The table following sets forth the rival forces in the western Pacific at the outbreak of war. Even without the ships employed by Japan or the great Japanese reserves which lay behind them, the superior strength of the Allies was overwhelming. But the game the two sides had to play was by no means as unequal as it looked. It was indeed the old game of Fox and Geese. The two powerful German cruisers _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_, with their two light cruisers, formed a modern squadron fast and formidable in character. Our battle-cruiser _Australia_ could catch them and could fight them single-handed. The _Minotaur_ and the _Hampshire_ could just catch them and, as we held, could fight them with good prospects of success; but it would be a hard fought action. If the _Triumph_ were added to _Minotaur_ and _Hampshire_, there was no risk at all in the fight but almost insuperable difficulty in bringing the enemy to action. Among the light cruisers, the _Yarmouth_, _Melbourne_, _Sydney_ and the Japanese _Chikuma_ could both catch and kill _Emden_ or _Nürnberg_. Of our older light cruisers _Fox_ and _Encounter_ could have fought _Emden_ or _Nürnberg_ with a chance of killing or at least of crippling them before being killed: but neither was fast enough to catch them. Our remaining cruisers could only be used in combination with stronger vessels. With our forces aided by two French and two Russian ships and by the Japanese to the extent which will be described, the Admiralty had to protect all the expeditions, convoys and trade in the Pacific. To wit— WARSHIPS IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC[55] AUGUST TO OCTOBER, 1914 German. British. Japanese.[56] French. Russian. Battle-cruisers _Australia_ _Ibuki_ --------- ----- --------- ----- --------- ----- --------- ----- --------- ----- Battleships _Triumph_ ------- ------- ------- ----- Armoured _Scharnhorst_ _Minotaur_ _Montcalm_ Cruisers ----------- -------- -------- ----- -------- ----- -------- _Gneisenau_ _Hampshire_ _Dupleix_ --------- --------- ------- --------- ----- ----- Fast Light _Emden_ _Yarmouth_ _Chikuma_ Cruiser _Nürnberg_ _Melbourne_ _Sydney_ _Philomel_