Likewise the material
used by the army is as far as possible supplied by the farmer direct.
The total absence of bloated, pudgy-fingered army contractors in
Germany is pleasant to the eyes of those who know the conditions in
some other countries I could mention.
Besides, the whole of the German fighting machine is so organized that
in all probability decisive battles would be fought in the enemy's
country, in which case the onus of feeding the troops would fall on
the enemy, called in military parlance "requisitioning and
commandeering." In this, German, and especially Prussian,
quartermasters are in no way behind their English confr??res of whose
activity in the Boer War I know from personal experience.
To give but another instance of the scientific thoroughness in detail,
take a single food preparation--the Erbswurst (pea-meal sausage), a
preparation of peas, meal, bacon, salt and seasoning, compressed in a
dry state into air- and water-tight tubes in the form of a sausage,
each weighing a quarter of a pound. Highly nutritious, light in
weight, practically indestructible, wholesome, this is easily prepared
into a palatable meal with the simple addition of hot water. Of this
preparation huge quantities are always kept in stock for the army.
INTELLIGENCE
Without doubt the most important division of the General Staff and
upon whose information and efforts the whole machine hinges is the
Intelligence Department--really covering many different fields--for
instance, general science, especially strategy, topography,
ballistics, but mainly the procuring of information data, plans, maps,
etc.
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