ARTILLERY WAR.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15456, 19 September 1914, Page 4

ARTILLERY WAR.

IMMENSELY POWERFUL ARM. THE BIG GUN'S DE YELOPMENT. INFLUENCE ON STRONG ipsrrioNs. Artillery has been Sue of the many astonishing features of the great war. ha§ been a testing ground for 'hitherto untested principles. The day has eyident.y gone whenarfciliery made a xonnal opening of the creating, a dreadfully blustering noise, spi-esdmg a. sudden picturesque des. triicfcain, hut leaving a vast deal of slaughter to be done bv infantry fire. Ihe artillery, when one includes, snath me guns, have taken over an unexpectedly large share of tlie deadly Viark; and a. great deal of the rest seems to have been done with the bayonet. THE MODERN GUNS. It must be remembered that this is tlie first great war tipon the details of wnieh the eyes of the world are fixed iii which modern, quick-firing guns halve been used to an extent ~so deeply interesting to the public. Tlieir accuracy, due to line construction and soiindlymado ammunition, has bsen i greatly by the co-operation of aviators as "spotters" to correct faultv aiming. As qu.tk-firers, they can riot only; launch a, far greater number of projectiles in a given time, but they are more easily kept on the target, as the carriage does not recoil. And moi'ethan that, the gunnel's are. -very effectively sheltered from shrapnel--aid nflei fire by the shields which snch grins alone/can cam' in the field. Here are » set of conditions which have altered the field gun as a weapon, and "both sides have learned, bv experience in both advantage and leases, how far the effects have reached. As far as we tail At this distance, . tlie Grerman army depended considerably less •"on rifle fire than the Allies; but comparatively little is said or great losses occasioned by the, fire o-f Infantry. On tlie rtttier hand, the devastating effect of shrapnel has been constantly made prominent, and the Germans at least added to their artiHery a reniarkaWv efficient adjunct in the shape of Masiin guns, which seem to have been as übiquitous as they were deadly, i ■Not 013.1 v in the field have big gtins played a part of ur,usual picturesque, ness- For a cainpa.-'gn. yet so youni:. and_ fought over a great area; itraversed at Si'gli speed, icaVy guns have fceii used muich more than might have been expected. We hoar even of 16-inch guns having "been used at Namur aiid 'in Eastern Prussia., though the necessary dimensions of such a weapon and the almost imsurmountaWe difficulties of transport make the thing incredible. Other sizes of guns have been referred to, up to 11-inch, a s xc whic'h has been previously in the fie'd and was. used bv the Japanese at the siege of Port Arthur—whereas the 16-incli gun, except for naval and coast defence purposes, is a complete novelty. • ATTACKING FORTIFIED TOWNS.

I j It is clear that the Germans, by soma !; great feats of organisation in transport I did bring to bear on tli© BeJg.an torts ! much hoav.er guns than they v uuld i stand, and handled them in n masuoiiy • fashion. Namur. for instance, is dc_ ; scribed as having been subjugated by j v'-incli and 11-inch guns which wovn j fired from within' the rmg of forts so j as to take them in tlio weak rear. The ; reduction of a strongly-fortified placo ; has long been only a matter of art-il- | Jury and tune; and- -partiy, owing, to the lrcighfc of heavy ordnance, it°has j been a leisurely business,; requiring a , certain amount of freedom on the part of the attackers from the terrible cistract ons of an act-ve; field campa-ipi. Vet here the- artillery seems to have triumphed with great suddenness. The liappmngj of the war rase already the question whether the idea of tortiiVing a town by means of outlying which can be cruslied one by one, by ; cverwhelminrdv powerful artillery, has j not been proved faulty. When an enemy can mount his great artillery out of sight, and - even . out of range, and drop half-ton torpedoes upon evlrv hxed gun-emplacement, of what avail are bastions, ditches, ramparts, scarps an:! ccmiter.scarps, and a'.l the other elaborate devices ior holding the 1j«sie«ers at arms' length ? When in tho ordinary course of evcnts.it was a matter of extreme difficulty to bring agarnst a fort guns as large as tluteo within it, tho process of s : ege tois oho of patient engineering. Tho advancing ioiccs had to work their iv-'t.v in ruari 1 in trenches till they eculd blow up tho v.al.-j, or breach theni with guns, or storm them. But jf the forts aro scattered, as they must bo to tako tliexn far euoiigh from the town to protect it from bombardment, and can ho-c-rushed individually, s ege beeoirrps only a modified battle aga list field bombardments. It .may be that tho war will result in tho'modification-of many existing regarding the fbr- ' tification of towns, poss b'y in the direction of favouring only tho construction oT special forts or cunning entrenchj ments to control purely strategic posi- | tions.—Wellington -'Evening Post."