Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-06-20

Artillery has played so conspicuous
q part in all recent operations of Eu-
|ropean armies In maneuvers as well
as on battle.fieids that a singular de
lusion notes the Paris Gaulois, has
grown up lately respecting present.
day tactics. II Is taken for granted
that infantry has been displaced as
tthe king Of battle. Thete rouEd be
no more agregions delusf0n. Artil-
lery, indeed. says the military expert
Who discusses the topic in our militia
.rist contemporary. remains strangely
helpless by itself on the field of bat
tie. Il accomplishes nothing indepan-
IDENTIFY. q statement that can not be
made of cavalry. Those who attach
such Importance to artillery in mod
sern war, who go so far as. to regard
1t as "the king of battle know moth
Ing, our authority says, of military
operations as science. War may. no
doubt, be an FART to the romantic
novelist. To the soldier 1t is the most
exact OF sciences and no more con-
Yincing truth exists for him than that
In real war infantry is supreme. In
battle, 1t is the infantry which con.
quers the field, which conducts the
battle and In the end decides its des-
tinias.; All the revolutions in equip
ment, every invention in the domain
Of ordnance, confirm the sovereignty
of infantry.
Tactics have, indeed, changed. Gone
forever are the solid lines of troops
ranged like a wall. deployed in wings
or In battalions, and hurting them
selves upon an enemy drawn up IN
like fashion. Nor are modern troops
trained to fire yolleys simultaneously
or In any recognized order. Since the
invention OF rapid.fire guns of long
range, the infantry must abandon its
old regularity and precision in the
ranks.
Infantry no longer advances along
the field Of battle in step nor by, any
conyentionallyl organized movement.
II seems to wander aimIessly, in fact,
it scatters and dissipates itself in
units as much as possible. The troops
crawl apart along the ground. They
sneak over and around the undula.
lions of the soil. Infantry nowadays
may be seen separating itself into lit
tie bands Of men more or less COM
pact. more or less separate, who, tax.
ing advantage of the. slightest shell.
ter, disappear all at once to allow a
shot to pass through their ranks. The
men. flat on their stomachs, their
faces close to the ground. turn their
hacks perhaps to the shells shriekfng
in a storm above them. Then, when
the least pause occurs in the firing,
these men leap up for minute,
hurl themselves forward not as a body
but individually and independently in
bounds and begin afresh their hug
ging of the ground. s~7
"The fire of these men is intermit'
tent and irregular. 1t can be heard
but it can not be seen. 1t breaks out
here in sudden volley that lasts for
seconds only. A reply from the enemy,
q preparation for another haphazard
bound forward-and that Is all. 1t
IS the particular business of the artil-
lery to protect this forward progress
and to reduce to silence the batteries
of the enemy busily striving to i'm
pede 1t. As for the rifles, they are
of no particular use yet except to
help clean up little of the ground
just ahead. II they suffice to pick off
a few of the enemy's sharpshooters,
so much the better. If not, they are
not fired lest they serve to reveal a
foe and to provoke reply. There