SAVING THE SOLDIER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 60, 4 December 1917, Page 8

SAVING THE SOLDIER

HOW THE WAR HAS CHANGED OUR

FIGHTING PLANS

WARFARE OF MATERIAL

For the first time in the world's history battles (writes Mr. Henry AVood, correspondent with the French armies) are now being fought on the French front in which the number of artillerymen engaged in "preparing" the attack equals and often exceeds the number of infantrymen who eventually leap to the assault. This is tho greatest development yet reached by the "warfare of material." It constitutes beyond all doubt the basis of tho warfare of to-morrow, and above all the basis, on which American troops will participate in the European war. When American iiifantrymen are eventually called upon to leap from tho trenches it should be after an artillery preparation even more formidable than that of which any European infantry has yet had the protection. Already this new method of warfare has been developed by the French _ to a point where tho amount of material employed exceeds the wildest imagination of three years ago. In the April offensive along tho Aisne and the Moronvillers Crest the French fired an average of over 0110 million shells daily. Had the United States been in a position at that time to furnish France with one million shells a day for an indefinite period the war might well have been over now. These figures give an idea of the gigantic. quantities of material now used, without., however, showing the steady growth in proportion. In tho early part of the German assault on Verdun last year, when the French strained every resonrco tliey possessed for its defence, they /seldom were able to fire over 200,000 shells a day. In tho French attack at Veitlun on August 20 of this year, whenjhey massed only the amount of artiilery considered necessary for capturing the limited objectives they had in ricw, the Frencji during the last day of their artillery preparation fired 400.000 shells.' By next spring this proportion will have steadily increased.

For the Frgjich portion of the attack in Flanders last July the density of the artillery concentration was without doubt the greatest in history. Tho two ■ great results of this development of the warfare of material arc. first, that the French almost _invarialily attained their prefixed objectives ; and, secondly, with a minimum loss of life almost incredible. In the future development of this new method, and, above all, in next spring's operations, 111 which American troops must participate, it is expected tliat this concentration of material will lie even greater and the loss of life correspondingly lighter. It is General "Potain's philosophy that _no military commander at the present time has tho right to send human breasts against material. Material must conquer material, and then if any of the enemy is left the soldier can have his till!. . v Long-range guns (marine) can now silence ouemv batteries for many miles behind tho lines. To accomplish this the artillery 110 longer counts as much as formerly on the actual destruction of tho enemy's guns, although more than ever arc still actually destroyed. It has been found more effective to fire toxic shells. in tho vicinity of every German batterv. A few of these are sufficient to force the gun crews to take cover, and this remainder of the battle they are no longer able to servo thfir guns. TVrhms the classic shit 111 on" ef these long-range counter-battery duels was that fired'by a. French battery at, Verdun which exnloded the Germans' (ras'shell depot. The gas fumes from the latter put nut of action four whole batteries, constituting the iroup that was firing gas shells at the Frci'cb.