Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-26

III| Nelson's of the War. /
III Automobile Artillery. 4
H, By Frederic ]. Haskin. III
Prior to the commencement of the
war in Europe there were number of
! fortresses considered to be impervious
to the attacks of siege artillery. In
the opinions of military experts they
were ranked among the impregnable
fortifications which could be captured
in no other way than by siege and
werp. Laon and Liege.
I, The history of the first few months
of the war shows how mistaken was
this idea that these forts could with
stand the concentrated fire of modern
artillery when the big guns were
wheeled into a commanding position.
1t was this surprising information
which led the United States govern
ment to instruct it's military observers
to examine the forts very carefully
anu 10 TcpOEl iuiiS SohSSA hi'i6 SAiSiA
demolition in such short space of
time.
The observers looked beyond the gun
itself to the new force back of 1t that
made its operation possible. A gun OF
almost any size could have been made
long ago, but the weight of such
pieces Of large caliber is so great that
they might not be transported from
one place to another But there has
come into being a new motive force,
the auto truck, and upon 1t, as means
of moving big guns, has been built
| modern artillery.
So, the observers report back, it is nee
essary that the United States should
. awake to the existence
Auto Tricks of automobile artillery
as Army Aid. if t., is to keep "a abreast ssa
the study of the needs of the army Is
this fall seriously taken up it is likely that
much will be said of the necessity of APP
preparations for the purchase of auto
trucks to supplant the teams '0f horses
upon which Uncle Sam has always de-
pended to haul his big guns into action,
and the purchase of new artillery made
possible by the use of these same trucks.
The reports of the experts agreed that
the DESTRUCTION Ol lIc IOI tiLSdtioHo O.
Liege, Laon, Antwerp and other places in
the eastern part Of France and Belgium
would not have been possible had 1t not
been for the automobile artillery
Ten years ago there were no 42-centi-
meter guns, but had they existed then
they would have been useless for offensive
work because motors were not sufficiently
perfected at that time to permit of haul
ing them over the intervening territory
that they might be emplaced before the
rrrrarro nrab
have had to be placed in steel forts.
to be used only for purposes of defense.
and the ''impregna BILE" Notifications
of Laon, -Lege and Antwerp probably
would have been in the hands OF their
defenders a year after the outbreak of
the war.
Such is the influence of modern inven-
ton upon warfare. The lesson of the
motor tractor and it's first cousin, the
armored automobile, the experts say, is
one which no progressive nation can af-
ford to overlook and so Uncle Sam took
the trouble to get as much information
as possible concerning this new weapon
of war.
| X
Like the flying machine. which has
conquered the air for the first time in.
this war, and
Motor Artillery the submarine.
a.. r. which has car
fare into the depths of the ocean, pre-
yiously safe from the invasions of
Mars, the motor artillery has added
new terror to hostilities on land. This
is the first war in which the automo-
bile has figured extensively, but its
importance as an asset for land forces
can hardly be overestimated, whether
one considers it merely as vehicle
for transportating troops at high rate
of speed or as locomotive for drag
cling the hundred-ton guns, against
which no fortress can stand.
Under former conditions, 1t would
/ take team of fifty horses to pull a
42-centimeter piece over the country
which lies along the European battle
! front Relays would be required every
| four hours in order to keep big gun
| moving apace with a marching army.
| This would require at least $50 horses
for every gun, and 1t would also neces-
state the carrying of provisions for
the horses and the attention of num-
Der of men in handling them. with
very poor net result.
| The motor tractor has done away
+, with all these separate units. single
tractor is capable of hauling the train
of three cars which comprises the en-
tire equipment for the big gun and it's
crew. 1t can so hasten the transporta-
ton of the heavy artillery that it can
easily outstrip the fastest moving in
fantry. In this manner the big guns
may, in advance of the coming troops,
concentrate their fire upon a fortifica-
ton for few hours and then be sep
arately hurried to other points where
their irresistible bombardment is nee
essary to prepare for other assaults.
Some idea of the tremendous force of
these big field pieces may be had from
the fact that a S0.2-centimeter gun
throws an explosive projectile weighing
| 500 pounds a distance of more than six
miles The 42-centimeter gun hurls
sixteen-inch shell, weighing more than
a ton, something over seven miles. No
superdreadnaught ever constructed
could withstand the onslaught of such
a battery, but it is highly improbable
that a fleet commander would engage
in a duel with land battery in which
he would be SO hopelessly outweighed.