"Thirdly, Essen will have to turn out submarines at a much faster rate than your firm is doing now; have to arm the numerous forts we will set up along the French-Belgian coast with the heaviest of artillery, and furnish air fleets to prosecute a guerilla war against English trade and—stomachs."
Von Bohlen looked puzzled. He had imbibed enough of the Krupp spirit to encourage him in the belief that he might rival an earthquake as a destroyer of life and property, but his ambition had never extended to interference with other people's digestion.
"Explain, Bülow," ordered the War Lord, considering it beneath his dignity to give information on so trifling a subject.
"His Majesty refers, of course, to the disturbance of England's food supplies. Unlike Germany, Great Britain cannot feed herself, being dependent for the sustenance of the inner man on imports. And these His Majesty intends to stop by the means referred to."
"And, speaking of aircraft, you must provide means for bringing airships down," continued the War Lord, "for there is every indication that the enemy will attempt to fight our aerial fire with ditto fire, especially the French. The slow English will fall behind, of course." Abruptly: "Have you got any ideas to offer in that line?"
"Not at the moment," confessed von Bohlen; "but I will ask Bertha to lend me her most enterprising constructor of light ordnance and the airship expert. They will be given three months for experiments."
The War Lord nodded. "Not half bad, but offer a premium if the question is solved within three weeks."[#]
[#] Neither three weeks nor three months nor three years sufficed, and Krupp's balloon-gun, mounted on automobile carriages, is one of the latest additions to the German artillery. It is effective at about 7,000 yards, and throws projectiles weighing 12 lb. Its dead weight of 11,000 lb. operates against its usefulness in the field, but it is well adapted to forts and fortresses. This gun can describe a complete circle in the horizontal plane and can fire vertically.
He rose. "More of this in a day or two, after I have seen Moltke, Tirpitz and old Zep. In the meantime remember this: Super is the thing. We must have super-guns, super-submarines, super-aircraft—ordinary arms will not do in the struggle to come. Our enemies are ordinary men, fighting with ordinary means, while we are supermen bent on superhuman effort, and consequently need super-arms."
He turned from Bohlen. "Announce me to the Princess Maria," he commanded Bülow.