THE CAPRIVI ERA 39

him: what we especially lack is some grasp of tactics; we do not know how we should fight. Caprivi did everything in his power to take up this suggestion. He put the so-called " twelve tactical questions " to a series of officers whose judgment he respected. It was always premised that the French were against us, and the questions were then asked: How will the advance be regulated? What order of battle should we adopt? How would one behave in the melee which (in Caprivi*s opinion) would ensue under any circumstances ?*

Caprivi instituted Naval Staff tours, during which problems were set on the following lines: Russia and France declare war upon us; the Russian fleet wants to join the French, and we are to prevent it. It was from such situations, which served as the guiding line of the discussion, that a gradual advance was made from mere coastal defence to the demand for a High Sea Fleet. Caprivi's activities culminated in his working out personally our first plan of operation after he had instructed himself in the matter; then he brought me in for consultation. The plan consisted roughly as follows: I was to run a torpedo division into Cherbourg the moment war was declared, and then the battle fleet which we possessed was to proceed to Cherbourg and bombard the place. Caprivi is also the real originator of our mobilization.

1 For my part I still considered it probable that a kind of cavalry engagement must develop if a battle were fought to a finish.