FRENCH FIGHTING METHODS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1916, Page 3

FRENCH FIGHTING METHODS.

EFFICIENCY AND POWER. San Francisco, October 14. u arfare oil the most scientific basis is now being waged by the French army, accculing to a special cablegram received :n New York from that trustworthy American (French correspondent, Charles F. Bertclli).

Bertclli, who at the time of filing his dispatch, was with General Michelier's army south of the Somme, said:—"Never before in my numerous journeyin«s to the French front have I been so' forcibly tl,n"r b> l th,! efficion ' , y and power of lie Ficnch army as I was to-dav (October I. ) when the victorious troops penetrated to the furthermost point achieved the advance m the neighborhood of Ablaineourt. The artillery of General oeh is massed in Picardy, and the technical organisation and preparation of the whole rear of the battlefield surpass liven *vT aellievetl in this war. Not f» t" \® r ? un v, ' as such a point of perfection attained

U S , CCI " S evi(le 'it that General Joffre means to throw back the German line on , Quentin, %vhich would entail the ciumpling of their whole front in France So'issons. Wlth their fro®

"Another most striking feature is tie. extraordinary high spirits of the sol- ' diers especially those actually en «a»od i in the fighting. Hardships" and" eontn ned dangers seem only to sp „ r their j intense enthusiasm, which increases as ie troops got noar tlie firing ]jn<>. The ! reason for this enthusiastic attitude of | the trout-line men is found ir: their absolute confidence in the i-.ew artillery I which, since the beginning 01" tlu- Somm'e offensive, lias proved not onlv an ofiea Rive weapon of tremendous efficiency, but is chiefly the greatest protector of the infantry, having saved CO per cent, of lives in all attacks thus far, compare with previous drives-, MIILIO.\ T SHELLS A DAY. "The outstanding outgrowth of this state of things is that the rifle hrs become almost obsolete, except in snipin° operations. In one 'day's attack on Ablamcourt million shells were expended, and only seven thousand rifle cartridges. Machine guna and bond grenades have replaced the rifl" ard bayonet. The first wave of an attack never carries rifle troopa. Their advance is protected by a terrific curtain of fire which precedes them a few yards, ceasing at the precise moment when the infantry enters the enemy's trenches with hand grenades. Only the second wave of troops carry the'bayonet for the purpose of cleaning up the- dugouts The excellence of this method was illustrated when a battalion, rushing the Get man positions in the Ablaincourt woods, captured 700 prisoners. Their own loss was only two slightly wounded. "The most reant advance south of the Somme is of more value than is suggested by the plain wording of the official communique. It covers an absolutely flat, and open stretch of country nearly a mile in length and entirely exposed to the German gun fire and machine-gun fire. The fact that the French attained their objectives in 40 minutes with insignificant losses sufficiently demonstrates the pulverising power of their artillery. GRUESOME SIGHTS

"The ground was literally honey-coinb-?d with shell-holes, and the trenches which T traversed under gunfire were nnlecognisable. Limbs of dead Saxons protruded at gruesome angles from loose heaps of earth, and charred bodies blown from the trenches and strewing the ground were ghastly proofs of the terrific destructive power of the French high explosives.

_ ''While I was inspecting the front lines, shells still exploding all around had prevented the cleaning-up of the dugouts, which were still filled with Herman ammunition and equipment. The cannonade suddenly developed great fury, giving evidence that another attack wa; about to begin With considerable dif Acuity we retreated to an observation post from which a famous general was directing new artillery preparations. "This is merely a foretaste of what we will be able to do later.'' he said to me. referring to the cannonade. "Our enemy is still very strong, but/rtf&kve already taken his three lines of defences on tliif front, and he is now obliged to resort to hastily contrived cover., The ficviniu; losses have teen incomparably heavier than ours. In fact, the feature of the Somme offensive is the exceedingly limited number of our casualties." "How long do you think it will take to break through?" 1 asked. "I do no; pretend to know," replied the general. "Ncit'.it: - the officers nor the men speculate en such a question, for we have aliafllr.t'. certainty that we ha\> obtained the upper hand. Yon Himiun'ourg cannot always make good the huge losses the Gorman army has suffered in the past three months, and is continuing to Miffcr. While it is the German policy to mini the front line trench with a few troops manipulating machine-guns, our camion li'lici tremendous losses 011 the sup■ts concentrated in the second tnd |.hrd line trenches and the deep comininieating corridors. Even their deep, narious and well-protected dugouts no loiucr afford sufficient shelter from our Mgh explosives. For instance, one of . .r shells fell in the entrance of the null officers' quarters at Bovenl, and trrday we found the bodies of the six /tlicera quartered the"-*-"