Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-09-20
WHAT THE GUN MEANS
IN THIS WORLD WAR

mentioned above was unknown before
: the war, it is also true that never be-
; fore had they been combined and ap-
piled as they have been during the
: war. And it should be borne in mind
z that these elements are interrelated /;
J thus, aerial information has made the
: big gun worth while. the machine gun
has justified wire ENGAGEMENTS, and
conversely.
With the close of the race to the
sea after the Aisne, and the failure
of the Germans to rush the Channel
ports, both sides dug themselves in,
wired their fronts, and sent up their
airmen. The English and French, in
addition, bent all their energies to
make up their deficiencies in guns of
heavier caliber and ammunition From
the monument when the great siege of
France opened, both sides have kept
Up artillery fire without cessation,
night and day; and on the eve Of the
Battles of Champagne, Artois, and the
Smme the intensity of this fire exceed
ed all previous experience. This con-
tinues today-with results slightly
though perceptibly, in favor of the al
lies, yet without real decision.
/, Results in land warfare are achiev-
, ed and clinched by infantry, the
Queen of Battles. The infantry must
go forward and either drive or turn
the enemy out of his position But
| no infantry, however good, can meke
, its way through a maze af barbed-
wire.
single fence of this material would
, prove a serious impeachment to an ad-
, vance; when the wire is led between
, iron posts, soldly driven into the
ground, along the front, back and
, forth, up and down, it is evident thai
. an obstacle is formed that would be
of the most formidable character even
J if it we're purely passive; it is, on the
: contrary, animated by machine guns
{ and both wire and machine guns must
be got rid of before the infantry car
, into and hold the enemy trenches. II
fact, it is this combination of machine
gun and barbed wire that has made
/ Again it should be recollected thai
| the war so costly in human life
, the word line" has ceased to carry
its old meaning: in the Civil War, as
in more recent ones, there was some
, approximation to the fundamental
/ meaning of the word, but today the
= line is zone of many trenches-2C
of them, thirty of them, each protect
ed by it's wire. To get rid of this wire
il has been found necessary to breach
it by high-explosive shell. and this
is on of the great and typical use!
Of artillery on the battle fronts .
Europe.
But even after the area or zone 0
immediate attack has been cleared
the result is only space more or les
open over which the attack can ad
vance a distance. 1t will certainly b
exposed to counter attack and to tn
fire of the enemy batteries that cal
be brought to bear on its tanks an
front. Hence the area in front of an
to the TANKS of these forces is take
under intense fire for hours and hour
before the assault is delivered. Thi
fire is intended to destroy and doe
destroy, hostile batteries and machin
gun emplacements. So desperate j
4 the struggle, however, that the coun
4 ter attack, nevertheless, forms, or mo
form, and hence the curtain fire, tn
tir de barra2e Of the French. This
a sort CT ring of fire delivered by tn
artillery OF the attacking side, over ad
U beyond to the TANKS of its infantr!
AS the men advance, this curtal
Il creeps ahead of them, and is intend
4 ed to beat off or neutralize the cour
terattack. The infantry Of the attac
n literally follows its shell, "marche
into the fire OF its own artillery"
The curtain is used also agains
the attack direct; when enemy troop
are reported to be forming up, evident
4 II fer assault it may and frequent
4 does stop them; it may be so intens
that nobody can make his way throug
! il alive Or it may be employed t
isolate a body already well on its wa
t. the assault, and thus prevent an
requirements from coming up; tn
body isolated may them be dispose
OF more or less at leisure.