OPEN FIGHTING

Evening Star, Issue 16409, 27 April 1917, Page 6

OPEN FIGHTING

TIME FOR GOOD SHOOTING. / SALONIKA HINTS. UP THE SHATT-ELvADHEM. THE SUBMARINE LOSSES. [By CiUTicus.] Little further progress is reported in tho Arrae battle. Mr Philip Gibbs mentions that tho straggle is ebbing and flowing in an extraordinary manner; but this is tantamount to an admission that for the present the German* are holding their own. If the description of Mr Beach Thomas is to be relied upon, tho struggle is rapidly developing into one of open warfare. “ Troops are marching, charging, manoeuvring, and fighting in the open.” It would not, perhaps, be wise to attach very much importance to this assertion, however, tus the continuous lines of trenches are no doubt stall there, and open fighting probably occurs as an occasional incident in tho attacks upon the trenches, as tho result of violent German counter-attacks. But open fighting is tho objective which we are seeking. Powerful hues of armor-plated and concreted trenches favor tho defence entirely, and attacking them is a costly business for the offensive. In such warfare as is now developing the shooting of the ’infantry will bo a powerful factor in determining the measure of losses inflicted upon the enemy and the rate of attrition. Unfortunately, there is a powerful school of military thought which not only is not enthusiastic' in its support of good shooting, but even frowns upon it. The belief of ibis school is that at the short ranges which prevail in trench warfare a, bad shot is as likely- to score a hit as a good shot. . and their theory of shooting tactics is to spray a given spot or area, with bullets, as with water from a watering can, arguing that tho law of averages will ensure a duo proportion of hits. All this is disastrous delusion, however. Anyone who knows anything about shooting at all is aware that it is almost as easy for a bad shot to moss at a short range, when he has to fire quickly, as at a long range. And when a given area is sprayed with bullets a. much larger percentage of hits will be secured by good shooting, even under the law of averages, owing to the closeness with which the bullets fall within tho area attacked. The fallacy somewhat resembles one which cost us dear during the naval war With the United Si-tes in 1812. Kelson’s tactical method had always been to close with his opponents. IBs successors, misinterpreting this, argued that the true policy was to get so close to an opponent as to render it impossible to miss, and then overwhelm him by sheer rapidity of fire. The reeult of this was that we concentrated upon rapidity of fire, and neglected'accuracy. Unfortunately for us, the American sailors were taught to shoot accurately, and when we encountered their vessels wc were frequently beaten by accurate shooting before we could got to close quarters. A series of humiliating reverses was the consequence. HINTS ABOUT SALONIKA.'

