Fraser refrained from mentioning these matters to Admiral Johnson himself until he had noted the reaction of several of the rear admirals to his tactical scheme as he proposed it, and until he had given serious thought to their comments. Finally, having enlisted a moderate degree of approval on the part of two of these men, he suggested what he had in mind to Admiral Johnson. The Admiral, who valued Fraser for the efficiency he had already shown, listened attentively, but was disposed to shake his head at several features of the plan. It sounded to him too fantastic and impracticable. Nevertheless, he consented to discuss it at a conference with his rear admirals.
The conference was called and Fraser went into it with the conviction that his proposal was fraught with momentous possibilities. But as the discussion progressed, he found that with only halting and hesitant support from the two admirals whose backing he had previously won, even his buoyant enthusiasm was no match for the opposition of the majority. But, since not one convincing argument against the scheme was presented by any one, he was at the end of the conference more convinced than ever of its essential soundness, and more determined to fight for its adoption. After the other admirals had dispersed, Fraser continued to discuss the matter with Admiral Johnson.
“You see, Fraser,” said the Admiral, “you mustn’t let your enthusiasm carry you away too far. The majority of the admirals were clearly opposed to your idea.”
“Yes,” answered Fraser, “but was there one single valid reason given why it should not work?”
“I don’t know about that,” answered the Admiral, “but it would be rash policy to adopt all of a sudden a new type of formation differing radically from that to which we are trained and which has been proved efficient, especially when a failure of this new-fangled method with which you propose to correlate the divisions would result in disastrous confusion and loss of all-important concentration of force.”
“If we could hope to engage the enemy under tolerably favorable conditions,” answered Fraser, “we should be justified in adhering to the present well-tried formations, but they know our strength and won’t chance it. Unless we can draw them out by making them think conditions are favorable for them, they won’t come out at all; and unless we have something up our sleeves better than they are prepared for, we can’t afford to risk action under conditions which they deem favorable. If things drag on as they are now, what does it mean? Continued deadlock on sea like the deadlock on land. At the present moment the deadlock on land is in danger of breaking for the worse. The enemy have recently made a serious breach in our line by a new trick in chemical warfare of which we have not the secret. There were enough reserves available to close up the breach this time. But with such methods, unknown to us, available to them, and with the marvelous generalship of Murad, and his genius for making effective use of just that sort of thing, the outlook for the war is very ominous unless we can force their hand at sea. It’s worth everything to bring things to a head in the most advantageous way. If the stake is worth it, we can by adequate effort develop this method and make it work. Surely the stake is worth it.”
The Admiral sat for a while frowning and tapping his desk with his fingers.
“What assurance have you that this method will work?” he asked at last. “Are you well enough acquainted with the technical difficulties that may have to be overcome to guarantee its success?”
“Technically it is the same method that has worked on destroyers in finding and sinking submarines. I have not an intimate knowledge of the technical details myself, but the radio gunner, Evans, who was responsible for its proper working on the first successful submarine hunt, knows more about it than any man in the navy; he has assured me that it would be perfectly feasible to apply the same method on the more extensive scale required for the maneuvers we’ve been discussing.”
“It’s risky to touch too closely on grand strategy in talking with a gunner,” remarked the Admiral.