



Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England




The Way to Win
By William Le Queux
Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co Ltd, London.
This edition dated 1916.

The Way to Win, by William Le Queux.

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THE WAY TO WIN, BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX.

Foreword.

I do not think anyone who has studied the progress of the War with care
and patience can deny that, during the past few months, a mighty change
has come over the aspect of the great struggle.

A year ago, when I wrote "Britain's Deadly Peril," the fortunes of the
Allies appeared to be at the lowest ebb.  Indomitable energy and
perseverance have since worked wonders.  To-day we plainly see that the
conquering march of the Teuton has been arrested and the process of
forcing back his hordes has begun.

Britain--the fierce Lion of Britain--is at last fully aroused to the
momentous issues which hang on the decision, and has flung herself with
all her unrivalled tenacity, and with a unanimity unparalleled in our
history, into the titanic conflict.

Russia, France, and Italy have responded to the call with equal
nobility.  To-day the Allies are more than a match for the Hun in
manpower; they are equal to them, at least, in the supply of munitions,
the lack of which so badly hampered our cause last year.  Finally, the
great new masses of the British Army, straining at the leash, are
eagerly awaiting the signal to hurl themselves at the foe for his
destruction.

The British Navy, silent and invincible, holds the seas of all the
world, and Germany and her Allies are to-day feeling the pinch of war in
most deadly earnest.  Prices in enemy countries are rising by leaps and
bounds; the food supply is beginning to fail; money is lacking; the
value of the mark is falling, and there is every prospect of a shortage
of men--cannon-fodder they were once called by Germans--in the near
future.

We are on the eve of great events.

Already we hear the ominous rumblings which prelude the breaking of the
storm.  The great clash is at hand which, for good or ill, shall settle
the destinies of our world for many generations to come--perhaps for
ever.

Can we doubt the issue?  Assuredly not.  The spirit of our dear old
Britain and her glorious Allies is unbroken, and still unbreakable.
Cost what it may, they are fully determined to smash, once and for ever,
the accursed Teuton attempt to dominate the world and throw back the
clock of civilisation for centuries.  There will be no faltering and no
turning back on Great Britain's part until that great end is attained.

Courage and resolution and a hard fist are the keys of the situation for
the Allies.  We have them in abundant measure.  And unless Britain is
unthinkably false to all the traditions that have made her great, our
triumph in the Near To-morrow is assured.

William Le Queux.

Devonshire Club, London, March, 1916.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE RIFT IN THE CLOUDS.

If we could imagine a being from another planet dropped suddenly on this
old earth of ours and left with the aid of maps to figure out for
himself the real position of the world-war, we could readily imagine
that it would seem to him that the Germans were winning "hands down."

Perhaps there would be a good deal of excuse for such a belief.

He would see, in the first place, that the Germans had overrun and
captured the whole of Belgium except one very small portion.  He would
see that the greater part of Northern France was in their undisputed
possession.  He would see that they had driven the Russians from Poland
and penetrated far within the boundaries of Russia proper.

He would also see that they had almost completely conquered or cajoled
the Balkan States, and that German trains were running from the North
Sea to Constantinople.  He would see them holding apparently impregnable
lines of defences against forces at least as strong as their own--
probably much stronger.  He would see them or their Allies holding up
British forces in Persia and in Mesopotamia.  He would see the Italians
apparently firmly held along the mountainous boundaries of the Austrian
Empire.  He would see that a great British army had been driven out of
Gallipoli.  He would unquestionably come to the conclusion that the
cause of the Allies was a lost cause, and would probably conclude that
the best thing they could do would be to make a speedy peace on the best
terms the victors could be induced to grant.

And he would be unquestionably wrong in his deduction, even though we
admit the accuracy of his facts.

For, like the thoughtless and the whimperers among us, he would for want
of knowledge leave out of his consideration certain hard facts which,
properly considered, would reverse his judgment.  Like the thoughtless
and the whimperers, he would judge too much from mere appearances and
would fail to see the real essential things.  He would fail to see the
wood for the trees; he would mistake the shadow for the substance.  Just
so the German people to-day are making the mistake of thinking that the