Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights Part 25

The ammunition supply was immediately augmented and field guns of various calibers turned out as fast as possible, including 9-inch howitzers.

A 3-inch field gun fires projectiles weighing 15 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 1700 feet per second.

A 4.7-inch field gun fires projectiles weighing 60 pounds, with the same velocity.

A 6-inch howitzer fires projectiles weighing 120 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 900 feet per second.

The princ.i.p.al difference between the field gun and the howitzer is that the latter can be pointed at a high angle, to a.s.sail infantry protected by intrenchments, or for other purposes.

While reference has been made to siege guns, which were used by the Germans in their attacks on the Belgian and French forts, the fact is that the large caliber mortars and howitzers are what wrought the havoc.

The large caliber howitzers and mortars throw sh.e.l.ls containing huge charges of explosives, and are more adaptable in their application than the ordinary siege guns or cannons.

One novelty which had not been used up to the entrance of the United States into the war is a device invented by a Los Angeles man, which makes a "periscope gun" of any ordinary service piece.

In trench warfare, as developed abroad, the periscope has been used by the men in the trenches to observe the movements of the opposing forces and watch for scouts without exposing themselves to the fire of "snipers" or sharpshooters, who are always looking for a head or mark to aim at.

The new device comprises two mirrors attached to the gun by a metal frame in such manner that one mirror is above the range of vision and reflects the image to be fired at upon the other mirror below the stock or b.u.t.t of the gun. The attachment enables the soldier sitting in a trench or shelter to accurately aim his gun and conveniently shoot while his head is kept below the safety line, or top of the parapet, or properly built trench.

THE TRENCH PERISCOPE.

With this attachment, approved by the United States Ordnance Department, a rifleman, from his concealed point of vantage, can survey a 30-foot field at 200 yards. The attachment can be removed at will and the metal bars and parts can be easily carried. The device adds about one and one-half pounds to the weight of the gun.

In the same category with the aeroplane, the automobile, the submarine, the torpedo, in their effect upon the method of waging modern warfare are the telephone and the wireless telegraph. There were no telephones and no wireless instruments in the days of our own Civil War, and the stories related of the bravery and astuteness displayed by orderlies, messengers and scouts of those days will not be repeated.

Today the army carries a complete telephone system and wonderful wireless apparatus. The commander sits in his headquarters and communicates with his officers in all parts of the field, reaching points miles distant. Wires are strung through trenches, along fences and wherever needed, and telephone "booths" are set up wherever it is found necessary. Switchboards are mounted on motor cars and encased in armor plate. The "repair" wagons are motor vehicles, and lines cut or destroyed are quickly repaired or replaced.

Aerial stations for the wireless are carried, and are of many varieties.

Some of them are similar to the observation towers and ladders. The French army regulations provide for wireless service between the general staff headquarters and the army corps, connecting these with the heavy cavalry divisions and lines of communication. The wireless companies in the French army are made up of 10 officers and 293 men.

Nearly all of the other nations have patterned their wireless companies after the French. The company carries 302 miles of wire and cable and about 96 sets of instruments. The rate of operation is more than 400 words a minute. The mast for the aerial station is made in sections, on the telescope plan, and can be erected by a trio of men in a few minutes. The whole outfit for a station weighs about 750 pounds and the range of service is about 200 miles.

"KNAPSACK" STATIONS.

There are, in addition to the field stations, "knapsack" stations, which are divided into sections so that four soldiers can carry an outfit. The sections weigh about 20 pounds each. The small station set up with this apparatus has a range of from 5 to 10 miles and in service replaces the orderlies and such visual signs and signalling, as was used before the wireless came into existence. Such an outfit can forward more information in a few minutes than a whole squadron of orderlies could riding at full speed.

The aeroplanes carrying a wireless outfit can communicate with the field stations, and have rendered wonderful service on the battlefields. The cavalry also carry wireless outfits, and in the Allied armies the second regiment of every cavalry brigade has a wireless detachment of 4 troopers, 1 cyclist and 3 horses, besides a wagon. There is also a division with tools and material for both destroying and repairing lines.

The French army also has automobile wireless stations. The automobile outfit is complete in every particular and is not augmented. It carries its own crew and has a traveling radius of several hundred miles. The car containing the station is completely enclosed and the walls are deadened so that the noise made by the apparatus may not betray the presence of the station to the enemy scouts.

The practical application of portable wireless outfits to military usage is probably less than four years old, but the portables can transmit messages over a radius of 200 to 250 miles. Expressed in technical terms, the portable stations have a capacity of about 200 mile wave-lengths.

The one weakness of the wireless is that the enemy can purloin secrets, though adroitness in manipulation can overcome some of this difficulty.

A WORD ABOUT "HEAVY ARTILLERY."

It would not do to mention armaments and weapons without a word about the "heavy artillery" of the commissary department, for this branch of the army service is represented by formidable field kitchens, which are again carried on trucks or motor cars. The officers' field kitchen follows the advance of the officers to the field of action. Some of these kitchens, particularly those of the Kaiser and the Crown Prince in the German army, are described as almost luxurious. They contain complete equipment--range, bake-oven, pantry, ice-box, china closet and every device needed for preparing a complete meal.

Supplies are hurried after the troops in motor trucks from stations where the supplies are delivered by rail and soups and st.u.r.dy meals are prepared which were lacking in the campaigns through which the soldiers of the Civil War pa.s.sed. The pioneer mobile military field kitchen which has been the subject of widespread comment was developed by the German army.

