THE OPPOSING FORCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15594, 28 April 1914, Page 7

THE OPPOSING FORCES.

AMERICAN SUPERIORITY.

FEARLESS MEXICAN FIGHTERS,

1 On the face of it. Mil from the military and naval points of view, the United States would appear to be. overwhelmingly superior to her enemy. Her troops—or, at least, her regular forces— of close on 100.000 trained men. Considered in the light of modern European armies, this is only a mere handful, but her army is ' highly trained, is highly paid, and is under ■ the control of a strong central government. | Furthermore, it is backed by a national J guard, or militia, which, when organised, ! could put anything from another 100.000 to j 120.000 men' in Die field, i On the other hand, Mexico can boast of ! only about 84,000 men of all ranks—a. calculation arrived at by the most uncertain methods, in times when the country was in a far less state of turmoil than it is now. It is deficient in artillery, and her transport and engineering services are in. a state of hopeless disorganisation. Armed Mobs of Men. In fact, disorganisation is the only word to be used in respect of the whole of the army, if it can bo said to exist a' all at the present moment. Whatever troops there are, they can only be de- : scribed as armed mobs of men, fighting ■ amongst themselves, to the dictates of J their political traders, This is the factor I that holds most sway in considering the chances of such a constituted force against j the organised battalions of the United States. Hut there is another side of the question, Whatever Mexico lacks in military organisation her soldiers have, by constant exercise in the field of active warfare, developed individually into fierce, resolute, and fearless men. Armed and mounted, with a knowledge of every inch of the country, one might say, these bands of veteran warriors might be expected to adopt irregular methods of defence, and hold even the most highly-trained army at bay for months. Problem Before Invaders. An invading force would be faced with the great problem of supply and transport, and in a strange country of such dimensions as Mexico these difficulties would be increased fourfold. True, there are 16,000 miles of railways, but the rolling stock is anything but good, and the tracks, conjstrnctcd as they were by rival private comj panies, have been laid out with no thought I for, their strategic usefulness. The result : is that they are congested, and leave whole I areas absolutely bereft of means of communication. Roads there are few, and I these are in a bad slate of repair. It is in | naval strength where Mexico most suffers ! in comparison, but, should operations of ian extensive kind be decided upon, in I naval warfare nothing more could be car- , ried on than an effective blockade of Mexican ports, and the use of a few cruisers to cover the landing of troops, who alone can he described as the'decisive factors. Mexico possesses only five gunboats and a couple of armed transports. Against these are to be placed a navy of Dreadnoughts and super-Dreadnoughts, with a powerful auxiliary fleet of armoured cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.