Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-07

| successfully captured Licuc Eamu-
| Antwerp and the camp retranches OF
! Maubcuge, Lille. 1.aon-La Fere and
/ rheims. all very strong positions on
| paper, has proved rather damaging to
'he prestige OF permanent fortifica-
lions Yet there Is o case for a whole
saie condemnation OF forts when cir
cufnstances are carefully examined
Both Belgian and French fortresses
| were sadly out OF date in armament
AS Wen as In defensive organizations
ana We're crushed 1T long range by
an artillery or superior calibcr $3.50
90 and - millimetersp. to which they
! could make no effective reply. To the
admirably handled German heavy
| ordnance that fired with incr.dibie &C
curacy at ranges OF ten to fourteen
| kilometcrs the French fortress artil-
ltry could only oppose. together with
obsolete mortars and insufficient field
guns, weapons OF l5J millimctcrs. with
| range OF little over 5000 yards No
| attempt was made to defend Lille
! l.aon and Rheims, totally out OF dat.
| ana not thought To he worth the huge
! SarrisonS which they would have an
sorb.d. Maubcuge alone offered a stout
resistance. though perhaps not 80 long
| as could have been expected from her
| new tbut undergunncd) forts and from
her garrison OF 10000 men, including
! tillery battalions. mostly rcserv!sts.
! That place-forte. besides having no
| iong-range cannon. was nilcd by tens
! OF thousands Of helpless belgian rcfu-
gees. mostly women and children. which
constituted 4 source OF weakness.
| After a ccaselcss night and dag bon
hardn"ni Lasting from August - To
| September :, iii tn. course OF which
the garrison did It's duty. attacking
E continuously and InHiCtinS over 90
q
was admitted by German of.lc.rsb. the
! Governor General Fournicr. surrcu-
/ dered a town on ngc fun OF dead and
I wounded the forts OF which wcr. re-
{ duccd to heaps OF ruins. Only few
thousand men OF In. garrison sue
cecd"d in breaking through the /!ln"s
OF the heSiegcrs
1t is estimated tia, Maub"uEe rem
! dcrcd considerable service In della y!ng
for two weeks the advance OF an inn
portant portion OF the hostile artillery
and in preventing the enemy using The
most direct railway line from l.!cgc
10 Paris The same is true also Of
the obsolete fortress OF LougWy. whore
5000 FrcnchInen stopped for twenty
one days part Of the krorprinz army.
winning war honors from the victor
and Of the old $50 fort OF Troyon,
with = garrison of 40 men. which I'll"
enemy was confident Of reducing In a
few hours. but which resisted an In
tense bombardmcnt OF five days.
pulsed three brave attacks of German
infantry and cost nearly 1000 casualties
10 the bcsicgers. Thus even obsolete
fortrcsses can give y good account OF
themselves when not handicapped by
The presence Of civilian population.
which confirms some Of the lessons Of
the SO conflict.
But Of course. reliable information
as TO the value OF fortifications can only
he derived from a study of the way
modern fortrcsseS have stood the test
OF war. Now the camps rctranches
OF Nerdun, Toul. Epnal and Belfort
are the only ones that deserve at all to
be called modern, having been the OBJ
iect of ceaselcss improvements in re-
cent years, though at the beginning o:
tho war they were not quite up-to-date
In armament. not having received the
long range naval guns that now arm
them. And II Is Il fact that they have
up to the present deiied the whole
might Of heavy German guns and the
repeated and well-led attacks OF the
masses OF German infantry especially
Ncrdun which Ia yet partly cncirclcd,
though at very long distance. over 20.-
900 yards. These camps retranchcs
which have been wonderfully improved
both in armament and IN defensive
qualities since the war, have got rid OF
their civilian population, and arc de-
Tended by armies animated with the
spirit Of offensive. They have full
lilled the role expected OF them and
must bc considered as uncXpuEna bic,
even should tho fortune OF war cause
them to he hiockadcd.
SO fortified tons have come to STAY
though it is agreed that the present war
will lead TO n series of notifications in
design and armament. The small fort
or circular shape, with it's batteries,
powder magazines and garrison quar-
ters crowded over n limited arena
true mid q Dombcs. said General Lang
lois--may be considered thing Of the
past. The large French fort Of the
future will aim at being superior to all
corners for range. and IL ought to be
when it is considered that its arma-
mcnt can be transported and fitted at
leisure in time of peace. Its long guns
of naval type Of extreme calibcrs and
range will command, with the help Of
aeroplanes, radius Of some $4,000 tn
10000 yards round. They will he placed
under imperviable armor and be made
proof against any aerial projcctiles. An
elaborate system of trenches for in
fantry at long distance from the CEN
trail position. safe garrison shelters dis
persed over n vast urea, together with
quick means OF transportation for
smaller artillery, arc also to be adopted.
But superiority for range over field
armies must remain the first desidera-
tum in all places-fortes worth that
name.
French Versus German Ordnance.
\ German officer, prisoner at Cher
bourg, lately declared his belief In the
ultimate victory OF the Fatherland be-
cause, he stated. I'VE have, besides 49,
900 reliable spies in France and In Eng
land, an enormous superiority in heavy
artillery. an advantage which VIC VIII
preserve for the duration OF tho con-
nict."
This French inferiority, for which the
republic has paid tremendous prico