OUR FORCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 288, 8 May 1914, Page 8

OUR FORCES.

.lIAVK TO FIGHT-AND WIN, Jl'' I'OSSIBLB. UNSt'ECTOR-GENKRAL'S CRITIQUE. Takapau, Wednesday. After the troops returns! to eiimp the officers and non-commis.-sioncd officers were addressed by tin.' lnaptc-tor-General. The scheme of operations, said Sir lan Hamilton, was not a bad one. The great tiling to aim at was simplicity, and the tactical scheme should be as short as possible. This particular scheme made mention of a difference between the rival states Cf Auckland and Wellington over a question of tar iff- That was a question for p. v-micr.* and politicians. They, as soldu-.s, had to light, and win if possible, and tho question of tariir was therefore nut material to the actual scheme. The basis of operations also placed the contending forces in such a position that Wellington was attacking from the north, and Auckland defending a line of retreat to the south. That might be all right, and pinf ectly sound in a given set of cis'ctiinstances, but it did not mak« for sininl'e'ty\, lhe cavalry showed great dash, One of the great characteristic i of goodcava'.i'Y was dash—that was what to aim at. "There is practically no limit to what cavalry can do," .-aid the hiapcHorfiouctal, who went on to say thai, the mounted iv.cn. Miriiiy tile engagement Mint ..ilion:, ;;i,; li.'on rather precipilai.-. a«,i li;.d:ni"rposi ! themselves .K'tVv tiH> cue:::/ u:::1 their own inranti ,-i In the jtrwi-ss of :!iwen tangling tiien.M-lviis Iroiii t;i,- results of their prc;-:;> tancv they had behaved very well, and Had aiienvard.- got on the extreme right of thl' enemy, and threatened his retiMit. Ihp tavtsi-s rf cavalry advances when exposed to artii.'erv fir; 1 should be can fuliy noted, und. when i-roxsing an open spac: 1 under the possible observation (if the artillery, it was a mistake to advance in a auccession of small detached groups. It usually t;,o!'t ten minutes for the artillrry to pick up the range, and, in that interval of time, it they crossed the open space they could get safely over before the guns found the range. A succession of small groups gave the artillery an opportunity and time to pick, up the range and do some damage. Before leaving England he had ask?d Sir John French, the great cavalry leader, for n message for the oversea mounted regiments. Sir John French had told him to ask them to always remember that cavairy could play a most important part in wiir by aeting boldlj on occasions, and leaving their horses for greater distances.. It was always possible to deceive the enemy into thinking that these men were actually the main infantry Attack. Reverting again to the day's operations General Hamilton said that the idea adopted by the commander of the attacking force of dividing his artillery and sending part with the mounted men. and the remainder with the infantry, was a good one. A Single hattcry of four guns eotild be morfc capably controlled by the artillery commander than a battery of eight guns. Added to this they were able, by this disposition of batteries, to direct a converging Are upon the enemy. The 18-pounders had been back too far. "Work your guns up somehow," he said.

The Tnspector-Ocnera! also referred to the work of the sappers, who. he had noticed, were lining out the trenches for the infantry. This work might very well be done by the infantry. And the sappers could have been better employed in making bridges across the crocks.

Turning to the infantry, General Hamilton said that the great thing was to advaueo as quickly as possible from cover to cover, and get to grips with the bayonet. Commanders should never order their infantry forward until they had carefully studied the ground ahead of them, and selected a good firing position with adequate cover. It way a good thing to send reliable scouts forward t.o report on the nature of the ground. The great thing was to save the nun as much as possible from avoidable destruction. Scouts should always be carefully selected for their intelligence and reliability, and the best men only of the company should be selected. The infantry reserve had been well handled, but considering the nature of the ground and the excellent cover in front of them, they might have been brought into action more rapidly, and in 'urge bodies. On the whole, concluded General Hamilton, the work was very credßnh'e. and there was a great appearance of cohesion in the movements of the troops. The climax was very realistic and altogether good. A camp like this was no joke; it required a 'highly trained staff. He had been very pleased, on the whole, with what he had ■seen.