Field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery), as opposed to guns installed in a fort (garrison artillery or coastal artillery), or to siege cannons and mortars which are too large to be moved quickly, and would be used only in a prolonged siege. Perhaps the most famous use of the field gun in terms of advanced tactics was Napoleon Bonaparte's use of very  large wheels on the guns that allowed them to be moved quickly even during a battle. By moving the guns from point-to-point during a battle, enemy formations could be broken up to be handled by the infantry or cavalry wherever they were massing, dramatically increasing the overall effectiveness of the attack. World War I. As the evolution of artillery continued, almost all guns of any size became capable of being moved at some speed. With few exceptions, even the largest siege weapons had become mobile by road or rail by the start of World War I, and evolution  after that point tended to be towards smaller weapons with increased mobility. Even the German super-heavy guns in World War II were rail or caterpillar-track mobile. In British use, a "field gun" was anything up to around 4.5 inches in calibre, larger guns were "medium" and the largest guns were "heavy". World War II. Since about the start of World War II, the term has been applied to long-range artillery pieces that fire at a relatively low angle, as opposed to howitzers which can fire at higher angles. Field guns also lack a specialized purpose, such as  anti-tank or coastal artillery. By the later stages of World War II the majority of artillery in use was either in the form of howitzers of 105 mm to 155 mm, or in form of hybrid anti-tank/field guns that had high enough muzzle velocity to be used in both roles. The most common field guns of the era were the British 5.5 inch, the U.S. 155 mm Long Tom (a development of a French World War I weapon) and Soviet BS-3 - an artillery piece adapted from a Naval gun and designed to double up as an anti -tank weapon. One of the most produced field guns during the war was the Soviet 76mm ZiS-3 with over 103,000 produced. The ZiS-3 could be used in direct fire against armored vehicles, direct fire in infantry support, and indirect fire against distant targets. The 1960s and 1970s. The U.S. Army tried the long-range gun again from the early 1960s to the late 1970s with the M107 175 mm gun. The M107 was used extensively in the Vietnam War and proved effective in artillery duels with the North Vietnamese forces. It was considered a high-maintenance item and was  removed from service with U.S. forces after a rash of cracked barrels. Production of the M107 continued until 1980 and the gun is still in service with the Israeli military. Reserve stocks are held by other former users such as the People's Army of Vietnam. Modern times. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the field gun has been rarely used in combat. The class of small and highly mobile artillery has been filled with increasing capacity by the man-portable mortar in 60mm or 81mm/82mm calibre and has replaced every artillery piece smaller than 100mm. Gun-howitzers  fill the middle ground, with the world rapidly standardizing on either the 155 mm NATO or 152 mm Russian (former USSR) standards. The need for a long-range weapon is filled by rockets, missiles, and/or aircraft. Modern gun-artillery such as the L118 105mm light gun or the M119 105mm howitzer are used to provide fire support for infantry and armour at ranges where mortars are impractical. Man-packed mortars lack the range or hitting power of gun-artillery. In between is the rifled towed mortar; this weapon (usually in 120mm calibre) is light enough to be  towed by a truck or SUV, has a range over 7.5 km and fires a bomb comparable in destructive power to a 152mm/155mm artillery shell.