The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-24
National Defense Problems
Rv Eirederic 81. Haskin
VI-.Le.sons Of The War--j urret

~ - - 49, = - - = - -
ic j. Haskin B
.areas,a,a easa,as,s:aas'
smaller and correspondingly dfficult
TO hit
i Despite the fate OF the fortiacations
AT Liege. Antwerp, Laon and else
where supposedly impregnable forrs
y falling into the hands of the enemy
In comparatively short time. mill
atary experts still claim that the hon
Tors in the duel between the fort and
the artillery belong to the former. The
French and Belgian fortifcations. they
targue, were built to Withstand only
seven and nine inch siege guns, and,
lso long as artillery of this callber was
fused against them, they gave an ex-
.cellent account of themselves It was
only when the huge 3O.2 and forty-two
centtmeter guns were emploaceo
against them that they crumpIed up
and failed to withstand a strain for
which they were never designed.
Real Test to Come.
This, according to military experts.
does not prove that fortifcations are
obsolete or that the great advance in
artillery manufacture has outstrapped
the construction of forts. 1t merely
ishows that fortresses should be con-
istructed to Withstand the attacks OF
lartillery even heavier than any IN
existence at the time When the pro
tecting walls at Antwerp were bu1ls,
no one dreamed that they would ever
Withstand the gatherings of forty-two
centimeter siege pieces. because guns
of that caliber had not been conceived.
!, The real test of the value OF modern
Notifications will come If the Germans
ienage the Really up-to-date,type OF
French or Italian forts or II the allies
lattack the German coast defenses.
| In this connection it is interesting
to note that the only weapon which Is
i.believed to be really effective against
the turret fort is the ordinary rtfie, In
,.the hands o fexperienced infantry It
seems strange that rife could sue
coed when heavy artillery fails, but
men versed IN military aaffirs de-
tcIare that this is the only method Of
successfully attacking one of these big
tortoise-forts.
1 The reason for this lies In the fact
that all forts OF this nature in modern
warfare are protected from the
fenemy's advance by carefully prepared
series OF trenches and barbed wire en-
.tanglements, radiat:ng for several
!mfles to prevent the emp1acement of
heavy artillery The big guns are
/ Therefore powerless against the fort
because they cannot come WITHIN
irange.
wire is Blown Up
The intervening ground must first
be cleared by the advance OF rife
armed infantry, aided by the pole or
tube system of eliminating the wire
4 entangleme This is device re-
sembling long hollow mast, made in
lsections and mounted on rollers so
4 that it may be pushed under the wires.
"A number OF these tubes, loaded with
Iexplosives, are pushed under the en-
Itanglements and the fuses lighted.
The resultant explosion clears away a
isuficient section of the barbed wire -
Ipermit Of the unhampered onward
imarch Of the infantry. The trenches
would then be taken with the aid OF
concentrated fire from the rifles and
machine guns and only then could the
heavy artillery be brought into ac-
ton against the forts. The big guns
are practically powerIess without the
assistance Of the riae-armed infantry.
because their sphere Of operations lies
entirely outside an attack on the
trenches which would prevent their
lapproach to the ultimate goal-the fort
itself.
But it is easily conceivable that the
most massive of modern fortifcations
would be unable to resist the attack OF
| d WGll dTluGQ uO0y u AAAS1AeAJt SNSAA
liz the troops were not backed by big
guns. The modern fort is usually too
we'll stocked with provisions to be
starved out and his primitive method
is too long and tedious to be used I'M
less It is impossible for the Siege to be
Lifted by the arrival Of reinforcements.
No Fort InyuInerable.
Accordingly, therefore, the attack
ing infantry would sink number OF
tunnels-techn known as sap
! ping and mining galleries leading
up to the fort from as many different
directions as possible. A heavy charge
Of explosives would then be placed at
! the end Of these tunnels and electri-
cally detonated when the signal is
given for the attack. There is no
known fort that could resist the i'm
pact of the explosion Of large guam
tity of troty1 or even dynamite and
through the breach thus opened the
infantry would pour. Because OF its
lvulnerability from below, therefore, it.
! is not safe TO say that any fortifca-
ton is actually 'timpregnable."
! While Gibraltar is associated with
iimpregnabtlity in the popular mind,
the fertilization that comes mucn
closer to that ideal in the estimation
of the military expert Is that OF Hell
Roland, which guards the entrance to
the Kiel canal. Here. mounted on a
base of solid rock, are tier after tier
Of direct-fre guns. ranging from So
linen pieces on the upper part OF the
fort to the IA Finch pieces below, cap
able of sweeping the sea for miles
laround. In addition, there is NOR
Itar battery in the center of the fort.
/ ,,,oun ting eIeyen-inch and Sixteen-fnch