Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-10-12

1891
London, Sept. 22-Speaking of the
battle of Mons. an English soldier
who was one Of the few survivors OF
his company, said to an American in
the field hospital at Amiens:
I'VE thought the Germans were 40
years behind the times; they are 40
years ahead" And according to an
American military expert, there is a
solid basis of truth in Tommy Atkins
statement. The Germans apparently
knew what they were about, he
thinks, when they refused to gener-
alize too much from the Philippine,
Boer and Russo Japanese wars.
Campaigning in a populous country
with a perfect road system and a
hazy atmosphere is quite different
from work in a crude open country
distinguished by dry, clear air and a
sharp horizon Too little is yet
known of the actual fighting in Eur
ope for accurate deductions, never
theless certain facts are apparent
which will have their effect upon
military practice in the United States.
The outstanding facts so far not
iceable are the terrific effect of siege
artillery in the field, the weakness
of open order fighting when a vast
number of men are available, the
comparative failure of aeronautics
as pictured in popular imagination.
and the immense advantage of thor
ough preliminary training.
Germany's great surprise in this
war has been her artillery. The SUI
periority of her army organization
was already known to the world, and
this superiority and her perfect pre-
paration were reckoned. and properly,
her greatest assets. 1t was also
known that she had eleven Inch how
tiers, but they were supposed to be
siege guns to be used against con-
crete forts and nothing else, AS
such they more than surpassed ex
pectations at Namur. But the mo-
bility of these big guns had not even
been suspected by foreign critics
and their use as field artillery came
as great shock to the allies.
In the old days. artillery stood in
exposed positions as the aim was TAX
en- directly at the enemy. Conse-
quently it could be captured by in
fantry and even cavalry. But now
artillery fire is directed from conceal
ed positions at a high angle and is
exceedingly difficult for the enemy
to find. And this is the most import
ant use to which the aeroplane has
been put. AS the wounded British
describe the lighting at Mons, when
their army came so close to being
wiped out, they had very little trouble
in keeping the German infantry In
ALL Gi
the correct range. Then the men were
simply blasted out of the trenches
The artillery so far captured appears
to have been abandoned in retreat.
The standard American field gun Is
the three inch, as are the jackass
batteries substituted in mountainous
country. But the inferior roads OF
America would render the use of the
great German howitzers impractical
BILE When the Germans have beer
unable to get their great weapons in
to action, French field artillery has
proved superior because of allowing
for more rapid movement than the
German of the same calibre. In rap
id action the French have had decid-
eddy the advantage in this respect
At any rate, the European War has
caused experts somewhat to revise
their opinion as to the value OF artil-
lery, which had been considerably
less effective in other recent wars
Artillery has now regained it's OLD
prestige 1t settled the battle of Mons
without any doubt.
To come to infantry, on which the
ultimate decision in all wars rests
the German fighting unit appears &c
be inferior to the English or French
He fires without aiming and does not
make a sufficient use of cover. But
what the German infantryman lacks
individually is atoned for by the per-
feet discipline under which he and his
fellow act. American tradition trusts
a great deal to the individual. a relic
no doubt of frontier fighting. The
German theory trusts nothing. con-
siders it less important that COM
mands should be sacrificed through a
mistake in their disposition than that
they should take it on themselves tC
override the orders Of a superior.
Much has been said by newspaper
critics on the subject of close order
fighting. America learned open ord
er, as well as the art of taking the
best advantage of cover. from the In
dams. And in the Civil War ths
skirmish line grew of more and more
Importance until it became the battle
order in the last phase of the strug
gle. In the Spanish war the space in.
tervals became greater in the Phil
ippine fighting than in the earlier
Cuban. The tendency in South Afri-
ca also was to scatter. Russia ahand-
oned the old solid formations in Man
churia. The result was that English
critics scoffed at the closely packed
infantry advances in the German
maneuvres of previous years.
Open order, all critics admit. Is ar
immense advantage when fire can be
concentrated on an equal number OF
enemy in close order. But when the
battle line is Of enormous extent the
side which utilizes it's advantage OF
numbers by thickening its line. as
the Germans do, can deliver much
heavier fire than the thin line
This advantage is improved when the
side of superior numbers refuses te
| be checked. German theory considers