PAGE 4-HONGKONG TELEGRAPH.
Continuing the remarkable BANSE Revelations
BELOW is another pertinent extract from "Raum Und Volk Im Welktriege", the
indis- creet publication by Pro- fessor Ewald Banse, Nazi professor of military science at Brunswick Technical College, who is recognised to-day as the strategist upon whose theories Nazi military action is based.
Banse is the successor of General Schlieffen, who prepared the plans for the German invasion of France through Belgium in the last war. As such, what he has to say is a clue to Nazi thought and, possibly, Nazi action.
In previous chapters, Banse wrote of the methods Germany should employ in invading Hol- land and Belgium, and the Teasons why such inva- sions would have to be car- ried out by Hitler.
To-day, he writes of the other German dream-the invasion of England,
ENGLAND'S position just off the middle of the west coast of Europe makes her the--natural- gate keeper and overseer of the French, Belgian, Dutch, German, Danish and Norwegian coasts and of the seas which wash them, the Channel and the North Sea.
This explains the changing face of British history. As long as the Atlantic coast was Europe's rear. England was doomed to comparative in- significance; it was, in fact, an unpretentious land of pea- sants and shepherds, which exported wool and imported manufactured goods, and not in its own ships either.
But once the crossing of the Atlantic and the discovery and settlement of ita further. Ameri- can shore had nude Europe's west coast her main front, it de- pended entirely on the capacity of the British people whether the sudden change in their position, which was now extraordinarily advantageous from the commer- cial point of view, would result in the development of overseas trade and in political expansion -or-not-
The British proved equal to their opportunities; they are an ambillous raco and carry out
their projects with immense energy and unfalling success, Since the end of the 16th century
they have reached out across the colonial occan and built up a empire, which has endowed them with immense resources in the shape of raw materials for their industry, and food stuffs for their population.
And in 1840 they took the step. ao fraught with consequences for their security, of ruining their own agriculture by the Introduction of free trade. which placed nation's foo
food
dependence on Imports from overseas and, on the other hand, guve
supply in
the
Kreat
on
Impels to industry, Englund can scarcely survive for a month her home production; in the event of war, therefore, she is faced with starvation unless she can impurt foodstuffs or has hoarded immense stocks,
Superiority
At Sea
Even from this short survey certain important facts
emerge regarding England's position In matters of national defence. Her situation as an Island just off the Atlantic coast of Europe enables her to keep an eye on it and in particular to watch over the Chan-* nel and the North Sea; it gives her, in addition, a milltary security enjoyed by no other country of Europe.
Her economic dependence on her own, but distant emple, which proceeds from this sense of secu- rity, is only made.feasible by her Possesion of a big merchant act. and a navy superior to others.
This fact alone makes England the sworn foo of any power which alms at posseraing an equally Largo fleet. In her ease, a the security of the Binte Is
up with undisturbed maritime trade and a strong navy none of these things is possible-without-the "other: If but one drops out, the whole structure falls to pieces.
Its two main pillars are... "the"
And, of
the swerving
determination of
to
Havy, anth English people
The military upshot of this is, that for England te navy. Is much „more important, ulan. J
Hie army the worst comes, to the worst, the navy has (as happened in the world war to procure, for the
How Hitler would
INVADE
THTO Tertiary
Brutie
1:8000000
Hi Jura - ‘palmum Scarpe
Naustal forward-bases and
libes of advance
AWAY Chalk Shortest crossing for en invading force.
Principal incfustraal areas, and venters of population.
From the military point of view England's field of action lies out- side her coust line so long as no cnemy has crossed the latter. This means that Englund's European theatre of war tes on the sea or -ever on one of its further coasts, from Jutland to the Gironde, to begin with and perhaps subac- quently on the neighbouring island of Ireland..
