The sun., 1917-08-24

had been doing dismounted infantry
duty.
And now a rubber tired CAVALRY
has come to make new place in mar
tial study and In war history and
fiction. Regardless Of the fact that
three Russian fronts were In action.
that Macedonian front claimed some
attention. that Mcsopotamia offered
some attraction, that Egypt and East
Africa and the Holy Land were still
on the map. the reading public settled
back to consider the French front
with It's stalcmate as the one spot on
the face Of the earth worthy OF con.
sideration.
Out of 1t all chugs the motor car.
with engine going full tilt, with the
pilot pushing II over heavy roads TO
protect a routed army, and with guns
Of considerable size checking infantry
and cavalry until the field artillery OF
the Germans might come to life.
The purpose of a rear guard in such
case Is to protect the retreat Of the
main body. 1t must check, hold up,
harass and delay the advancing foe.
In any orderly army the rear guard
for such large fighting force would
have held all three arms. the infantry.
the artillery and the cavalry.
But the infantry of the Russians
was In panic. Artillery without sup.
porting troops is as helpless as Q
babe. The cavalry was by no means
sufficient for the task before It,
The commander in chief sent for
Lampson.
"They have cut through our lines
on a front of fifteen miles," he said.
IF they are not checked they will get
behind our flank and cut the line Of
retreat, and that spells ruin for us
and for Russia
That Is where Lampson jumped into
the fifteen mile breach to make a
name for himself and place for all
future wars for the armored motor
car. His scheme was simple. He
picked the best roads leading toward
the enemy, we'll knowing that the ad-
vancing columns would pick the best
and most direct routes. Then he ran
his motors straight back for the foe.
The guns mounted on his cars had
more range than the infantry could
make. The machine guns they car
ried were poison to any advance cav
airy.
AS the long. field gray columns hove
in sight Lampson let loose the guns
from his. chugging machines. which
were kept going like the machines that
our New York gunmen use when TAX.
ing part In criminal affair that re.
quires a speedy getaway without un.
due notice to the police. The German
infantry went to cover along the road,
and signalled for a light battery to
make the going hard for the rubber
tired cavalry.
But the gasolene horses could out
run the hay burners, and when the
artillery got around to the head of the
column the motor cars had joyrided
back to the next station where the ad.
vance could be held up. Once Ger.
man cavalry outfit ran afoul Of the
machine guns and little rapid firers, II
fled prec,pitately.
So the eight cylinder mounts kept
plugging away all along the roads
until they had so delayed the Germans
that they could not use the fifteen
mile gap to its full advantage, They
probably cheated Germany ont Of
$4,000 prisoners.
AS for the Russian guns, the fleeing
infantry cut the gun horses out and
used them for flight. If the infantry
had done its part the artillery could
have pulled back its guns under the
rear guard protection Of the motor
cars.
The whole story gives to the world
a new war picture. new element IN
the fighting game. 1t puts the auto.
mobile makers along with tn" krupps
as factors in army equipment
And, incidentally, it puts Locker
Lampson along with Marshal Ney as
n rear guard commander whose work
will in later years interest the readers
of war lore.