Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-06
UNITED STATES WAR EXPERTS
CLOSELY WATCHING BON.
aARDMENT.
NAVY MUST BACK UP
ON plsPurED CLAIM
Old Controversy 8stwssn Two Mill.
tary eranehss Finds Army Getting
Best Of Argument Regarding Naval
Ships a. Opposed to Strong Land
Forts.
tspecial Correspondence.

Washington, May 6-Outcome Of the
operations Of the allied fleets and arm
les in the Dardanelles region is giving
great deal Of quiet satisfaction to
American army officers. from q purely
professional standoint.
At the outset. the allied warships.
with some OF the most powerful vessels
in the British navy, including the
Queen Elizabeth with her 15-inch guns,
set out to batter the Notifications to
pieces. 1t looked for a time as If they
might do so. Straighway. there arose
no end Of talk to the effect that q
new era had arisen in warfare and that
the modern big gun on the modern big
Warship had demonstrated that it
could do something heretofore deemed
practically Observation-Disclosures land
forts Of the first-class to a defense
less state and do it without mourning
destruction Of the naval craft.
The army men scratched their heads
and had to admit that it looked as II
one of their long-held theories had
gone by the boards. The navy men de-
rived huge satisfaction from the initial
performance Of the allied warships.
Army View Strengthened.
But the progress Of events proved
that the battleship, after all, could not
reduce the forts. The result is that
heavy land forces have been called in.
On the west side of the straits. the
English troops are pounding away at
the Turkish troops and the land side
of the defenses and on the east side
Of the straits the French troops are
doing the same thing.
The warships are cooperating but
army men are convinced that If the
forts are reduced, as the indications
now are they will be, it will be due to
the approved method Of attacking for
tiflcations. that is while engaging their
attention with warships from the sea
side, assailing them with land troops
from the land side. where, az q rule,
they are least formidable.
Coast Forts Reliable.
Army officers say It all gets back
to what they have long urged. that
strong coast forts as rule can be re-
lied on for defense against warship at
tacks. providing the equipment Of the
defenses is of efficiency equal to the
warships.. In other words, II the de-
lenses have guns as powerful as the
warships. the warships can be held OF.
But the forts are certain TO fall II at
tacks on the land side unless they are
amply protected with mobile troops.
Applying the lesson to the American
coast defenses, the army officers say
the conflict at the Dardanelles simply
proves what they have said SO often as
to attacks on New York. Boston and
other coast cities They say II these
cities are protected by heavy guns of
range equal to the guns on attacking
warships. then the warships can not
capture them. But unless at the same
time they are well protected by mobile
troops on the land side. then they will
fall when taken by enemy land forces
in the rear. They point out that
American cities neither have the mobile
troops to protect their Notifications
from the rear nor are the guns in most
Of the coast defenses of range equal to
the ranges Of the big guns with which
the best Of the worlds warships are
being equipped.