p.453 I believe that, in future warfare, great cities, such as London, will be attacked from the air and
that a fleet of 500 aeroplanes, each carrying 500 ten-pound bombs of, let us suppose, mustard gas, might cause 200,000 minor
casualties and throw a whole city into panic within a half hour of their arrival... London for several days will be one vast
Bedlam.
[JLJ - from Wikipedia, The Blitz was the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September
1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The Blitz hit many towns and cities across the country, but it began with
the bombing of London for 76 consecutive nights. By the end of May 1941, over 43,000 civilians, half of them in London,
had been killed by bombing and more than a million houses destroyed or damaged in London alone...
Although the Germans never again managed to bomb Britain on such a large scale, they carried out smaller
attacks throughout the war, taking the civilian death toll to 51,509 from bombing. In 1944, the development of pilotless V-1
flying bombs and V-2 rockets briefly enabled Germany to again attack London with weapons launched from the European
continent. In total, the V weapons killed 8,938 civilians in London and the south-east.]
p.455 The purpose of a fleet is to gain or maintain command of the sea for the purposes of
trade and movement of armies.
p.456 It is not impossible to suppose that a submarine could be built which would carry six floatable tanks
and that a squadron of these submarines, supported by submarine monitors and gas projecting vessels, might appear off an enemy's
coast line... the embarkation can take place at night, the initiation of the operation will be secret... From its floating
mechanical base will be launched a floating army. This force will propel itself ashore, crawl up the beach and move straight
inland at a speed varying from 10 to 20 miles the hour... it will be able to terrorize the enemy's people, and if threatened
by superior force it will... make for the coast... and swim out to the submarines and re-embark. [JLJ - not bad for science
fiction, and written in 1923]
p.457 the main tactical problem in war is to hit without being hit
p.457 is it common sense to expect a nation, reduced to fight for its life, a nation which possibly possesses
scientific weapons of tremendous power, and the development of the capacity which provides for surprise in its most positive
form - an unexpected and terrific blow, moral or physical according to the theory of warfare held - to imperil victory by
an open declaration of hostilities... I therefore predict that, when nations comprehend the real purpose of war, wars
will not be declared
p.458 there is always room for improvement, and that, that side which gains supremacy in invention
and design is the side which is going to win the next war. In the past wars have frequently been decided by manpower,
in the future they will almost certainly be decided by machine-power begotten by brain-power - possibly in
a single test tube may be discovered the secret of the conquest of the world!
