N. X ~78- wt nak 7 possible docs not apply to the transport of troops and supplies,°- For such operations distance remains a formidable barrier, The invasion and occupation of a great country solcly or cven chiefly by air would be an incredibly difficult task even if one assumes a minimum of air oppo sition, . The magnitude of the preparations necessary for such an operation micht make very dubious the chance of achieving the required measure of surprise, It may well prove that the difficulty of consolidating by invasion the advantages terrent to launching such an attack, especially since those same difficultics make retaliation all the more probabic, paration of the intended victim, But all hinges on the quality of pre- If it has not prepared itself for atomic bomb worfars, tho initial devastating attack will undoubtedly paralyze it and make its conquest casy even by a small invading foree. And if it has not propared itsclf for such warfare its helplessness will no doubt be sufficiently apparent before the event as to invite areression. - It is oovious that the force sot apart or counter-invasion purposes will have to be rclatively small, completely professional, and traincda to the uttermost. But there must also be a vory large force ready te resist anc defeat invasicn by the enemy, Uere is the place for the citizen army, though it; } t too must be comprised of traincd men, There will be no time for training once the i atomic bomb is used, Perhaps the old ideal of the "minute-nan" with his musket over his fireplace will be resurrected, in suitably nodernized form. In any case, =“ imu decentralization of arms anc supply depots anc of tactical authority, and for flexibility of operation, ot ( provision zmst be made for instant mobilization of trained rescrves, for a max- The trend towards greater mobility in land forces will have to be enormously accelerated, and strateric concentrations will have to to be achieved in ways which avoid a high spatial density of military forces, ol. See above, pp. 26~30. ~~ ‘st = gained through atomic bomb attack may act as an added and perhaps decisive de-