American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1914-11-12
GLORY OF WAR GONE.
Long Distance Slaughter by Cold
Calculation Now.
Batteries Do Not Dash Madly Into 40
ton, Generals Do Not Lead Their
Troops-No Battle Flaos
and Smoke.

The glory and the romance of war 10
dead. 1t has become chiefly a matter
OF cold calculation. a bloody business
of long-distance slaughter. with NO
longer any opportunity for dashing
personal heroism. writes Henry M.
Hyde In the Chicago Tribune.
Never again can q Napoleon. look
Ing down from a hilltop. direct the
movements Of his army of 10000 men
~ 1t maneuvers under his eye on the
plain below.
The modern general. directing .
battle line $50 miles lons-such "a
he Japanese had at Mukdeu-vill
never be within sight of his troops.
Oyama, the Japanese chief Of Staff.
was fifteen miles to the real when
that great battle was fought.
Never again will a courier. bearing
orders from headquarters to division
and corps commanders. have two
horses shot under him as he dashes
across the battle front. Orders 20 out
today from headquarters over the field
telephone wires. which reach every
brigade commander. as he. too. sits In
safety far back of the line of IRE.
Never again will a battery OF field
guns gallop madly into action, with
the gunners sitting with crossed arms
on the caissons and the infantry cheer
ing their
Modern field guns are located out
of sight over the shoulder OF a hill,
three miles or more away. The gun
ners never even get q sight of the
army they are firing at. Their fire -
guided by calculations carefully made
by an expert mathematician, who sits
down In a hole in the ground and fig
ures t~ra1ectories and curves and makes
allowances for wind pressure.
Hold you fire until you see the
whites of the enomy's eyes," is an he
roic command that will never be given
In a modern battle.
Modern infantry dig themselves 4
nice, deep ditch In the ground about
two miles away from the first Of the
snemy's lines. To the ~present-day SOL
der the spade IL almost A. important
~ the gun.
Never in n modern battle picture
will = solid column of changing men
be shown rallying round their cher
ished battle nag. which can be seen
but dimly through clouds Of black
smoke. ~u@
There are no battle flags, no smoke,
and no charging columns on modern
battle fields. The presence OF a mas
on the battle line would instantly re
veal its location to the enemy. Smoke
less powder has taken the place Of old
old cloud-belching explosive. and one
may look over a modern battlefield
with a hundred field guns In action and
not be able to locate one of them. As
for solid columns OF charging men
a modern infantry attack il q far diff
ferent affair.
First the field guns-and nowadays
a whole regiment of such guns. each
Of which a fire ten shrapnel shells
a. minute. 10 the recognized artillery
unit-do their best to smother the en-
emy's artillery fire and to drown his
trenches In a flood of bullets. Each
shrapnel shell bursts into from 100 tc
200 ~protectiles. Then, while this frs
Is at Its height. the infantry gets up
a sQxsd or two at a time-and runs
lodging and bent over, 10 the ditch
through which flows the little stream
Perhaps by the time the infantry II
within close striking distance of tbs
enemy It's field guns may have silenced
his artillery. Then 1t may be possible
TO order . charge with bayonsts ovel
the last few yards. which will finally
dave the foe from his trenches