WARFARE.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17412, 26 May 1928, Page 13 (Supplement)

WARFARE.

MAN VERBUS THE MACHINE. (By "Marama.”) Of late we have been told of the increasing mechanisation of the army. Perhaps we shall grow accustomed to the word in time. It means that men arc to he transported to the scene of warfare by motor ears; instead of hacking at each other with swords they will discharge shots from ma-chine-guns. The internal combustion engine has made it possible for man to build flying machines, and, like, a mischievous boy, his first thought is how to drop a bomb from the air on to his foes. Clockwork makes torpedoes possible, a.nd they may be used to destroy ships. The firs t use to which any invention is put is to destroy an enemy. Tpis mechanisation is not a new thing, for what we are witnessing is but one more step in a very long process. Writers on war assure us that the principles of strategy are always the same, though tactics may vary. Alexander overran Asia, Hanpibal defeated Rome, Napoleon conquered Europe by the same strategical measures, although it is strange 'that the writers do not seem able to explain them. One of the great principles of strategy is the vital importance of mobility. An army that can move rapidly has a great advantage over a slower one. If soldiers can be sent to the field of battle in motor cars, they will arrive sooner, and be in fresher condition, just as calves are when sent to the freezing works by motor lorries. This is, of course, no new discovery. Back in the dim ages of which we have no history someone discovered the use to which the horse could be put, and doubtless played the conqueror in his time! Now we have made another stride. My Kingdom fop a Horse. Although horses were first used in Asia, they were new to European warfare at a dale comparatively modern. The Roman Republic made its great (•'inquests with foot soldiers, and cavalry was not used until the days of the Emperors. A writer on war has --iven us an account, imaginary or otherwise, of the origin of the use of cavalry.. A Roman legion was skirmishing on the Eastern frontier with a. party of Goths. This tribe had lately become acquainted with horses on. the Ukraine plains, and took the keen, pleasure in them that savages do. A party of them were riding at some distance from the skirmish when they heard .the sounds of conflict, and galloped at once to the scene of battle, in such a hurry that (hey did not stop to dismount-. The Romans, armed with short sword and shield, were knocked over like ninepins, and immediately recognised the importance of the new method of fighting. They procured horses and trained men in l.heir management, and for a Jhousand years the man on horseback, clad in armour, and armed with sword and shield, was the invincible warrior. No country was safe which had not a large contingent of heavy armed horsemen. Change and Decay All Around. •* Nothing stands for ever, and so a ‘ method was at last found of coping the horseman. Edward 111. of England fought in his youth against Scotland, which was then too poor to it have more than a small nnumber of horsemen. They therefore devised methods of making iheir attack. When possible they fought behind a swamp, which pulled up the charge of the mounted men. They dug holes and put cunningly .devised Ihrec-legged iron tools into them, calculated to lame a. horse that put his fool on them. Edward afterwards fought against France, which country boasted many more horsemen than England. Edward Iherefore put the.devices he had I'*drnl from the Scotch into use,'against Iho French and added to them something much more effective, the os'- of Ihe long bow. "When the charge of the horsemen was pulled up they became a great, mark for the archers, and the victories of Cressy and Poitiers were won in this way. Bui while England had devised one method of meeting cavalry, Switzerland had found another. The Swiss Mountaineers were big athletic men. Their method was to form square; the outside men with long pikes to stop the rush of the horses; then the inside ranks, who r x were armed with heavy battle axes with .long handles stepped forward and lopped off 'the head of a horse or a man at one blow. The Swiss became famous. Kings must have Svyiss body guards, until in the course of time the Spanish infantry learnt how to deal with the Swiss Square. They employed light active men with short swords who marched up to the pikes, threw themselves on the. ground and rolled into the square where they stabbed the men with the long battle axes at their leisure. And 'then came gunpowder and revolutionised warfare, strategy and tactics together. Prlds In Port, Defiance in Eye. The heavy armed horsemen disappeared three hundred years ago or rather more, but his influence is still " amongst us. No man could fight on horseback without lung training and constant practice. His horse and his /armour represented a large sum. As j every country was obliged lo have such men they had to pay the price, which took Ihe form of placing the armed warrior in a position of privilege. He was (he land owner, to whom rent, was-paid. He administered justice or what passed for such. He held the positions of honour around the King. Sometimes the King and sometimes the nobles made the law, just as they sometimes quarrelled and sometimes agreed, but in any case the people had no voice. When Edward defeated the French Knights, there was an Immediate stirring of the populace, and John Ball, the agitator and priest asked “When Adam delved arid Eve span, who was then the gentleman,” but the question was not answered. In fact, the history of the nation from that lime to ‘this has been the record of the doing away with the privileges which were granted when armed horsemen were ■ ssential. In many countries of. Europe the armed horsemen were foreigners who did not mingle with the natives. The junkers of East Prussia and of the Baltic States .which have been carved out of Russia had their origin this way. The Hungarian magnates who lorded it over the Slavs did. so by virtue of military superiority. All this aristocracy was indissolubly associated with the horse, a.nd though the flghiing has ceased, racing -and hunting fill much of their thoughts. As Disraeli said “Their table .talk is stable talk. ' What, will he the characteristics of the men who •understand and manipulate the r internal combustion engine? Will

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they also demand privileges, or will they be content, to be, as other men are? Are Aristocrats sueh by \irtue of inherent superiority nr are they the product of circumstances? Which ever way we regard Ihem we must admit that they supplied most of the romauce. and colour of the world.