Approach From
The Sea
land and
covered
Great Britain is easily approach- ed from the sea owing to its many bays and short but deep rivers nor does its interior, apart from Scot- Wales, present many obstacles to communication. Even the Pennine Chuin in the north of England forms no barrier, being
sort of raised plateau mered with
sheep runs, It denne ere are three mairt populated Industrial (anci shipping)
areas: (1) the main axle-irce running right across the south of England
London to from Cardin, with Its centre of gravity in the
the vast London area; (2) the
atta bounded Midlands, an arca
roughly Liverpool, Bir- and Leeds
joining
by a line
ngham, Hull.
ing rich depoalts of coal and
the
Midlands ore the seat or principal heavy,
smelting and
textile industries of the contain a
of its popr. the stable pe country!
and are respon- alble for most of its foreign trade; (3) the small lowland area in the centre of Scotland, with its coal and iron deposits, its shipbuilding and other industries, which con sains Glasgow and Edinburgh and almost the whole population of Scotland
a
The remainder of the island is
good deal more sparsely popu→ lated and is of no great importance for the economic life of the coun- try, which is, in this cuse, the country.
It follows dat any hosilic. threat or motusl invasion must be aimed
one of these three areas, andă if possible against the most important one, the Mid- lands, which are also the prin- elpal centre for the manufacture of artis
The south east of England also deserves special attention, as it is most easily reached from the Con- tinent and, as the seat of the capital, is of paramount impor-.
Lance poistically. South-eastern
England forms the northern ex- tremity of the Paris basin, though, of course, now separated from it by the curving in of the Channel.
to wo
ch, which
country le divided.
north cast and south cal somewhere be tween Oxford and Sailsbury; the
fork
· English," "becure behind their "son""" narrow lines of hills," running
walls, the necessary time to raise
“an" army.
thero tame directions, form 'second rampart facing north" west."
a
Thursday, MAY 16, 1940.
PEPSODENT
TOOTH PASTÉ
and POWDER
CONTAIN IRIUM
FOR GREATER CLEANSING POWER
ENGLAND N.Y.K.
capable of being put to military uses and further strengthened by
various rivers.
Besides the Thames valley, south castern England contains one other low lying area, namely, the broad blunt peninsula formed by Norfolk a relatively sparsely and Suffolk, n
tural district. populated agricultural
This
region is so noticeably cut, of from the rest of England, In- "by the cluding even the south east, by Wash and is inland extension, the Fens (once a swamp, now convert- ed into marshland), by the lower Thames und by various other
rivers, that it is necessarily of the greatest interest to any invading
army.
In fact, the Great Ouse which flows into the Wash, and a num- ber of streams flowing into the Blackwater estuary which suro only reparted from the source of the Ouse by a few miles, mako the peninsula into > regular island, which provides an invad- Ing army with safe and roomy quarters from which $ can threaten London, which is quite close and wlibout natural "de- lences on that side, and also the Industrial Midlands not sway.
English And
The Scots
far
The English nalon and the same applies in general to the Scots, the Mediterranean, Gaelic- speaking element being very small uninduential-was originally a and compound of Lower Saxon and Norwegian
gian emigrants; later on it came under the sway of a Norman upper class, which Introduced the French language as well as Nor wegian blood, so that modern Eng- fish is a set of old Low German with Latin additions.
The
differences between the English and the Scots are chiefly to be explained by the absence of the Norman element, which never penetrated so far north and left the Scots in sense more German. Racially
Ball
of land at home or, sea power and colonies abroad..
This is accompanied by a certain slowness, which clings to the old
bs long as it can be made to work somehow and is very unwilling to alter 13
ways or develop, prefer- ring to surround itself with an ex- traordinary hotch-potch of the most modern inventions and the most ancient traditions.
But the most marked feature of all is the incredible teneity with which
the English, once they have adopted an objective, never let it out of sight for a mament, and use absolutely any means of getting to it without the slightest compunction.
The main object of an English boy's education is not, as it is of a German boy's, to stuif " maxl- mum amount of knowledge into him, but (c) to harden him, to give
bim refolute, self confident
character, and (b) to incorporate the individual in the great British nation, which God has called to rufe the world.
