Evening star., 1896-01-11
MODIFIED WARFARE.
What Invention Has Done to Change
Methods of Campaigning.

Methods of Campaigning.
From the Engineering News.
Let US take a concrete example OF the
change which modern weapons have
wrought in the art Of warfare.
The cavalry charge has always been a
thrilling feature Of great battles, and has
been celebrated in song and story more
than any other incident of battle. 1t Will
probably surprise many to learn that there
will be few charges either of cavalry or IN
fantry in the battles of the future. The
success of a charge always depends on the
ability of the moving troops to cross the
danger space and reach the enemy's lines
without losses serious enough to cheek the
advance There has been an enormous in
crease in the rapidity and effectiveness of
infantry fire in the past ten years, or even
the past five
The danger space is now so wide, the
possibilities of rapid firing are so great
and the killing power of the bullets so ter
rible, that neither cavalry nor infantry
could now reach intrenched troops wlthous
being annihilated. The famous charges OF
history will not be repeated in future wars,
or, If repeated, the result will be the total
destruction of the attacking party. Ten
nyson'S "SiX Hundred" at Balaklava, sent
by mistake Into the jaws of hell" rode
back again; but not, not the six hundred"
Had that battle been fought with present
day weapons, not only would none or the
none among them would ever have reached
the objective point where the turn was
made.
We may even go further. and say that
the science of handling troops upon a
battle field must be entirely revolutionfzed
to suit modern weapons. The infantry rine
enables a soldier to fire hundred rounds
of ammunition in four minutes. The bull
lets will kill at a range of between one and
two miles, and at point blank range will
penetrate sixty pine boards each one inch
thick. Besides this. light field machine
guns can pour forth perfect hail of mis-
siles with unerring aim. A lightweight
Maxim gun, weighing only twenty-five
pounds, can fire 600 to 700 shots per minute.
with an effective range of two miles. For
the latest improved Gatling gun, with cleo
tric motor, 1880 shots per minute are
claimed. Heavier field pieces of longer
range can deliver twenty-five to thirty
6-pound shots per minute.
1t is evident enough from these figures
that to maneuver masses of troops upon a
battle field within sight of an enemy will
be to invite their annihiation. As soon as
troops come in sight of each other active
firing will begin, for were either side to
wait till it reached closer quarters it
would be pretty certain to suffer heavy
losses. Battles in any open country must
be fought at long ranges, but even then
the facilities will probably be far greater
than in the worst conflicts of the civil war.
The enormous velocity of the modern pro-
jectiles will have marked influence upon
the fatalities of any future war. A bullet
which will penetrate sixty one-inch pine
boards will require heavy earthworks to
protect troops, and field intrenchments cam
not be made to afford protection with such
rapidity and facility as in past wars. More
important still, in firing against troops
formed in mass, a single bullet may fire.
quently kill several men. With the old
ammunition, in countless cases, the soldier
in the front rank fell, while the man be-
hind him escaped Unhurt.
Some difference of opinion has existed as
to whether the small caliber projectiles OF
the modern small arm are as fatal as the
old-fashioned bullets. Recent investigation
appears to show, however, that the enor-
nous velocity and rapidity of rotations Of
the new bullet, with the tendency Of the
lead to squirt from its metallic envelope on
striking an obstacle, make the new bullet
much more fatal than the old.
There would appear to be little doubt from
the above facts that future great battles be-
tween opposing armies will be scenes Of
carnage far worse than the bloodiest fields
of the civil war or Of the Franco-Prussian
campaign.