More than half of these are to be regarded as warriors,
while the rest are doing service as reserves for the army or in the
lines of support and communication outside the fighting zone. The
highest number of fighters on a single theatre of the war included from
six to seven million fighters on both sides. The long trench warfare,
the Minister rightly pointed out, demands greater energy than was ever
demanded at any time of the troops, and a loss of from 10 per cent. to
15 per cent. of the fighting force today no longer keeps back the
leaders from executing far-going decisions. Today the fronts clash, not
in one-day or several day battles, but for weeks and months at a time,
so that many of the fighters even now have already taken part in 100
battles. These instructive and appreciative words from an authoritative
station throw a bright light upon the strength of the nations which are
sacrificing their forces in a sense of duty to their fatherland. But
the lesson which the homeland should draw from such unprecedented
self-sacrifice consists of this--always to stand as a firm protective
wall behind the army, never to deny it recognition and encouraging
approval, and to dissipate its cares for the present and for the future.
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