This produces an admirable type of humanity in so far as it com- bines free manhood with complete Incorporation in the state and so- cicly, so that the government can rely on popular support at any rate In all questions of foreign policy. The old
German individualism, which among the Germans penet- rates and (from the public point of view) vitisies everything, has been overlaid and transformed In Great Britain by the strict Norman discipline, Ull it has come
19 form politically
quantity reliable amatiers of culture this is of a imitation, so much so indeed that a wearisome, if in self beautiful, sameness descends. on everything, in ifte as in
thought. It should be noted that in the Scotsman the individual element Is more strongly esprit de
than in the developed strongly Englishman, whereas his outlook is even more materiallstic by a long way; hence Scols racantess has become the subject of innumer able jokes and stories in England.
less
There is one other highly signi- ficant trait which springs from the bedrock of this character, namely; hypocrisy.
Behind a cold and self-controlled exterior the Englishman conceals a distinelly fiery nature which tries to conceal its true features and has gradually learnt how to let on in- ner reality, which but too often has good reason to shun the light 'of day, run riot beneath a well- preserved facade. National
Solidarity
Let us now attempt to evaluate the character we have sketched above from the point of view of military paychology.
The English probably surpass even the French In national soll-
darity, particularly as they are the latter scepticism; free from with them a
grasp of the that the fact IN AL alake fulfils
TOIce of Britain
the same function ng the Frenchman's faculty of quick enthusiasm.
The English nation pursues its vital nims with bulldog pertinacily and will never let its enemy go til it has laid his low; this it has usually succeeded
eeded in doing, from the Spanish Armada to Napoleon and on to Versailles.
The individual English soldier
British Isles belong to the the 50 shows the same steady, if low,
Nordle Phalian group, but in England especially tome of the Mediter ranean blood of the earlier in habitants still persists; It mani. Texts itself the comparative, and In recent years Increasing, fre
frezi quency of dark hair. Wales and Ireland,are ils hòmes.
The
national character in all essentials that of the Lower Saxon peneant, only impoverishel by less favourable agrarian conditions ...and : 'further limited by an insular situation.
for
Anglo-Scottish
shake hands with him, perhaps even to feel pity for him; but be- fare that stage is reached, they will stick at nothing, from slander to starvation and from bare fista to tanks, and they spare nothing and
nobody belonging to the enemy, neither combatents women nor even children.
The English nation always thinks In whates: what it sees as the
nor
enemy is not the individual soldier but the nation plus its entire en- vironment, including the physical aspect of the He and even
The English
country
Its economic Bood name. were the
Grst people to adopt this new attitude, they have put into practice in countless colonial campaigns as well as in the Great War, and they have thereby created a new conception of war and one that has come to, slay.
Henceforward, war is no longer
crossing of awords with the enemy, as it used to be, but the military, economic, psychological and moral destruction and exter- mination of the enemy nallon.
IRIOM
PEPSODENT
LINE
IMMINENT SAILINGS PASSENGER AND FREIGHT
SHANGHAI, JAPAN, SYDNEY, MELBOURNE, via MANILA and Way Ports JAPAN
LIVERPOOL
via SINGAPORE, BOMBAY, MARSEILLES, (CASA - BLANCA), ate. ............. Shanghai, Japan HONOLU LU, SAN FRANCISCO, LOS ANGELES
VANCOUVER and SEATTLE
FREIGHT ONLY
LONDON via Port Said, MARSEILLES, GIBRALTAR,
(CASABLANCA), etc. CALCUTTA
LOS ANGELES-&-PÁNAMÄ-
It was England who instituted the war of starvation, the war-of-econ-NEW-YORK-visJAPAN, omic annihilation and the war of lies alongside the war of armies-
scored
n resounding success with
them.
und
One does not know whether to be horrified at the vileness, or to ad- mire the clear-headed logic and unshakeable fron determination which this reveals; the alter at- titude will probably carry a nation with its eye on its future further.
No Military
Talent
The aggressive spirit is not high- ly developed in the English, nor have they ever shown much talent for, military operations on a large 'scale.
