The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-03-25
BIG Guns cHANGE WAR TACTICS


1 has apse. many previously aecepte
/ military theories, caused others to b
modified, placed the individual sol
| dicr il the background and mad
artillery preeuinent in war.
! War,as it Is fought today, is large
| ly a matter Of putting one death
dealing machine against another
This means that, more than ever be
fore, the army with the stronges
I artillery is the superior force. 1t il
the long range field gun, heavy how
itzer, aud high-explosiye projectilt
which weaken the enemy's resist
ance, more than rife fire from the
trenches.
At the beginning Of the war Ger
many's heavy artillery was wheeled
onto the battle field for the first time
The enormous power OF its big howit-
zers constituted the one real sur
prise of the war. The introduction
of l6.5-ln. seige piece to batter
down Notifications was just as rad
ical an innovation as was the "Moni-
tor When it made its appearance at
Hampton Roads during the Civil
War. So at the opening of the
worldwide struggle Germanys enc
mics were in one particular unpre-
pared the forts in Belgium were not
built to withstand anything heavier
than Gin. shell, and even the lin.
Krupp howitZers were too much for
any fortiication in their path.
Germany, so far as is known, has
only two of the great 16 sin. howit-
zers. And now it is reported, prob
ably correctly, that Great Britain has
developed an even greater engine of
death, which will be brought out
when the first chance comes. The
new ordnance is supposed to be mod
eled after the master Krupp piece
and to have 17-in. bore. There is
little doubt that in a number OF in
stances the Germans have been cred
mortars than were actually fired, as
tied with using much larger siege
for instance at Namur, where it is
now declared that the / Pin. howit-
2er was employed. This weapon has
frequently been mistaken for the
larger one and pictured as it. It's
existence was not unknown prior to
the opening of hostilities. In fact,
it was so well known that France, in |
1911, also developed an .2-in. how
itzer of equal destructive capacity as |
reJoinder. This is a Sneider gun |
and is provided with stationary !!
mounting, concrete anchor weight |
and ground plates, when in action,
instead of being fired from its car
riage.
From this it would seem that |
Germany's strength in siege artillery
is no greater now than that of her
enemies. The reason that so muchI
has been heard of the heavy Krupp
guns and so little about the Sneider
howitzers of the French is obvious.
So far Germany has been fighting
largely on the offensive in the terri
tory of her enemies, breaking
through solid fortifcations and
storming cities. The allies, on the
other hand, have been resisting in
vaSion. If the coming of spring
brings with it an invasion of Ger
many, which will mean the storming
)f the Notifications along the Rhine,
he Sneider seige howitzers-and
possibly the new British piece-will
De brought out for action. Until =
such a time, however, there is little I
'r no opportunity to use them.
Very little actual information has
Uttered through the German lines re
'arding the 16.5-in. seige howitzer,
n mortar. The measurements of
he 11.2-in. howitzers, however, are ]
inoWn and military authorities. u.s. g
ng these as a basis of there calcula- L
ions, have compiled figures for the C
arSer weapon which approximate .
ccuracy. These estimates place the
Weight of ordnance with the breech-
lock at 21.3 tons; the weight of the
iece in action, SO tons; the heaviest h
Dad to be transported, including n
transport wagon 31.3 tons; the c
Weight Of the shell used, 2,565ib d
ecoil energy, 1880 tons.
The actual number of these large
lege guns and howitzers is compara-
lVely small and by far the greatest a
art of the fighting has been carried e
n with field guns of enormous power
ut no extreme size. Britain's Gin.
oWltzer, used on a field carriage, Y
as won the admiration of it's allies o
nd the respect of its enemies. The
ame is true of the French $40 in.
lece, While Frances favorite "75,"
Sin. gun has been used with very
cling effect. France has another !,
eld gun, 4.20-in. weapon, which ~ y,
a large edition of the "75." D
In the past, artillery has been used q,
lore for its moral effect than actual W
to destroy the enemy. This is no in
niger true. Today it is the real ri
Glance of the army. With the aid
the reconnaissance aeroplane the
nemy's trenches may be located and =
Distractions sighted. When the .
ange is found, the shells rightly .,