It consists of a four-wheeled vehicle drawn by two horses, though motors have supplanted the horses in some cases. The front carriage is detachable from the rear and is actually a separate contrivance. On the rear truck is a 200-quart copper, double, or jacketed vat. Also a 70-quart coffee tank. Both receptacles have separate fireboxes and ash pits. One section carries extra rations for the men, the daily quota of provisions, extra rations for horses, folding canvas water pails and utensils.

The actual food is cooked within the vat or caldron inside the water jacket, so that the heat does not come in contact with the food direct, thus preventing burning. The food will cook slowly for hours when once the water is heated, and will remain hot for a long time. The men can get water in an emergency and hot coffee is always ready for the sentries and men on guard duty to carry with them at night. Of course a bottle of the thermos type is used by these men so that they can have hot coffee when on the line of duty. The kitchen outfits are complete and so arranged that they can be rushed over rough ground without spilling their contents.

Electric flash lights, batteries for setting off dynamite and other explosives used for blowing out trenches and other fortifications, searchlights, mirror signaling devices, illuminating bombs, which are shot high in the air to explode and illuminate the field for hundreds of yards, signal bombs, and many ingenious contraptions never dreamed of are part of the army's equipment used on the battlefields of the greatest war that the world has ever known.

CHAPTER XII.

THE WORLD'S ARMIES.

THE EFFICIENT GERMAN ORGANIZATION--THE LANDWEHR AND LANDSTURM--GENERAL FORMS OF MILITARY ORGANIZATION--THE BRAVE FRENCH TROOPS--THE PICTURESQUE ITALIAN SOLDIERY--THE PEACE AND WAR STRENGTH--AVAILABLE FIGHTING MEN--FORTIFICATIONS.

No one scoffs at the military organization which Germany has developed through the years--yes, almost centuries--of moulding and training, for Germany has proved herself efficient, even if egotistical and domineering. She built up what at the beginning of the war was recognized as the most powerful, most efficient and well balanced military organization the world has ever known. And it was not an army in the sense that America has been taught to think of armies. It was a trained nation for war--a nation armed--rather than a small, compact fighting machine.

The strength of the German army on October 1, 1913, has been given in fairly authentic reports as 790,788 men and 157,916 horses. Of the men 30,253 were officers and 2,483 sanitary officers. There were 104,377 non-commissioned officers and 641,811 common soldiers. The general divisions were 515,216 infantry and 85,593 cavalry, 126,042 artillery, and the rest in the general service, including the commissary and quartermasters' departments, as these are known in America. The estimated army on a war footing is more than four times this number and approximates about 4,000,000, while the entire available force was given at probably 8,000,000.

The infantry is designated as the main body of the army. The infantrymen carry the "98" gun, already referred to, which is an improved Mauser, and the non-commissioned officers and ambulance drivers carry revolvers.

There are several cla.s.ses of infantrymen, a distinction being made between the sharpshooters, and some of the others, variously known as grenadiers, musketeers and fusileers.

The cavalry is armed with lance, saber and carbine. There are distinctions in this branch of the service, too, among the cavalry units being cuira.s.siers, hussars, uhlans and dragoons. The field artillery carries batteries of cannon and light howitzer, and the drivers are armed with a sword and revolver. The cannoneers have a short knife or dagger as well as the revolver.

The communication troops are what parallel the engineers in the United States army. They build the roads, put up the telegraph lines and telephone service, construct bridges and make the travel possible.

STRENGTH OF GERMAN ARMY.

While the full strength of the German army is given at 4,000,000 on a war footing, the total availables from the nation's reserve is double that sum. These forces are gathered from three sources: the first line, with an estimated strength of 1,750,000; the Landwehr 1,800,000, and the Landsturm 4,500,000.

All who enter the service pa.s.s into the Landsturm after 19 years and remain until they are 45. The cavalry service is three years with the colors and four years in the army reserve. The horse artillery are subject to the same service, while those in other branches serve two years with the colors and five with the army reserve. The soldier pa.s.ses from the army reserve into what is described as the Landwehr, where artillerymen and cavalrymen remain three years; those of other branches of the military five years. The soldier pa.s.ses from the first division or cla.s.s of Landwehr to the second, where he remains until his 39th birthday.

The Landsturm of the first cla.s.s includes those between the ages of 17 and 39, who have not reached the age of service, and those who have not been called into active service because the ranks were full and there was no room for them in the regular army. The second cla.s.s includes those who have pa.s.sed through the other branches and whose ages are between 39 and 45.

There is a wide difference between the military organizations of the different countries. Whereas the United States army regiment approximates 1500 men, the German army regiment contains almost 3000. In the German army six battalions form an infantry regiment. Two regiments form a brigade, two brigades a division, and two divisions an army corps. There are 10 divisions composed of 3 brigades each, but of course the whole organization was augmented when war broke out. Adding the necessary auxiliary troops, viz: an artillery brigade of 12 batteries composed of 6 guns each--or 4 in the case of the horse Batteries--a regiment of cavalry of 4 squadrons, an engineer battalion, sanitary troops, etc., a German 3-brigade division at war strength numbers about 21,000, and an army corps--to which are further attached 4 batteries of howitzers and a battalion of rifles--about 43,000 combatants. The cavalry division is composed of 3 brigades of 2 regiments each and 2 or 3 batteries of horse artillery, a total of 24 squadrons and 8 to 12 guns.

In a general way it may here be interpolated that the organization of an army is given in the military manuals as follows:

INFANTRY.

A squad is 8 men under the command of a corporal.

A section is 16 men under the command of a sergeant.