Building a Bridge with Sacks
The Russian-Japanese War brought the old cavalry raid, such as we associate with the names of Sheridan and Wilson, once more to honor, and an expedition of Mischtschenko’s in February, 1905, though not wholly successful, aroused much interest in cavalry circles in Europe. It is considered not unlikely that such “raids” will play a great part in the present war. The Germans use the American word for the maneuver.
If cavalry is merely an adjunct of infantry, this is still more true of artillery. Its function, according to the latest German writers, is to facilitate the advance of the infantry, or, in other words, to break and open the path by which the infantry shall storm. It has sometimes been thought of the battle of the future that it would consist of two parts: the great artillery duel and the infantry struggle; and that the infantry would have to stand aside until the artillery duel was over. The contrary is the case. The two, in this coming war, will fight side by side: the artillery opening the breach, the infantry coming in.
A Field Gun
German batteries consist of six guns, while those of the French have only four. Good authorities, even in Germany, prefer the French system, but the change would mean more expense than was considered warrantable. A novelty is that the guns now have great steel shields that protect the gunners. Another most useful innovation is the so-called wheel belt. A number of flat blocks or shoes, wider than the tire and hinged so as to form a great chain, protect the wheels of the gun-carriage and prevent them from sinking into the mud. Formerly a supply of beams, jackscrews and the like had to be carried along for use in extricating the cannon when they stuck fast. Now every large gun in the army has its belt, which can be removed and put on again at will, the operation lasting but six minutes.
Wheel Belt for Cannon
The largest guns accompanying the infantry have a bore of twenty-one centimeters, which is much less, of course, than the fixed guns in fortresses or those used for coast defense. The size of these is ever increasing, and there is already talk of forty centimeter guns. The field guns fire shells and shrapnel and there is a so-called “unit charge” which is a combination of the two. A shrapnel is a thin metal ball filled with explosive bullets and can be discharged either by ignition or percussion. It is considered preferable to have it burst in the air, just above the point aimed at, as the shock is downward. Krupp has patented a shell that explodes by clock-work.