escort sufficiently without dividing his battle-fleet, he is
forced to bring his whole force up to the army or abandon the attempt till
command shall have been secured by battle.

Thus the traditional British system has never failed to bring about the
deadlock, and it will be observed it is founded on making the invading army
the primary objective. We keep a hold on it, firstly, by flotilla blockade
and defence stiffened as circumstances may dictate by higher units, and
secondly, by battle-fleet cover. It is on the flotilla hold that the whole
system is built up. It is the local danger to that hold which determines
the amount of stiffening the flotilla demands, and it is the security of
that hold which determines the position and action of the battle-fleet.

A few typical examples will serve to show how the system worked in practice
under all kinds of conditions. The first scientific attempt to work on two
lines of operation, as distinguished from the crude mass methods of the
Middle Ages, was the Spanish enterprise of 1588. Though internal support
from Catholic malcontents was expected, it was designed as a true invasion,
that is, a continuing operation for permanent conquest. Parma, the military
commander-in-chief, laid it down that the Spanish fleet would have not only
to protect his passage and support his landing, but also "to keep open his
communications for the flow of provisions and munition."

In advising the dual line of operation, Parma's original intention was to
get his army across by surprise. As always, however, it proved impossible
to conceal the design, and long before he was ready he found himself
securely blockaded by a Dutch flotilla supported by an English squadron. So
firm indeed was the English hold on the army, that for a time it was
overdone. The bulk of the English fleet was kept on the line of passage
under Howard, while Drake alone was sent to the westward. It was only under
the great sailor's importunity that the disposition, which was to become
traditional, was perfected, and the whole fleet, with the exception of the
squadron supporting the flotilla blockade, was massed in a covering
position to the westward. The normal situation was then set up, and it
could only have one result. Surprise was out of the question. Parma could
not move till the blockade was broken, nor in face of the covering fleet
could the Spanish fleet hope to break it by a sudden intrusion. The vague
prospects the Span