The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-08
MODERN FIELD ARTILLERY
Guns Nowadays Capable of Firing Eirh,...
and Twenty Shots u Minute.

From ne Courier dcs Eidts I'm.
Field artillery has passed through a r,,,,,,..
evolution during the last few years. Ipnroo,.
in rapidity OF firing has become an c,so,,i,;
| condition of the existence Of the modern no,I'
piece. All military authorities agree upor III,
necessity Of being able TO produce a, n ciyo.
moment terrible effects in the shortest rossih,,
time. The difficulty in the problem consist.i
in avoiding a waste of munitions.
Upon this subject Lieut.. Poncot has ,rA
lished in the Rerue d.ArbNerje an in,cro.,in.
article which has been partially inspired h,
the works OF Gen. Langlois upon field art ,larr
Up to the end OF the sixteenth century Ittln ~
tention had been paid to rapid firing. Tho Nv
tillery. moreover. was heavy and clumsy A
the battle OF Granson. in 100. accorJino
to Meyer In his "TcchnolOyy of piro
arms the pieces Of Charles the Bold v.r.
charged and pointed against the Swiss a, N.
beginning OF the combat. The firing began in
volleys. but the aim was too high. and tbi,
caused the loss OF the battle. because there wa.
no time to recharGe the pieces. At that period
the average artillery fire was about thir,,
shots a day for each piece. The heating Of ths
pieces also proved to he an obstacle,
Attempts at increasing the rapiiity Of artil,
lery fire go back ms far MS the seventeenth cen,
tury. when the Germans employed tho fra,
breech-loading cannon. More serious results
were obtained in the time of FREDERICK IT.,
lighter. Tn to the end OF the eighteenth cen,,
tury, with the return Of the heavy places ii
Of the revolution and OF the empire. the maxi.
mum rapidly, OF the fire in battle was rom
M Moreover Pm" in the f time Of 'S smooth ~STP .bSrs guns.
the cannonade which preceded the battle wa,
never intended to crush the enemy: Itcoycrsi
chance to gain time without serious loss 10 tina
enemy. During the greater, portion Of tho az.
but always extremely slow. At the dHSisiv,.
mel or grapesh9t, the ARTILLERY DISCHARGES wer.
reached a rSSpidity Of 81 and even ysr'' ) sho esa q
minute for each, piece; as, for instance, al
opened the breach for the infantry by theii
grape and canister fire:
ois With IT rl lnng cannon amen the action an on5 WAS rarely do.
the effect produced was satisfactory, but it was
never crushing. For example. at Sadowa two
either being knocked out. During the Franco.
German war the ranidity OF fire Of the French
pons Te pi.ces and two sRot shots e mi a minT W,sh r fh9 1 II,
3 and 4 pound pieces. and the same for shrar-
mel Gre. The rapidltv q the German hreech.
loading guns was very little superior to that Of
Since 1871 the progress Of field 9stilsssry has
vance the range was Increased. In 1f The '' second Sndi
the destructive power Of the projectile was de-.
Neloned by q methodical augmentation. and in
the third and last step this same power has
been augmented still more bv the general uss
OF the tir fuadnt. which extends by 500 to 1900
metres. and even more. the crushing effects Of
the old shrapnel fire.
1t is undeniable that to crush an enemy II 10
only necessary to increase the offensive power
OF artnlery fire. and to do that the maximum ot
rapidity is required. Artillery" says Gen,
Langlois. by its fire ought to be just like an
old-time charge OF cavalry with this difference,
that It is a charge that nothing can stop and
which smashes down everything before ith
The means employed to that end consist In
diminishing the recoil. in accelerating the re.
turn OF the piece in battery. and In facilitating
the pointing. the charging and the firing of The
gun. Thanks to the combination OF these dii-
ferent advantages, the runs recently made
show an increase in rapiditv Of firing
The fleldpiece OF 1898 adopted by the Ger
man Government is made to fire regularly 1--WE
shots a minute: but that is a limited speed 10
avoid waste. In reality. the piece is capable
OF tring double and even treble that number
OF shots In n minute.
Consequently. the average rapidity Of rapid.
fre Held artillery Is ten or twelve shots a min-
ute. surprising that the pointing Of the piccs
can be done with the desired accuracy II
only an approximate aim Is taken. n rapidity
OF from eighteen to twenty shots a minute can
be easily reached. But Il is a good thing 70
avoid this extreme rapidly; for. as Scharn-
horst said, at the beginning OF the century,
One single shot well aimed Is worth several
badly aimed or not aimed at all. for II the gun
is not pointed what is the use OF firing 2"