The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-10-19

mel.
The light Browning, also known as
the automatic rife" requires no cool
ing apparatus, because in its tactical
use In battle as tool 1t will be called
upon only for what are known as
bursts Of firing" 1t is a remarkable
new tool, better than anything Of its
particular type vet developed, and DIFF
ferent from every other weapon in the
world. Its nearest prototype is the
French Chauchat automatic rifle, which
has proved extremely effective.
AT the present stage of tactics the
Browning automatic rifle will be a SUI
perior tool for perhaps three definite
| Jobs In trench warfare First, being
as portable as the ordinary army rifle
It can be quickly brought into action
along every part Of q trench by de-
tenders to stop the advance of an
enemy. With the heavier types of ma
chine gun fired from tripod and re-
quiring considerable time for getting
into position, If not permanent EN-
placement, such resistance of invaders
In q pinch might prove difficult. With
the new Browning firing 20 shots auto
matically In less than three seconds, or
20 shots semiautomatically as fast as
one desires to pull the trigger, loading
with fresh magazine each 20 shots
| in q couple of seconds, an entire trench
front can be protected with outbursts
of machine-gun fire, which will not
have to be continued long to do the
work-not long enough for heating of
the gun to become a problem.
Sweeps the Trenches.
The third job for this characteristic
Yankee notion comes when our fellows
have reached the enemy trenches. At
that moment, even though but q few
arrive, the Browning automatic rifle.
| is expected to replace the bayonet and
bomb under certain conditions, and
multiply the effectiveness of each sol
der who gets across No Mans Land,
for the rapidity and accuracy of the
Browning fire is such that it win be
only a matter Of seconds to sweep an
enemy trench in both directions.
There are other tactical uses for the
weapon AS few as dozen of these
automatic rifles are sufficient to lay
down temporary barrage at right
angles to trench front, and even two
Of them quickly placed at opposite
ends of a trench front can establish
cross fire as effective as barrage I'M
| der some circumstances. For with
each gun firing along one leg Of let
ter V meeting and passing somewhere
out in No Mans Land, the chances of
an enemy getting through this v will
be very slimthis will be defense
equivalent to frontless rife fire from
dozens Of Individual soldiers. and can
be established with the minimum Of
exposure.
These are the tactical points Of the
new weapon, and one has only to con-
slider 1t from this viewpoint to under
l.stand that technical questions suth as
have been raised by laymen during
recent discussions of the merits of one
machine gun as against another do not
touch the heart of the military prob
| lem-both the design of this gun and
Its use as a tool in battle are palpahly
matters to be left to military men.
Another interesting viewpoint on
both the light and heavy types of
Browning guns can be gained by brief
ly considering the general development
of machine guns as fighting tools.
From the days of sings and stones
and arrows fighting man has sought
ways Of delivering enough missiles in
to the ranks of an advancing foe to,
stop him. With gunpowder and port
able guns the number Of missiles in
creased, and also their deadliness. The
matchbox fired clumsily from tri-
pod was replaced by smooth-bore muz-
zle-loading guns, and then muzzle-load-
ing rifles, breech-loadtng rifles capable
of firing shots slngly, and finally the
repeating rifle, with capacity of five
or six shots in rapid succession. Then
came shrapnel, delivering spray of
bullets over considerable range, and
also the first machine guns equipped
to fire hundreds of shots in rapid sue
cession, but at first so heavy and
clumsy that they could not be moved
much more quickly than artillery.
Fired From Shoulder and Hip.
These first machine guns are known
as the heavy types and were presently
reduced In weight and developed in
mobility, becoming what are known as
the portable intermediate types of
which the Lewis gun is an example.
Still further lightness and mobility
were wanted, however; something that
would convert an ordinary rifle into
an effective machine gun for brief out
bursts of fire. In other words. the
true type of light machine gun as ex.
emplified first in the French Chauchat
and now in the light Browning. These
two fighting tools are thus far the only
ones of their type, and at present only
the French and American armies are
equipped to use them tactically, the
British army doing its machine-gun
work with the portable intermediate
Lewis gun. According to reports from
our military observers in France, the
drift of the French army is decidedly
toward greater use of automatic rifles