The Seed of Empire by Fred M. White

Bentley and Kemp listened gravely. There was something staggering in the information that Venables had given them. It seemed almost incredible that Germany could have amassed all those troops on so narrow a front without the Allies being aware of the fact. And if what Venables said was true, what was the maximum of the foe's forces in France? And how would it be possible to prevent a headlong dash north of Ypres straight along the road to Calais? At most the British could only muster a hundred thousand men, supplemented by the weary Belgians and a few regiments of French territorials. If this was substantially correct, Calais was doomed. Stubborn and resolute as the English were, they could never hold back such a force, equipped as it was with an overwhelming amount of artillery. As the two friends looked at one another each read the thought that was passing through the other's mind.

"If what you say is correct," Bentley remarked, "that Mons business is going to be a mere picnic in comparison with what we are up against now."