"Another von Moltke will, true to his great name, demonstrate to the world at large that we have not been resting on our laurels of 1870 and 1871, and that, as the first condition of peace, we have been preparing all the time for war. The glorious deeds of our victorious armies will, I fear me not, be again repeated if not surpassed on the battlefields of Great Britain and France, assuring in their ultimate consequences to Germany the place due to her at the head of nations. I need not go into details at the present moment. Suffice it to say that preparations have been made to convey, at a word, a German army of invasion of a strength able to cope with any and all troops that Great Britain can muster against us. For the safe transport of the army of invasion we shall, to a considerable degree, rely on the fleets of fast steamers belonging to the Hamburg-Amerika Line and the North-German Lloyd, two patriotic companies, whose officials, employees, and agents have--throughout the world--proven their zeal and devotion to the cause of the Empire, and whose tact and discretion have already helped my government in many an embarrassing position. Herr Ballin, Director-General of the Hamburg-Amerika Line, whom I received but a few days since on board my yacht 'Hohenzollern' at Swinemünde, is truly a great man and verily deserves something better than to be nicknamed 'the Napoleon of German Shipping'--as his enthusiastic compatriots call him. His activity, his energy, and his brains accomplish the most difficult things, and when the day of invasion arrives, he will reveal his plans. "Of course it is too early yet to fix the exact date when the blow shall be struck. But I will say this, that we shall strike as soon as I have a sufficiently large fleet of Zeppelins at my disposal. I have given orders for the hurried construction of more airships of the improved Zeppelin type, and when these are ready we shall destroy England's North Sea, Channel, and Atlantic fleets, after which nothing on earth can prevent the landing of our army on British soil, and its triumphant march to London. Do you remember, my Generals, what our never-to-be-forgotten Field-Marshal Gebhard Lebrecht von Blücher exclaimed, when looking from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral upon the vast metropolis at his feet. It was short, and to the point. 'What a splendid city to sack!'