El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-08-28
MUST PUT OUT
EYES Of ENEMY
Success of War Depends
Upon Who Can See Most
and Hide Most.

When we say since war became an
organized affair" it is well 10 remem-
Der that this phrase carries one back
far beyond the beginnings of recorded
history. Il is clear that great bodies
of men. moved at a fairly rapid rate
over vast distances, as they were in
the very earliest Of recorded wars.
must have needed high organization;
/ and the confused impression that
2 these large forces went forward in a
I sort of herd. viii not stand eNamina-
ton Mere food, let alone the supply
3 Of weapons and the cumpleNlry Of
command. makes 10 certain that even
+ before recorded human history began
] human beings acting as great military
bodies worked under highly organ
: lied scheme
To those two divisions iu any ac-
+ tion-El preliminary observation, and
- the action proper lWHeLner oy the
piercing or the turning or lnel-
T vas added. as artillery slowly deFel-
4 Cpel. a subdivision.
The second and main part the ac-
/ ton, consisted more and more IN two
parts. ta) fighting first AT Ions range,
and then lbl fighting at snort range
Development Of Artillery.
throughout the 18th century tins
subdivision Of preliminary artillery
Z work as the first chapter Of action.
{ followed by infantry or cavalry work
as the second chapter developed as
I the artillery arm was more and more
understood, I VIII not say more and
more evolved" because the guns re-
manned Of much the same character
{ for 100 years, and all that changed
was the method of handling them
For instance, right up TO the French
revolution there was in most armies
no organized methods OF driving
guns: even as late as NalmE, in 1872.
great humble of the guns were
driven by farm hands locally i'm
pressed for the purpose. Napoleon
function of the guu-that IL should
prepare the action Of infantry ana
cavalry. and from his time EDWARDS
il has rightly been taken for granted
that an action divided itself into
those two separate chapters, the first
Of which was the artillery preparation
designed 20 shake and weaken the
Opponeut). and the second Of which
Is the attack properly socalled.
The Cavalry Screen
Observation remained quite distinct
during all the 18th century and the
first years OF the goth. Il was absO-
lutely essential to success, but IL was
not part OF the action properly So
called. 1t was essential TO success be
cause upon il depended your knOwl-
edge Of what the enemy had 10 use,
and even OF how he intended TO use IL,
and because u gave you the only
chance or erecting surprise
Observation meant, as it means stll
% positively tor Offensively) the
knowledge of what and where your
opponent was and % negatively cor
detenSlVely) the prevention Of your
opponent knowing what and where
you were.
Until the advent OF aircraft this
junction of DE@rrE-G rrHm %
arated into the following -eEor.es-.
speak, OF course. of tactical ohser-
F-lion alone, not OF strate5lcal obser-
Vl--Ou-
order 20 discover what units you had
IN front OF y0us and the collection Of
printed and written matter through
spies 70 tho same effect.
out like a screen in front OF your
army.
The Use OF the Screen.
Llls screen fulfilled two functions /
u discovered IN cropping sort Of
FASHION what there was in front Of il. I
and IL prevented your opponent from I
l-hulns out what you were doing be-
hind that screen
Upon the efficiency or this cavalry Z
screen observation really depended /
IN less than ten years ago. That is
why the continental armies were ac-I
cused by observers unaccustomed to /
the theory Of war Of overworkiug f.
their horses and OF being bad horse I
masters It was well worth the while 7
OF any commander, up 10 quite the .
-tst rev years 20 wear OUT a very {
lasge number OF horses 1v keeping .
men constantly in the SADDLE on con
dltlon that by so doing be could get
some rough idea Of what his op0o- I
A-ul was DONG. and prevent that op- I
pOueut from finding out what he was
sacrificed as 10 its horses Just as a .
Knight is sacrificed in the early part
OF game Of chess because u meant
essential early knowledge and was
lhe determinant Of observation at the .
very beginning OF the struggle.
Advent Of Aircraft.
But with the advent OF aircraft all
this was changed.
Observation now became quite a
dlIIerent matter Aircraft permitted
was oolnG IN talr weather during the Z
hours or daylight You could actu-
any photograph his eutrenchment and Z.
ms movement Incidentally. YOU
col-l' while you Were observing. en-
Darrass him. For although the func-
tlon OF embarrassing him was not the
same as the junction Of observation.
YET the Two were intimately cOmbfned-
and aircraft could. in a moderate de-
gree. oonDara and interrupt his com
p .
fere with his magazines
But this enormously increased
power OF observation couuoted a Ger
tam new condition hitherto undreamti
The Old Tine Screen.
Movement in the air was in three
dimensions. Powerful as YOU might
De IN lne AIR, your opponent might
none the less escape your poVer
aooFe or below your action.
cavalry wa nor "a chic
airy In the old days formed a screen
when with good management was
not pierced No such screen can h.
estaDilsled in the air. The only vyav
on getting superior observation In
me ar was By fighting the enemv's
ma chlnes as they came over towards
Ou Inc only way OF obtaining A
monopoly OF observation was bv vouTI
preventing any of - enemy nlsef-f0ee
--ol4 : zttlAs over your lines In 9th
q WORDS the function of observation
rom 1elng feeling or creeping"
turned INTO a real preliminary battle I
The Three Battles.
II mas been well said therafo~a
Lnal IN modern war every action con-
slsts In three battles-the battle NJ
si-e IN lhe battle Of the preliminary !
commandment, and the final action NJ
these three. the battle in me ain is
quite distinct and precedes the others
mere exists then today a thing nm
lIedInL or three years ago the rrue
yallie IOr observation There an /
lnose who conceive that the fu+rrre
OF the war VIII be driven into the am
altogether. Il may be So But for
lne moment our interest is iu the ac-
--al position, which position counotes
NOT action IN the air alone. but action
/