Dennis Wheatley - Duke de Richleau 07 by The Second Seal Page B

through Alsace-Lorraine, and we have good hopes that the
French will adopt it.”
    “If they do not,
there is still a way by which the German sweep on Paris could be arrested.”
    “I should be
most interested to hear it, Duke.”
    “It is to land a
British Army at the French Channel ports, and deploy it to strengthen the
French left.”
    Sir Bindon did
not flicker an eyelid, and the General’s laugh rang out quite naturally. They
were both past masters in the art of dissimulation where Britain’s vital
secrets were concerned. For years Sir Henry Wilson had spent all his leaves
cycling up and down the roads of Belgium and northern France, so that he might
know by heart every stream and contour of the country when the time came, as he
was convinced it would, to undertake that very operation. But half its value
would be lost if even a hint of our intentions reached the Germans.
    “No, no, Duke!”
he protested. “That would be far beyond our capabilities. Think of the immense
difficulties with which we should be faced in organizing and transporting such
an Expeditionary Force— and the time it would take. The Germans would be half
way to Paris before we could even get started. Besides, how many divisions
could we put into the field? Four—six at the outside. They would be swallowed
up and lost in the general melee, and such a force could not possibly hope to
turn the tide of battle.”
    He was using the
very arguments that the Naval Staff had used in 1911, when they had opposed the
War Office plan, and had maintained that the British Army should be retained at
home, as a striking force to be used later against Antwerp or the German coast,
as opportunity offered.
    De Richleau
shrugged. “The British have a peculiar genius for organization, General, and in
an emergency are capable of acting with surprising speed; so I believe the
difficulties you refer to could be overcome. In such a case, too, it is not the
size but the high quality of the British Army that would count; and, above all,
the moral effect of such a stroke. Every French soldier would fight with
redoubled determination if he knew that British troops were facing the common
enemy with him.”
    Now it was the
Duke who was using the arguments with which Sir Henry had got the better of the
sailors; but Britain’s leading strategist only shook his head again, and said a
trifle brusquely: “Can’t be done, Duke. Take it from me!”
    “What use, then,
do you propose to make of the Army? Surely you do not intend to keep it here
indefinitely from fear of invasion?”
    The General
grinned. “That’s a leading question, and one that I’m not prepared to answer.
We shall find a use for it in due course, never fear. But it’s going to take
time to build it up to a size at which it would be capable of intervening with
definite effect in a continental war; and to begin with great numbers of
regular officers and N.C.O. s will be needed to train the new levies. As for
invasion, we have little fear of that. Of course, the Navy can’t guarantee us
against enemy landings carried out on dark nights or during periods of fog; but
such raiding parties could have no more than a nuisance value. Within a few
hours they would find themselves cut oft”, and as soon as they ran out of
ammunition would be compelled to surrender. No major force with heavy equipment
would stand an earthly chance of getting ashore and establishing a permanent
foothold. I don’t pretend to know much about the Naval side of the picture, but
it is obvious that the French and British fleets combined will give us
overwhelming superiority at sea.”
    For a minute
they were silent while again sipping their brandy. Then De Richleau asked, “What
views do you take of Russia’s prospects of making a deep penetration into
Germany, should she leave her eastern frontier comparatively open in order to
carry out the Schlieffen plan?”
    “We’re not
counting very much on that,” Sir Henry replied, setting