GLAD TO BEAR ARMS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 612, 15 September 1909, Page 7

GLAD TO BEAR ARMS.

KEY TO GERMAN CHARACTER. DEFENCE BURDENS LIGHTLY BORNE. PREPARED FOR WAR. (I)y Telegraph.-l'rMa' AuoelMfon.-ooDj>lrhl.l ;■. (Rcc. September 14, 9,35 p.m.) Berlin, September 14. While reviewing an army corps at Karlsruhe, the Kaiser delivered ah address, in tho course of which he said- ~."'.■■. , "Wb Germans are glad to bear arms, therefore wo have carried the burdfcn of defence lightly and willingly. Our army is a rock \)f bronze, on which peace ie bused. So long as tho human race en- . dures there will bo .'enemies and envious ones, aud therefore always prospects of war. We must be ready for all emergencies." ■.'■;;' : OBSERVATION OF FIRE EFFECT. AIRSHIPS AND WIRELESS. - .. ' A NEW USE FOR CHURCH TOWERS. (Bee. September 14, 9.35 p.m.), Berlin, September 14. The military manoeuvres at Mergontheim, in W.urtemberg, - are being., attended by 120,000 infantry, -640 guns, and 29,100 ' cavalry. "■/•.■"' ' '...} '. ~a ■■ ■' 1 The Kaiser's guests include the Archd,uko I Francis Ferdinand (heir to, the' tiirono of ' Austria-Hungary,.and believed to be behind the Balkan annexation policy) and Mr. Winston Churchill, President of the Board of Trade. ' ':'■■'■■■': ..--■ ■:■'■' ; ".'.

Airships will report the position of the enemy, and the effect of artillery fire, direct to the general in the roar of tho forces.-. ■ Many church towers .will be : used.as re-, ceiving stations for wireless messages,' and. the cavalry will carry: portable wireless apparatus. . :■ ,>. ■ ~':.'■ ; : . DIRECTING LONG RANGE GUN FIRE. VINDICATION 01 , GJEEMAN THEORT. , Tho foregoine. cable—especially that portion of it relating Fo the direction of artillery fire by airships—is'important. "If expectations are realised, it will-amount to vindication of German military theory," formulated shortly after the Franco-German War by Von Scherif, Prince Kraft, and others. The theory formed in England, Franco, and in other .countries.at'tho timo was that the defence, had benefited more than the attack by ■ tho lntroudction of breech-loading rifles and compara-1 tivoly' long-range- field"artillery, : .The German view, which was definitely expressed: by Von Soherff in his "Theory of Modern Infantry" 1 (published-in 1873), was thai .both attack-and defence had gained by. the: now weapons, but that, relatively the one to. the other, the- at-, taclc had gained more than the .'lofonce. Further, that all improvements, in. wen pons would ultimately favour the/attack,' although there would be fluctuations.- The contrary view has always been held in England (except by a minority of.military: writers), and durinT , the Boer War the defensive power of the magazine rifle and the difficulty of observing, the effect of tho artillery, fire of the attick,' made tho defence seom . less assailable than over. But that view was nover adopted : in Germany. On the contrary, Meckel (who , trained the Japanese)- and others hold firmly to tho opinion that tho longer, the range of artillery .the greater the area available for selecting emplacements in a line of battle (the nuirber ot posi Sible emplacements • on: average country being roughly proportional to the: square 1 of the range) ana that progress in airships and "wireless-' would -eventually.: enable, firo to be directed,, with acouraoy even ,at - tho longest , tangos, From theory this seems, to.be fast approaching the-'-stage o£iprnotice.i"i -;a vJtj.i.i..

.'■ GERMAN; SLEDGE-HAMMER , TACTIGS. .. last , German ■, Army, man;, oeuvres, "Eu Avaut" writes in a' London paper :--"Like.most of those who .have studied German methods closely, I'find'it hard to:be-. Move thatithoi tactics) displayed 'at tlw annual manoeuvres aro identical ,with those which the Army will employ in time-of'war. 1 do not belong■■to that school Of military i thought which , believes ■ "that .icampaignsV can bo..'conducted to a'succes>sful?issuo"with little loss of life.-' There: must of necessity in .every campaign and in every battle' come a crisis when the general who hesitates toi throve his, legions headlong at the position, -.without' thought.of the inevitable slaughter • .which-■ must follow, will eee victory-slip from'his grasp.-But the German general goes too. ■ far—further than flesh and blood will follow him.''On all occasions, with, or without sufficient object inview, ho throws hissquadrons and battalions in close' order upon his enemy. ■;..-.../. ■ : . ; "He-has two excuses, for 'these 'sledge-hammer tactics. First, he, argues that though many may be slain there aro millions.of conscripts waiting to fill the gap.. Again, Western troops, he argnes, will not in cold blood endure tho lawful.- carnage of .modern .warfare;' in order therefore V get the Wood of the remainder up to tho required fighting temperature he proposeato let them watch. thV massacre, of thfiir oomrades! .Sticlv as these may seam irrefutable when s cientifio men discuss : psychology, and ethics,-, but' ono' requires-, something w.ith a Itytle more- of human- nature in : it to convince that most human pf all things—an army on active service." '. ••'■'.: , ■'-.