country. It is possible with
the aid of the fleet to secure similar results. However, there are
many obstacles to be overcome. It is imperative that in time of peace
we should prepare in every possible way for war in foreign lands
which have any commercial value for us. Inasmuch as the German army
has determined upon larger divisions of troops, the problems of
operations on the distant sea falls to the navy. In the future the
conducting of such operations will rest with the General Staff. It
will be necessary to continue the preparations, described fully in the
forepart of this book, for the carrying out of operations against such
countries as Asia, Africa and South America. Good judgment must be
used in the selection of methods. The execution of the first
operations would require the constantly combined efforts of the
General Staff and the Admiral Staff.

Our excellent knowledge of East Asia has given us the necessary
technical preparation in the way of equipment. The chartering of
transport ships for service to China should not be difficult in
consequence of the large size of the expedition. The expedition corps
would require eighteen ships, material and supplies would take five.
The greater part of this number would be amply supplied by our two
large steamship companies, the North German Lloyd and the
Hamburg-American Line. The charter of these steamship companies
provides for their use as transports if needed for expeditions of this
sort. The disadvantages of this arrangement once appeared in the delay
through a labor strike, when it was necessary to transport part of the
unfinished ships to Wilhelmshaven. Another drawback is that not enou