The troops arrived every hour, some trains being made up entirely of artillery, others unloading great quantities of food and supplies. Stores of every kind were set up for the comfort and need of the troops, and it was a never-ending scene of bustle and activity.
Roland, who was with them much of the time, answered: "An army must live, and to be effective must be well fed. Napoleon said that an army fights on its stomach."
"What did he mean by that?" asked Ralph.
"That without a well-filled stomach a soldier cannot fight well."
"But how do they know how much food of this kind to send down here? It seems to me they have enough here now to feed a big army," said Alfred.
"And it will be a big army, too, before we are through with it. The government has what is called a commissary department, whose duty it is to calculate just how many rations are required for each company for a certain period. They know it takes so much flour, and vegetables, and meat, and all the other necessaries to sustain them. Then the ordnance division knows how many guns are needed for that particular force, and what ammunition is required. The transportation department is called upon to deliver the requisite quantity of supplies to a certain point within a certain time. They must calculate how many trains are necessary to transport so many troops. In that way every department is called upon by the commanding officer of an army."
"But just what is meant by 'mobilization'?"
"Mobilize means to move. To mobilize troops means not only to move troops to a certain place but also to move food and ammunition supplies. One without the other would be useless."