U F GIFT or i'lp.h .L.Leupp I • • I • ,• 1 1 • • » '. » » » • I 4.14 m ^''>S- STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CALIBER, MOBILE ARTILLERY, AND MACHINE GUNS IN THE PRESENT EUROPEAN WAR PREPARED BY THE WAR COLLEGE DIVISION, GENERAL STAFF CORPS AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATEMENT OF A PROPER MILITARY POLICY FOR THE UNITED STATES WCD 9239-1 ARMY WAR COLLEGE : WASHINGTON NOVEMBER, 1915 509 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1916 ♦•••••• • • . • ./ . . . • • • •• • • . . • /::.:•;•:: : •.^ • » . War Department, Document No. 509. Office of the Chief of Staff. r STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CALIBER MOBILE ARTILLERY AND MACHINE GUNS IN THE PRESENT EUROPEAN WAR. 1. ARTILLERY. At the outbreak of the present Phu-opean war two schools of artillery thought had gradually developed among the European nations. One school, fostered by the French, believed in the low- power, rapid-fire field gun of about 3-inch caliber, and contended that with a reasonable supply of ammunition it was possible to render heavy field or siege artillery jDowerless with such a gun; the second school, headed by the Germans, although believing in the low-power, small-caliber, rapid-fire fieldpiece, believed that they must be reenforced by a considerable number of heavier howitzers or field guns, which were to be used to combat the ordinary field- pieces as well as such entrenchments as could be constructed by armies in the field and for long-range firing when necessary. In general, Germany and Austria were the only European coun- tries that had developed efficient large-caliber mobile artillery at the outbreak of the present European war, but this war has devel- oped the use of the large-cali'ber artillery by all of the belligerent countries. This development of heavy mobile artillery in Germany, Austria, and France is shown in attached "Notes on development of large-caliber mobile artillery." How the thoughts of the majority of the field-artillery officers influenced the artillery organizatioii of France and Germany is best shown by their army oi-ganization as it existed at the outbreak of war. as shown by the following table : Country. Number of of 3-inch field Runs per 1 ,060 rifles. Numher of li^ht field howitzers per 1,000 rifles. Number of heavy field howitzers per 1,000 rifles. Total. France 4.66 0.206 .01 4 87 Germany 4.12 1.37 6.1 This table shows that at the outbreak of war Germany had about (me-half of a light field gun (about 3-inch) less than France per 1.000 combatants. Germany, on the other hand, had 1.37 light field howitzers per 1,000 combatants more than France had, and had 3 30069°— No. 509 16 (3) 6C7366 heavy field howitzers of about 6-inch caliber for every 1 possessed by France. The proportion of heavy field howitzers was in reality much more than the table indicates, for, as is well known, France only had a total of twenty-four 4-gun batteries of 6-inch howitzers when the war opened, whereas Germany had more than one hundred and ninety 4-gun batteries of 6-inch howitzers. We may say that the results of the war have justified not the French but the German organization, and that as a result the French have taken up the German idea and are now doing, and have been doing for many months past, everything they can to meet the Ger- man preparedness in heavy field artillery material by equipping their army with heavy field guns and howitzers. It is of interest to note that the French 6-inch howitzer had a maximum range of about 6,600 yards, whereas the corresponding German gun, although older in years, had a maximum range of 7,700 yards. In other words, the French were not only outclassed in number but also in the power of the individual gun. In addition to this 16-Gentimeter (6-inch) howitzer, which was assigned at the rate of 4 batteries of 4 gims each to each army corps, Germany had a certain number of heavy gun batteries of 10-centi- meter (3.94-inch) and 13-centimeter (5.12-inch) caliber and a field 28-centimeter (11.3-inch) mortar battery. The exact number of these batteries is unknown. The successes of the German army for the first' four months of the war can be attributed, in a great measure, to the heav}' field ai-tillery with which they were equipped, and to its proper handling. Our observers all state that the moral actual effect produced on the French in the opening battles of the war by the heavy German field artillery w^as tremendous, and came to most of the Frenchmen, who had been taught and had believed that the 75-millimeter gun was the ruler of the artillery world, as a terrific shock. At the commence- ment of the war the French did not take the trouble to entrench nor conceal their artillery the way they do now ; the result Avas that the heavy German batteries, when used as counterbatteries and assisted by aeroplanes, had a clear field and managed to destroy whole bat- talions of the light 75-millimeter French guns without the latter being able to do them any harm. After the opening battles of the war the French realized that they must have heavy field artillery, and made every effort to obtain it as soon as possible. The result was that between August, 1914, and March, 1915, they had sent a number of 4-gun batteries of 10.5-centimeter guns to the front and had adopted and issued to the service a considerable number of new 15-centimeter rapid-fire howitzers, and had started to construct 14- inch mortars. In other words, a few months after the war started 509 the French school of artillery thoufjht had completely veered around and adoj)to(l the (JerniaU artilUMv idea. From tlie artillery jxjint of view, the, lesson to be learned from the war is the same' less(m that has been taii