Their slowness at the Marne, where the English army might have landed the German right in queer street by a rapid and resolute thrust between the First and Second Ger- man armies, cays enough.
across
On the other hand we may in- stance as typical British perform- unces: (1) their exhibition of en- durance In Flanders In 1917, already referred to: and (2) their extremely methodical advance
"the"
Sinal which Was not boldly out; like against the Mahdt in Nubin, it was made to depend on the construction of a
case. railway, and, in this
of supply system too, which in
judiciously
planned and Kitchener's
but
La Carric
11
water both cases brought the British. slowly and unheroically but surely to their goal.
In the free use of mobile maSSES In open country, and in the rapid following up of an initial tacticp! success till is assumes strategle proportions, English generals have usually falled,
The Individual soldier in the field is not expected to overwork himself either; he is treated like a gentleman, who cannot get on without comfort and well being: the small extent to which the un- expectedly moeessful tank attack at Cambrai in November, 1917, was followed
owed up is proof enough, The British soldier, of whatever rank, always does just as much as he thinks necessary to preserve the Empire, and no more "the En- pire" meaning comfort
and security for the English at Home;' martial glory means nothing to him.
Whatever the Englishman is do- Ing. he never loses sight of his ob- jective
once he is convinced that it is the right one, never (as the German sometimes does)
confuses the means with the need.
'England's naval strategy in the North_Sen, which kept the battle fleet in the northern barbours, was as right as it was unherole: why risk the precious fleet, the bulwark England's world power and of her domestic security, if the object of the War, the des- truction of Germany, .could be achieved in an essler, and less dangerous fashion?
of
It was the clear realisation of the object of the War, namely, the des- truction of Germany in the In- terests of England's future security --especially after unrestricted sub- marine warfare had shown how
very real the danger was which
was the source of the material and moral strength with which the English people endured the unex- Ens ~~pected-hardships of the long strug.-
gle, among which compulsory mili- service, with its inroads on Individual liberty, was
no doubt much more keenly felt than the (by no means wavere) rtrtioning.
submarine war. The unrestricted fare which stiffened England's back broke ours, in saying which must not forget that the latter had previously been subjected to very much the greater strain.
Reaction To
$40
determination; in the hundred days battle in Flanders in the summer of 1917 he was the mainstay of the Allies, who
beginning to were weaken under the combined strain of the Russian collapse, the mutiny in the French army, the failure of Italy, and the fury of our un restricted U-boat warfare.
The lam teman's type of hero- is passive rather than selive; he remains calm in the face of danger, but he does not leap wildly into the fray; he prefers to explore the enemy's weak side carefully... It is very important to make up
then to: trike
at smashing "our minds how the English, charac- blow at rike
kenda, teramay, be expected to react to a and treat circumspection a On the other hand, It is not the ghostlie Invasion,-* very materialistic attitude to the -- English-way- to- ·pursue" an enemy - The nation will certainly, nash clens foresight; and an egotistical things of this life, combined with foto bis last, gang) by all means letto arms, at-ong......man and, with him live on, provided hela no lust for power which seeks to grab a longer dangerous, et overything: for itself, be "It #pisce ~The English-ure" very ready” to
*Worzine we And great capacity:
and
An Invasion
heralo obstinacy, will let Iself be "mown/down-In` front of the line.
"at "the" Case "ar, this
challe” and “
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Jurassic ballis, before it is forced back step by step.
But it is questionable whether the English could face starvation. Physically they have been ex- tremely pampered for centuries and would find li very hard to. adjust themselves to real priva- tion (such as they never ex- perienced during the War in spite of food cards).
Some of them would no doubt patriotically endure even that, but others might throw up the gume, which would have ceased to be one for them, sooner.
We confess that It gives as pleasure to meditate on the dea truction that must sooner or later overtake this proud and seemingly Invincible nation, and to think that this country, which was last conquered in 1080, will once more obey a foreign master or at any rate have to resign its rich colonial empire.
The above sentences would ap-. pear monstrous, nay, rank blas- phemy to every Englishmans and Englishwoman In the world- If they ever saw them.
The Position
Of Ireland
Ireland's function is merely to back up the main operations which would take place in the east of Eng- land. Only in the last named case would Ireland acquire importance→→ Indeed, great, and decisive import- ance. The English commencer is to And difficulty in moni- a considerable army on two fronts in the over-populated.
