Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-02-20
Modern Warfare.

The employment Of the enormous masses
of men which obligatory service now places
at the disposal of the great Continental
powers will render future wars not more
sanguinary, but more quickly decisive. and
also much more complicated than those Of
former times. The features that most dis
lineuish the new warfare from The old are
the enormous extent of the battlcSe:ds,
and the different part played by The Gen
eral-in Chief. Sixty years ago armies bi
vouack ed at a distance from each other al
which they are now in full action. Even
| In the last war it was found that the Gen.
eral could do little more then marshal bis
| forces, give, as it were, the impulse, and
leave the carrying out OF his plans 20 the
Intelligence of his subordinates. Much more
will this be the case in the time t. come,
for the commander of the future, instead Of
having dozen corps d'armes in line Of bat
tie, must have at least twenty. and the
action may be fought along trout of as
many leagues.
If the next great war should be wa2ed
between the two nations which wore par
ties to the last, it will find the French
frontier protected by q granite wall of
strong places bristliuS with cannon, and
here and there gap, rs if to tempt a. IN.
wary enemy to destruction Bat no enemy
so acute as the Germans would atter'nt to
enter the country without first affecting q
breach in the wall.
To this end the plan of concentraticn and
the plan of operation will have TO bsA'sxe
cuted simultaneously. The campaign will
open with great cavalry fights, each army
trying to rid itself of the dangerous wit
uesses Of it's movements, and at the same
time to ascertain those Of its adversaries.
The side that succeeds 10 beating back the
enemy's horse will have scored great ad
vantage. The concentration of their corps
d'arnlee will be rendered easier, and the secret
of their strategy more etfectually guarded.
This will be the object OF tho German com
manders and, as we may presume, also of
the French.
The cavalry combats will probably lie fol-
lowed by great battle, offered by the army
whose horsemen have heen worsted, either
in front of is Notifications or in the inter-
walls between them This preliminary con-
contest, though it can hardly fail to be mnr-
derous, is expected 10 be indecisive for If
the assailaut be vauquished he will return
to the charge while il the defenders should
prove the weaker they can withdraw be-
hind their Qualifications. Then will begin
the tug Of war. The iron and granite BAR
rer that shelters the beaten foe will have 10
be forced at all costs. Regular seige Q Era
lions will be out ofthe question. The Delay
would enable the defenders to rally and di
rect the bulk OF their forces on the threaten
ed point. The assailants must be able to
cover their advance by an artillery Are SUI
peror at once to that of the forts and Of the
army by whom they are supported. In the
next great war the decisive battles will be
preceded by combats of artillery greater
than any the world has yet seen.
After breaking the line the invaders will
have to encounter the enemy a second time
if they will accept battle, or invest them in
their fortified camps, if they should be 80
unwise as TO take refuge there. Unwise,
because au army in an ntrenched camps is
8 lost army, and in this opinion Col. Hen
nebert, French military writer who dis
cusses the subject in his Europe Under
Arms" is fully agreed with Baron Won der
Goltz. In the event of the defenders being
a second time beaten, the problem would be
solved; the rest of the campaign could be
conducted under normal conditions, save
that the guardian Of communications would
require greater watcbfulness and a:osorb
many more men than previous wars were
wont to do.-London Spectator.