There are two infantry regiments, composed of from six to eight battalions, to the brigade, in the French army, with two brigades to a division and two divisions to an army corps. A field artillery regiment, consisting of nine batteries of four guns each, is attached to each division. With nine field and three howitzer batteries and six reinforcing batteries added under mobilization, each corps on a war footing has 144 guns. There is also added to every army corps in the field one cavalry brigade of two regiments, one cavalry battalion, engineer companies and sanitary and service troops. The cavalry divisions are composed of three brigades of two regiments each—together with three batteries of horse artillery. There is in an army corps, when mobilized, approximately 33,000 combatants, and in a cavalry division 4,700 men. An aeronautical corps in the French army consists of 334 aeroplanes and 14 dirigibles.
In the Reserve army at the time of mobilization there were two divisions in each region, corresponding to those in the active army. When they were mobilized the 36 reserve divisions contained virtually the same organization and strength as the troops of the line. There were a large number of troops for garrisoning the various fortresses when the regional regiments, engineers and foot artillery were utilized for this work.
The Territorial army also consists of 36 divisions and garrison troops. When the remaining men of the Reserve and Territorial armies were summoned to the depots they were available to maintain the field army at full strength.
In the French field army there were 20 army corps, a brigade consisting of 14 battalions, and 10 divisions of cavalry, when war was declared. When this was raised to its full war strength the active army numbered 1,009,000 men, the reserves and depots 1,600,000, the Territorial army 818,000, and the Territorial Reserve 451,000, a grand total of 3,878,000 soldiers. At this critical time, therefore, France had at her command about 5,000,000 trained men.
Lebel magazine rifles of .315 inches caliber are used by the infantry, while the cavalry uses the Lebel carbine. The field piece is a rapid-fire gun of 7.5 centimeters, or 2.95 inches, of the model of 1907, and is provided with a shield for the protection of the gunners. A howitzer of 12 or 15.5 centimeters is the type used by the French army.
The French artillery is generally admitted to be in a class by itself, and the commissariat is excelled by none other. The infantry is most deceptive in appearance, but the ability of the French to march and attack has never been surpassed.
THE RUSSIAN ARMY.
There are 1,284,000 men in the Russian army in times of peace, while the war strength is 5,962,306. The young man of Russia is compelled to enter the army at the age of 20 years, the military service being compulsory and universal, terminating at the age of 43 years. The period of service in the active army is three years in the case of the infantry and artillery, and four years in other branches of the service. The soldier then passes to the reserve, where he serves for 14 or 15 years, during which period he receives two trainings of six weeks each. After 18 years in the active and reserve armies he is transferred to the Territorial army for five years. There also exists a modified system of volunteers for one year who supply the bulk of officers required for the reserve upon mobilization.
The Russian army is divided into three forces, the army, of the European Russia, the army of the Caucasus and the Asiatic army. There are 1,000 men in a Russian battalion, 4 battalions constituting a regiment, 2 regiments a brigade and 2 brigades a division.