El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-19
RUSSIANS ARE
LEARNING WAR
CANE RAPIDLY
Could Not Shoot Straight in
japanese War, but
Can Now.
OLD OFFICERS
DONE AWAY WITH

~ ETROGRAD, Russia. Sept. I9.-It
- was the inability TO use the rifle,
l. the failure to shoot straight
which lost the Japanese war 10 Rus
STA. The soldiers Of the ear depended
upon their magnificent bayonet
charges. The war Of 1904 taught them
once for all that cold steel is not
enough.
I can scarcely overestimate the i'm
provement- Of the Russian forces in
the last decade. The army which was
defeated on the Yalu was almost a cen
fury behind the time. Today the Rus
slams are scarcely. If at all, inferior to
the best in the world
A passage in the British official his
tory Of the Russo-Japanese war re-
lates that a Russian general otflcer
openly scoffed al the idea Of the ne
cessity of soldiers having to shoot
This seems incredible. but it only
goes TO show that the Russians did
not in the least learn the lessons OF
the Boer war. It took the hard ex-
perience Of defeat in the east to teach
Another lesson they learned was pre-
paredness-that the army which is
ready wins.
In 1904 Russia's army was untitled
for the field under modern conditions.
Gen Kuropatkin's plan Of campaign
had nothing decisive about it beyond
his fixed determination to wait.
To come to the Russian soldier, ne
was wholly unframed in the use OF
the modern rifle From general to
private, the sole aim in both attack
and defence was the use OF cold steel.
Unused to Modern Arms.
The Russian army was armed with
Il ten 80 We at a
armies were, but for all the use the
soldier was taught to make OF II the
weapon might have been blunder-
buss
such was their ignorance OF the
possibilities of fire effect that at the
opening Of the campaign they are said
to have expressed surprise at the Jap
anese shooting such lot during an
attack"
British experts have asserted that
even with the Germans the immense
Importance Of using rifle to the full
is not properly understood With the
immense standing armies Of Russia and
Germany target practice is too costly
This is the reason the British and
American armies, for instance, so i'm
menseIy surpass these larger bodies in
the effectiveness Of the individual SOL
der as q marksman-
Have Learned Much.
But the Russians have learned what
well controlled fire can do. They know
from their ManChuriau campaign rnaL
the first thing TO aim at in training
a recruit is TO teach him to shoot
straight and to keep on shooting
do not doubt that even today the Ger
man is a better marksman than the
Russian. But the Russian IS many
times as efficient a in 1904.
Another thing the Manchurian cam
paign taught-and the Germans do not
seem vet TO have learned twas the
necessity Of taking cover They also
know the necessity Of absolute CO.
ordination in a counter attack, which
was a move that failed slgnally IT
the japanese campaign
COsEacks Disappointing.
In the Manchurian campaign, too, the
much famed COssacks proved a dis
appointment This was largely be-
cause of their miserable mounts To-
day they are eXceuently mounted and
their training Is said to be more ar
duous than that Of the infantry.
In supply and transport in the prop
er estimate of the fighting ability OF
the enemy, in the use of the intelli-
gence department, the Russians have
made enormous strides
The old. obstinate staff members OF
the school Of Pleva Pleva and Sebas-o-
pol have been swept away. In their
place are younger men, uptOdate IN
every respect. going out to battle with
out Understanding the strength OF
their antagonist. but grim with the
determination to conquer the enemy
which every MuscOvite so long has
yearned TO move against