These roads and railway lines have to be constantly kept in order by special gangs, and the holes made by shells must be immediately filled up.

In fact we shall see that the perfect repair of all these ways of communication is intimately connected with the supply of munitions.

6. Conclusion. From the mere general outlines we have just given concerning the use and mission of the artillery, we may draw the following conclusion:

Till the end of the war it will be necessary to constantly increase the manufacture of guns of all sizes, especially those of the largest calibres, and to accumulate a reserve of ammunition far beyond the actual needs. The adversary that will have succeeded in silencing the opposing artillery will be sure of victory, and will obtain it without the enormous losses in human life that all combatants have sustained since the beginning of the war.

These losses, it may be remarked in passing, have been considerably reduced of late by the employment of more scientific methods of fighting.

The transference of heavy artillery from one army to another, according to local needs, has many disadvantages. Such a practice prevents the High Command from deceiving the adversary as to the real point of attack. If the artillery preparation could be maintained with equal intensity for equal periods of time on the Fronts of several armies, the enemy could not possibly foresee which of the armies would strike the principal blow, and would be much embarrassed as to the disposition of their reserves.

It will never be possible on a 600 kilometre front to accumulate a sufficient number of guns literally to accomplish this, but by constantly turning out new guns, by increasing the number of batteries and of large artillery concentrations on many points distant from one other, the enemy will be kept guessing.

CHAPTER V
MUNITION SUPPLY

1. Sketch of the railroad organization.

2. Organization of the munition parks.

3. Divisional parks. Their organization. Their management.

4. Importance of the munition supply.

5. Replacement and repair of guns.

6. Different issues of ammunition.