Warren of the industrial rabbit
Midlands.
Moreover, English war Industry, which has its chief centres in this particular arca, would not be able to support an army of millions concentrated in this narrow space and keep it suppiled with mund- tions.
Inside Ireland itself special at- tention needs to be paid to Ulster, which would have to be con- quared or hermetically sealed up at the same time as the invasion of the northern Midlands took place.
If conquered, it might be used. as a starting point for an attack on the densely populated Glasgow disiriet of Scotland, which is quite close and of great importance from the point of view of war industry; it such attack, were only even carried out by a small force, it ** would have the effect of keeping considerable portions of the Eng lish army busy up in the north, until a decision was reached, fur ther;
south. The coast-line of Great Britain
and Irelanc ́extends over-
on
tho
fur...
most beneft from an Irish In- vasion of the latter.
When we consider. the won- ders we did achieve and the trouble we spent on less essential objectives, we are forced to the conclusion' that our failure to occupy Holland and attempt u Ianding on the other side of the Channel In the last war was 'n grave error.
Till the beginning of 1010 the English, we know now, assumed that we should be able to-land 160,000 men, as the Grand Fleet could not get into action within less than 24 hours of the trans- ports being sighted. They were here thinking of a from Germany. So
we may assume that we could have got 250,000 men across from the Bel- gtan and Dutch coast before the Granel Fleet could interfere. The line of the Grand Ouse to the west of Norfolk and Suffolk is some 20 miles long: would not have been very strongly held with '250,000 men_but__auficiently strongly to
cope with Eniglsh home defence. troops.
Crossing
The Channel
To get an army остов the Channel to the Kent coast should prove a relatively simple business, particularly if the attacker Is in possession of the French Channel of Dunkirk, Calais and Bou- ports logne, from which he can clear the Channel of English ships with artillery, the shortest sea passage between the ten miloa or so of French coast from Cape Griz-Nez to Sangatte and Dover being only 21 miles.
During the world war there were two opportune moments for a Germon landing: the first in 1914 or the beginning of 1015, when the English army at home was still small and untrained; and the second in the spring of 1917, when
submarine. unrestricted ༢ཐ
warfare storted.
At that time the British higher command believed that if U-boat warfare failed, Germany would be bound either to attempt an in- vasion of England-at the cost of her fleet, if need be--or sue for peace.
"At the cost of her fleet." Is that not eloquent of an inex- haustible energy, an iron detez- mination to reach the goal, which wo lacked?
cautious beh The
behaviour of our High Seas feet did at least one good thing for us; it compelled England to keep a strong army at
total of about 400,000 men, half of home, which in 1917 reached them unfit for active service, no doubt. But what a difference pa Invasion would as the
?
con-
me
Grand Float-is-functioning, there are only two places worth sidering for a hostlie landing---the East Anglian peninsula, Banks By the Wash and
the
the estuary of Thames, which lends itself well to defence; and the peninsula of Kent and Sussex, lying between the. Thames estuary and the Channel, the occupation of which by an chemy would be a still
more direct threat to the capital.
Both schemes of invasion, of
course, presuppose Üst Germany will have the Belgian and Dutch cosat at his disposal az k basė, "of operationa
In.base_of.
double
the over 13on of Kans Angfis is the prefer- "Able plans for is enables one to ktronian - both London and indus- Krik) - Midlands, – which, arm of sencial importance for Engimaid's -resistance," and:would also ̈dertve
made! have
In the first place, the Grand Fleet would have been lured from its funk-hole;; then the English army in France (all of it in 191
would have most of it in 1917) been
recalled whereupon the French would have been unable to go on
the Western Front E themelues; moreover, colonial by troops would have been called in. thus removing the pressure, on our Turks and In colonies, on - the Macedonia,
Instead of delivering this blow, which had every chance of cess and would have wiruck, at the heart of the Allies, as well as delivering Franco into our bands, we involved ourselves in Plečeniaal 'öpäraltons all over th6° place, which could not bring the War to an end.
To-morrow: ITALY
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