The employment of quick-firing field
artillery in combat
|
|
|
Action of the artillery during the different stages
of the battle Offensive combat. The combat was conduct only by infantry, the duty
of the other branches of the army, the artillery included, was to support and
assist the action of the infantry, removing the obstacles the hindered its
advance or to hinder a rapid advance of the enemy. When the advance
guard begun the combat, the artillery should be deployed, occupying
positions as covered as possible; however it should be avoided to engage
immediately all the batteries from the beginning. First, the
batteries of the advance guard
should support the advance of
the infantry and co-operate in the conquest of the points, which might be important
for the following development of the battle, and especially a good position,
that preserved complete freedom of manoeuvre to the commander, allowing him
to accept or refuse the combat. Their action should be brief,
strong, enterprising and agile. During
the preparation of the attack, artillery observed the enemy artillery, moved to the
battle position (3- During
the artillery combat the artillery
should : 1) prevail
over the enemy artillery as quickly as possible using only the strictly
necessary means; 2) select
the moment when the enemy artillery was shelling at other targets, in order
to reduce the number of its units; 3) consider
the enemy batteries out of action only when they cease fire, never
interrupting the observation; 4) take
advantage when the enemy was forced to cease it fire, in order to operate
without suffering losses; 5) begin
or resume the combat, even with equal force, if infantry need support; 6) not
interrupt the combat before having received an order. The
decisive attack should be prepared
with a converging, incessant and powerful fire of all the artillery and
infantry units, that were able to shell the point chosen for the attack During
the preparation of the decisive
attack the rules were : 1) all
the batteries chosen to
concentrate their fire at the point of attack should be under a single
command; 2) the
fire should be in connection with the field heavy artillery; 3) in
order to operate quickly and powerfully at first it was unnecessary to occupy
covered position; 4) the
fire should be mainly directed against the enemy infantry; 5) enemy
batteries, that appeared later in the fighting front should be overwhelmed
with a sudden, powerful fire. During
the execution of the decisive
attack, some batteries should accompany the attack of the infantry, while the
greatest part of the batteries should support infantry with its fire, moving its position up to The
accompanying batteries (придружаващи батареи) should : 1) follow
the infantry, advancing by echelon
and occupying successive positions, if possible near the enemy; 2) not
take care of the enemy artillery that should be beat by the support
batteries; 3) destroy
as quickly as possible everything hindered the advance of the infantry; 4) occupy
mainly flank positions; 5) occupy
immediately the positions seized to the enemy in order to totally disrupt
him, repelling all his attempt to reoccupy them. The
support batteries (опорни батареи) should : 1) prolong
its fire against the enemy positions as long as there was no risk for its own
troops, and then direct the fire at the enemy reserves; 2) crush
vigorously the whole enemy artillery; 3) observe
the approaches to the positions of the attacking troops, in order to
immediately repel every enemy counterattack. If the
attack succeeded, the batteries set for the pursuit should accompany the
troops by echelon and try to prevent the retreat of the enemy with their
fire, crushing the batteries that were attempting to leave the battlefield,
without forgetting the infantry. In order to pursuit a repelled enemy,
artillery should take advantage of its mobility and of the power of its fire
at great ranges. If
the attack failed, all batteries should fire at the enemy infantry; only
those, which were not able to perform
this task, could direct its fire against the enemy
artillery. The duty of the artillery was to hold its position as long as
possible, even at the cost of losing its materiel. Artillery should retreat
by echelon: the retreat of last echelon was covered by the fire of some
infantry units, which in turn retreated, screened by the ground and by the
fire coming from some supporting points. In case of a strong enemy attack,
the batteries following immediately the front infantry units should unlimber
where they were to deploy in fighting position. Fire at different targets.
The Instructions listed the different
targets that might meet with on the battlefield, explaining how to attack
them : – Field fortifications. The most
effective fire was enfilade. Earthworks could not be demolished by field
artillery, therefore the fire directed against them was intended only for the
defenders who were sheltered by them, using sweeping fire to cut down the
crest of the parapet. The fire should be directed not only on the
fortification itself, but also on the ground behind and on its flank, to hit
the support troops. Troops behind a parapet could be easily reached by the
splinters of H.E. shells. If they were protected by armoured shelters, the
shelters should be shelled by the torpedo shells of the field howitzers and,
as soon as they were destroyed, the garrison should be attacked with time
shrapnel. – Gorges. Against open gorges,
artillery should be deployed on the two sides of the battlefield, to support
the troops with a powerful fire from the beginning to the end of the attack.
If the gorges were under cover, artillery should be able to fire lengthwise
to destroy the enemy placed in front of the entrance, and some batteries
might follow the attacking troops to open a rapid fire on the enemy as soon
as they had traversed the gorge. – Woods. The edges and the areas near the
roads crossing the wood should be attacked with time-fire to the way to the
attacking infantry. The interior of the wood should be shelled in deep with
percussion fire to disperse and possibly drive out the troops hidden there. – Houses, farms and villages.
At first artillery should set them on fire, and then direct the fire at their
outer edges to dislodge the troops assembled therein. To seize them, the
whole surface should be shelled, destroying also their walls, if necessary. Defensive combat. In defence,
the best position should be assigned to the artillery. The greatest care
should be used in covering
and masking its position and in preparing the firing data before the
beginning of the combat. The main task of the artillery was the destruction
of the enemy artillery, if possible already during its deployment. During the enemy attack, artillery should concentrate its fire against
the most important sectors of the front to crush the attack. As
soon as the enemy was beaten off, the defender should immediately counter
attack, since the Instructions
stressed that only an offensive action could assure a decisive victory. To
not allow the enemy to halt, the artillery should shell the enemy reserves
and the units not yet disrupted, seeking to obtain his complete defeat. |