HOW THE WARRING ARMIES ARE FED

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5288, 28 May 1904, Page 11

HOW THE WARRING ARMIES ARE FED

The -war in the East is affording a test of the transport and commissariat systems of Russia and Japan. Ey tho Russian system an arm}' crops of -15,000 mon is supposed to be accompanied by 24=00' waggons, saj’s the “New York Sun/* ■When campaigning tho Russian soldier us supposed to cany two clays’ ration on his person. Tho regimental- trains carry rations for each man for two days longer, and the divisional trains for, from two to four days. It is reckoned that £l*oßll supplies should always? be obtainable from tho surrounding country or along the lino of communications within the six or eight days allowed. ‘ The system is a good one, but the transport and commissariat broke down miserably in every important war waged by Russia during tho last century. The experience of the past indicates that the Ccssaeks are the only Russian soldiers who aro mobilo and well fed in a, cam* paign. ’ , ■ They are mobile because they always have large numbers of spare horses —often two for each man;- they are well fed because of their skill in foraging. Russian officers spend freely out of: . their private funds during a campaign in order to remedy the defects of the official transport and commissariat. They have boon obliged to do so. even during manoeuvres. The example was set by Skobeleff, Russia’s greatest general of modern times, chiring the Russo-Turkish war. Ho wat a rich man, and every rouble he owned was at the disposal of his beloved soldiers when they needed it. AH the official arrangements for feeding the men and caring for tho sick, and wounded broke down utterly, and Skobcloff was always putting his hand iu his pocket through this campaign. On one occasion he ,spent 15,000 roubles to charter a steamer to take a number of wounded men to Odessa for treatment. He never*recovered from tho Government tho.large sums he expended. -

When Skobelcff was praised for his generosity towards his troops he replied unaffectedly: "I owe everything’to these men, and the host I can do is to spend a few thousand roubles to help them in their need.” That -spirit animates most officers in the Russian army, to-day. General Kuropatkin, General Groderkoff and other famous Bussian officers trained under Skobeleff followed, his example. Now it is regarded as the regular thing in the Russian ax-nly for an officer to have to spqnd money on his men to remedy official shortcomings. These defects are. however, largely offset 'by the patient endurance of the Bussian soldier, born' of his dog-like loyalty to the Czar. The American military attache was impressed by that quality. "When his battles result in defeat, when his biscuits aro full of maggots, when his clothes , are shabby,, when his hoots drop to pieces, the Russian soldier,” ho said, “reasons it all out slowly, and can only come to the conclusion, so pathetic in its simple faith, 'Ah, if the Czar only knew!' Everyone within his reach he frepb r discusses, criticises and blames; lie haif suspects that his generals may be fools, and ho is sure that, his commissaries are rascals: but no thought of censure ever crosses his mind against the, Czar.” It is hardly necessary to point out tho value of this mental attitude as a .military asset. The Russian soldier appears as a general rule to lack the ability to shift for themselves in matters of .transport aud com. missariat. If their elaborate system of baggage trains breaks'down, as it may well do under the strain of a hard campaign—they are utterly at -a loss, unless they are Cossacks, Kalmucks, or Turcomans, accustomed from boyhood to pick, ing up their meals wherever and’whenever they can find them. The Japanese, on the contrary, showed during their way with China a remarkable ability to create their transport aud commissariat apparently out of nothing as they went along. They did not trouble much about baggage trainsthey had them, to bo sure, well supplied and well organised, but the troops moved so quickly that they were out of touch with their waggons half the time. They travelled in the lightest possible order, and picked up any old native carts or mules or coolies they chanced to meet, making them serve the neca-sities of he moment, and then letting them go, and getting others further on. > The only drawback of this system was that as the campaign advanced the armies became clogged by large numbers of coolies and other camp followers, who Greater! a great deal of trouble, and committed excesses, which were wrongfully charged to the. regular troops. Some of the Japanese commanders adopted a short way with these, obnoxious persons, driving them out of the army on pain of death as soon as their sendees were over. After the war if was pretty generally agiced that qo similar nuisance should be tolerated in another campaign. During the advance to the relief of the besieged legations at Pekin the Japanese commissary was. by common agreement of the foreign officers better than that of any of the European troops, and the Japanese soldiers showed a genius for forage and accommodating their appe-

tiles to the food available in tho country. Instead of using heavy waggons liable to bo bogged, or to tire out the hprsoa, the Japanese had a groat number of light hand carts— much like the pusxi of tho Italians in New Fork «£.***!£ American cities, these carts ju by coolies or by the soldiers themt>el\e s , and thev were so iignlly laden that they teteiWrod iUUt\ it ut all. with tho mobiiity of the force. Tho horse and mule carts were ot the smallest type and lightly built ft>are animals wore made to carry the.ir own. fodder, and that of the other animals as well. These measures were rendered necessary by tho smallness and weakness of tho Japanese horses, which are about the scrawniest animals of their kind. The Russians, on tho contrary, are well supplied with large, strong, well-bred. In. the Turcoman campaigns in Central A.sis\ camels were employed, but (hoy are haidiy ever used to-day by Russian troops. Thousands of dogs are pressed into service mainly 4 for transporting soldiers and supplies iu sledges across Lake Baikal.

In the present campaign the Mikado’s fighting man is carrying • a great deal more food with him than his Russian adversary. Against the latier’s two days rations ho carries two cocked rations of rico. in addition to six emergency rations. Those are contained au an aluminium mess pan, and as the rice has been boiled and dried in the sun, the entire weight is trilling. It is commonly supposed, that tho Japanese soldier lives entirely on rice and dried fish; but such is not the fact. Ho can live and fight well, on that spare diot if necessary; but he is given meat and , other sustaining foods whenever practicable, as well ns beer or sake. Several years ago a military commission was appointed b" the Mikado to ascertain why tho physique of tho Japanese troops was inferior to of the British, Gorman, and other armies. The commission cam© to the conclusion that beef and beer helped to build up the stalwart frames of Occidental fighting men* and since then beef and boer have boon included in tho diot scalo of the Japanese army, ■ :