| Killed and Wounded. | ||
| The 3rd East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 102 |
| The 34th East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 89 |
| The 36th East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 73 |
| The 1st East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 71 |
| The 4th East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 61 |
| The 23rd East Siberian Rifle Regiment lost | … | 50 |
It is impossible to recall the gallant war services of these and of the officers of many other regiments without profound respect and emotion.
It must always be borne in mind that the infantry of the Line is the backbone of our Service in peace as well as in war. Consequently, we should make much more of those who serve in it than we do, and give them a better chance. At present the list of regimental commanding officers includes far too many Guardsmen or officers of the General Staff. I am convinced that if the importance of service in the Line is to be maintained, we must put an end to the present unfair acceleration of promotion amongst Guards and General Staff officers as compared with that of their brothers. The latter produce a great many men capable of being good regimental commanders; all that is wanted is to know how to select them. Since the last Turkish War they have undoubtedly made considerable progress, and it is for us to arrange that this improvement is continued by fostering it in every way.
Owing to casualties, the company commanders were changed too often for efficiency, but they generally performed good service, lack of initiative being, as usual, their chief fault. It is most important for the good of the Service that captains (of all arms) displaying distinguished military qualifications should be quickly promoted to field rank. Yet recommendations sent to St. Petersburg were not acted on for a very long time, if ever. In such a matter some discretion should be allowed the Commander-in-Chief, and he should be empowered to promote junior officers to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel for distinguished service in the field. Special men would thus arrive at the command of independent units and regiments, posts where the personality of the man in command is so important. It often happened that a regiment which had done badly absolutely changed its character with a change of commanding officers. Seniority should not be the only guide for promotion, and the establishment of field-officers in Manchuria constituted a quite adequate number from which good regimental commanders could have been liberally selected. During the period when we were occupying the Hsi-ping-kai positions, many of the regimental commanders in all the armies were good men, and the 1st Army was particularly lucky in this respect. Though many of the infantry brigadiers who came out to the war proved failures, amongst the regimental commanders were many capable field-officers, whose advancement to the rank of General gave us some first-class brigade commanders. In the 1st Army alone were Major-Generals Lechitski, Stelnitski, Dushkevitch, Lesha, Riedko, Dobotin, etc. Thus, even under the unfavourable conditions under which they served, we found enough good material amongst our infantry officers to give us some confidence for the future. Had the war been continued, many of the colonels promoted to generals for distinguished service would have commanded divisions. This is as it should be, for it ought to be possible for a regimental commander to rise within a year to the command even of an army corps, if he be sufficiently brilliant.
I repeat that the tasks which fall upon infantry in battle nowadays are of such exceptional difficulty that the promotion of its officers for distinguished field service should be made exceptionally rapid. I am aware that even a good regimental commander may make a bad divisional general; but I also maintain that a regimental commander who has successfully commanded in several fights, has shown a knowledge of his work, keenness, enterprise, and personal bravery, and has won the confidence of his men, should be promoted as quickly as possible. He may find it difficult at first to get his bearings under the new and more complicated conditions of a high command, where he has to rely upon maps and the reports of others instead of upon the direct evidence of his own eyes and ears, but still he will grapple with the situation, even of an army corps commander, far better than some general whose experience has been confined to office-work and peace manœuvres.
Finally, in order to give due importance to the principal Arm—infantry (infantry of the Line in particular)—I consider the following measures necessary:
1. To give a better education to the officers entering it.
2. To improve their material and social position.
3. To provide officers and men with a smarter uniform.