Page:The War and the Future (Masefield, 1918).djvu/48

36 Then, in all this fighting, our armies have been outnumbered by the enemy. We have had concentrated against us not less than two millions of the enemy. People have asked, in some surprise, "How comes it, that you have been outnumbered?"

We have been outnumbered, presumably because the Allied High Command has judged, that this is not the time for the fighting of the decisive battle of this war, and that the line must be held with comparatively few troops so that the reserves for the decisive battle may be as large as possible.

We must be patient, and wait for the counter, trusting the goodness of our cause.

But in thinking of British man-power you must remember that though all the belligerent countries have to reckon with three big armies, we have to reckon with seven. All belligerent countries have to reckon with their army of the living, their army of the wounded, and their army of the dead. We have to reckon all these, and our armies of the dead and wounded would alone mount up to nearly $2 1/2$ millions of men. But we have also to maintain four armies which the other belligerent countries do not have to have.