According to the Rome correspondent of the-‘ Morning Port,’ the Entente Powers are m unanimous agreement regarding Greece, and imporiant events are expected. This may mean either of two things; that wo are going to adopt some further drastic measures of coercion against Greece, or that ' , ).9. are f??mo to abandon the Salonika expedition. Ihc wording of the Romo message suggests (lie first altcniahvc, but a message from the Paris correspondent of the ‘New lork World’ renders the second alternative moie likely. He says that “despatches indicate that a decision is likely to be taken rcgauhiig Salonika. There aro veiled hints ot a possible reinforcement of the armies of .tiance by veterans.’ These last words are an unmistakable hint of the probable withOrawal of ihe Salonika army to France; but it is unofficial, and we have had many sim.Hr hints before which came to iiie British have attacked near Lake Doiran and acvaucod 500 yds on a ono-mile fronti ll , 1 ; tills daes n °t signify much, as we should deliver covering attacks in any case if we contemplated vnt-hdrawai. ' diffi™}r te lb - p ?° v ® s P| stifiecl > it will be very thlhcult to understand upon what grounds of U thA Cl i : '°' 1 haS be ? n taken> The Problem =iihmn..;n I:UU Up °- n h ' ails Port, owing to the siiwiianne campaign, suggests itself- hnf te in t cconmn ,10 f Sal ° nika fl ™ ,y would n ° fc result a anything from 300,000 to 600.000 (none of the figures are reliable), and to withdraw such of transno'rf 11 C i T Upy aU imn,Plls e number vrill K» a i : ¥ 3Ummer - Where, then wll be the advantage? In (he meantime as soon as the enemy find out what oil, they will be free to send the Bulgarian H r e C %, nort p io rC^Ve Allstria!l troop lac n" the Riiseo-Runiainiuis, and these, in turn l r , e ' ieve Germans. So the enemy will bo to thl send , man f °r man and guh for gun pA hj M V * St - r ° nt ’ and Set them there fast i° f V ' e ' V 0f neitller strategy/ can any leader- on (hj 1 & nia «y of the principal allied Pored a fo th b %' V - eSte . ni frollt have oPpored to the Salonika expedition from the fwZ’ anxious f or its withdrawal They / ,'j t ' ldy regard their own particular field the most imno’dauf T< 0 ~ , fro„i ot ,I.™ fin XiS,* it wM l bo° n ’ 10 exclusiou of all else; S o it w.ll be no matter of surm-ke if arc called the “ Winers'”“prevail “ A SERIOUS THREAT. do?dnt n!! "T k wo bad a hint from lon(1311 that the subnianne menace had become niore sermus than ever, and a l so the news that the rata of insurance had been increased we guineas per cent. This is Explained by Hm Admiralty 3 report on the week's losses It appears that no less than 40 vossck wcei- ’TM^" S haVe „ bcen sunk during the total' ™d" nr V laU doubl,i last week’s WUi ot 19, and such an extraordinary lean suggests that there must hare been ? cable ciror. But. the message .adds that 15 vessels indcr 1.600 tons were also sunk, and no iere than 27 vesse s were unsuccessfully attacked -Urn figures last week were respectively 9 in d fhesn al l U th r lHrgC P ro P or llou ; '-te inoi-easc in these two ligures leaves no doubt that theie has been an immense increase in sub.«*y be due either t a- p f r?- f l - Ilto conrmr.sa.on of a large number of adu.tmiial submarines or to the fine ucather favoring their operations, or to both those causes combined. We have latehhad fine wealuer reported from Europe, at d wo . know that the Germans have f tenuarclisc-d then- submarines, and should be raiidhy. m 1 OUt V -‘ ith e Ter-mcre M i llir

: Whoever the cause, we have to fiico the fac.„ thau unless there is a mistake in the figure* \ve have lost 55 vessels in a week besides nine fishing craft. Wo cannot stand such a dram upon our transport for nanv months, and the line weather is coming on ami (ho number, of submarines apparently increasing. Once again it is necessary to emphasise the fact that, until some invention is produced which enables us to discover and lollow tho submarines under water, the only way of beating them is by convoy or bv blocking the mouth of tho North Sea. The latter move would break the back of the difficulty at a stroke. It may or may not bo practicable: but why it should ba so difllcult to effectively convoy tho 3,0000 ships which are in tho danger 7,0110 at one time is rather puzzling, considering the rapidity with winch toe small, shallow-draught patrol' boats can be turned out. THE' SHATT-EL-ADHBM. I'rom Mesopotamia comes the news that our captures at Istabulat include 087 prisoners, one big gun, 14 Krupp field guns and a largo quantity of ammunition. General Maudo has also attacked a Turkish division on the west bank of the Shatt-el-Adhom after a night inarch, driving it back 10 miles to the north. This suggests that the British column which forced the passage of the Shatt-el-Adhem on April 19 has turned north and is advancing up the river towards the Jebel Hamrin Range. This is a strategical move of some importance, because there j s a gap in the mountains through which the river flows, while a road crosses the range a few miles to the east. This route may possibly bo used for a turning movement if our forces advancing up the Tigris get held up at the Jebel Hamrin Range. TO A CORRESPONDENT. “ Magilp.”—Melinite was invented hv tho French chemist, Turpin, who sold his invention to France in 1886. In 1888 the patent was purchased by Messrs Armstrong, of Elswick, who sold it to the British Government. It was first tried at tho testing station at Lydd, and has since been used by us under the name of lyddite. No really reliable figures are available of the forces engaged at the battle of the Marne. It must be remembered that the fighting line extended from near Paris to Belfort, and it is estimated that about 2,000,000 Franco-British and rather less than that - number of Germans manned the line, and of these perhaps 3,000,000 took part in tho actual fighting. As to equipment, the British were very indifferently supplied with shells and out.matched in artillery. There does not

to have been much to choose between the French and Germans in t>ho matter of shell supply, though neither side was well provided. Tho Germans had the advantage'in heavy artillery, but this was redressed by tho superiority of the French 75’s.