CHANGE IN GERMAN INFANTRY TACTICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15728, 1 October 1914, Page 8

CHANGE IN GERMAN INFANTRY TACTICS.

GREAT MORTALITY TELLS ON MORALE OF MEN. ENEMY BRING HUGE SIEGE GUNS INTO PLAY. (Received October 1, 2.5 a.m.) London, September 29. Every German infantry regiment has ten or twelve machine-guns concealed in a light regimental transport. They can be carried by hand, and can be quickly moved to the firing-line. These guns have changed the German infantry tactics. Accuracy of individual fire has been subordinated to showered shrapnel and levelled volleys of musketry. Trusting to clearing a way in this fashion, the infantry moved forward in great masses. In the early fighting the commanders did not mind losses, but the great mortality began to tell on the morale of the men. At Liege some regiments lost 60 per cent-, and whole companies were left without officers. Profiting by this lesson the siege of Namur was an artillery duel throughout. The 42 centimetre guns were tested for the first time. Each gun was fired every quarter of an hour. The dust from the impact of the shell could be seen for six or seven miles, forming a geyser of dust 300 ft to 400 ft high. The Germans' sole advantage at present is the possession of great siege guns, and a preponderance of machine guns. Their individual rifle lire cannot be compared with the accuracy and efficiency of the British troops. /The transport of the Landwehr and Landsturm is of the makeshift order, the vehicles in use including furniture vans and many waggons commandeered from Belgium. The enemy's horses are very inferior.