The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-05
BRAVERY ESSENTIAL NOW AS IN THE PAST
Must Be Directed By Intel ligence to Be Useful
 

Vienna, February 15.--(Correspondence of the Associated Press. s.)-"To what ex- tent does technical superiority discount irferiority in numbers?" To this question large number of Hungarian and German officers with long experience at the various fronts have replied that tech nical superiority. depending upon terrain conditions, nature of the work to be done, and quality of the troops involved, is to- day in all cases the element which de- cides the outcome of military action.
 Bravery in officers and men was as es- sential as formerly, of course it was said but it had value only if coupled with a high degree of intelligence. A ceased soon to beat nowadays, the men asserted unanimously.
 The day of brute physical courage was over. Only troops in whom intelligence, moral courage and a fair amount of pluck were inherent and had been weld ed by thorough training and discipline could be called first-class today, be- cause only such troops were able to get maximum results from the technical methods now used in warfare.
 Technical superiority start with the character and ability of a general staff and ends with the quality of barbed wire, in other words, it's clements and phases are as varied and manifold as are the means with which modern war is being conducted.
 According to the Associated Press cor respondents informants it was technical superiority alone which defeated the Rus sian army. This may best be understood sx, ,tarr 1lok Nf t1A feok t,nk k1,e Russians lost to the central powers forces 16 fortresses in 46 days during the drive in the summer of 1915 Here the greatest single element of technical su- periority is declared to have been leader ship. Second in importance is rated the great efficiency of German and Austro- Hungarian heavy artillery. Third is the highly developed field intelligence service of the central powers armies, in whom aircraft, cavalry and infantry share. The fourth factor was the high quality of German and Austro- Hungarian machine guns. and last because in class by itself, must be ranged the excellent work of the supply troops.
 In every one of these departments. say these officers, the Russian army was in- ferior. The excuse made by it's general staff at the time that lack of ammuni- tion was responsible for the series of re- verses, has been shown to be dlA. The stores of small arms and artillery ann intuition left behind by the Russians on their retreat are said to be greater than the quantities used by them during the rolling up.'
 It was not lack of bravery. however, that prevented the Russians from coming to halt sooner. The courage of the Rus stan soldier has never been doubted by the Austro- Hungarian and German of ficers and men. What contributed most ly to the debacle was the absence of cap- able officers in sufficient numbers: low military intelligence and an uneven train ing of the men, ad the Russia tactics system which, based upon principles of defense was not equal to the ninble- mindedness possessed by officers and troops trained for the offensive above all else
 No figures on, the numbers employed by . Germany and Austro- Hungary in the of i fensive against Russia last summer are available but officers claim that gener- ally the Russians outnumbered their ag- gressors from three and four to one. From what is learned here, the day is not far off when the trenches of the Ger man positions in Russia will have a ma , chine gun to every 10 rifles, and the most extensive barbed wire fields yet laid out, to bo R1a Ia affanSiva