Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1897-05-26
MODERN WARFARE.
Long Campaigns VIII Give Way "a
Single but Decisive Encounters.

Single but Decisive Encounters.
summing up the whole question al
between any two European peace
trained armies of the present day, the
extreme percentage of loss to be antici-
pated locally, |. e., on particular bri-
gades and divisions, will not exceed one
In three (of which one Is killed to four
wounded), whereas for whole armies of
quarter of million and over one In
ten Is the very outside punishment we
may reasonably expect.
Compared to the slaughter of the sew
en- years war and the best contested
helds of the Napoleonlc period. this Is
very little, indeed. At Zorndorf the
Russians left 21,OO0 out of $1,000 on
the ground, and this is undoubtedly the
bloodiest battle recorded since the In
production of portable firearms. Eylau,
F'riedland, Wagram and Brodino all
exceed the figures of any pitched battle
since the breechloader appeared In the
field.
Moreover, the horror of the whole
thing Is not to be measured by figures
OF percentages only, but by the density
In which the killed and wounded lie,
and the fate of the latter afterward.
In modern battle 10000 men would
fall on an area of about twenty square
miles; at Zorndorf the p 900 Russians
and 10000 Prussians lay on a single
square mile, and of the wounded not
one In three survived; whereas. In 1870,
nine out of ten recovered, and the Prus-
sian medical staff anticipated even
better results next time.
But death on the battlefield Is by
far the least of the two evils the soldier
has to face. There Is death on the line
of march, and In hospitals along the
road. Whereas formerly, particularly
under Napoleon, ten would die by the
way for one who fell In action, In the
last Franco-German war only one man
died of disease for two killed in action
Indeed, the health of men In the full
prime of life was actually slightly bet
ter in the field than In quarters.
1t may, however, be argued that
even granted that battles and marches
may be less destructive, there will be
more of them, because every able-bod
led man being trained by war, the re-
slstance will be more prolonged than
formerly, but this prolonged endurance
Is only conceivable under the supposi-
-tion that the leaders on both sides are
hopelessly incompetent, and both fear
to stake all on single collision-a sup
position that nothing tends to justify.
On the contrary, every leader brought
up In the modern school Is taught to
understand the vulnerability of all
modern military organizations, and Is
penetrated with the conviction that one
downright "knockout' blow effects
more than weeks of purposeless spar
ring, and where both start determined
to bring matters to climax the decis-
ion cannot be long delayed. Judging
from what we know of the relative eff
ficiency of continental armies, we be-
lieve that the first round of the great
encounter will also be the last, for the
momentum of the blow which decides
will simply paralyze every nerve in the
opponents body, and, adding up all
sources of casualties that can occur In
n short campaign of this description,
we conclude that at the very worst the
actual cost in human life to the powers
engaged will not amount to more than
per cent of their several popula-
tions.-Pall Mall Gazette.