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34 huge task of returning some seven millions of men to their homes was begun.

Not all of the troops, however, were thus immediately redistributed to the farms and factories and business houses of Germany. A picked force of 200,000 veterans of the first line was diverted to the leading German seaports on the North Sea and the Baltic, and within a few days after the close of the war 20,000 of these troops, with the necessary artillery and equipment, had been embarked upon certain transports of moderate size and draft, which, as soon as the troops were aboard, pulled out into midstream and awaited further orders. In every case the troops went aboard at night, and during the operation the cordon of secrecy drawn around the various naval bases and ports at which the embarkation took place was tightened.

While the loaded transports were awaiting their orders, the troops remained