GARRISON ARTILLERY. 
395 
ineffective, we think it would be better under these circumstances to 
employ all the guns in the attainment of object ( b ). 
The range will be best ascertained by means of common shell, and 
then shrapnel will be used until the parapet shelters the men at work. 
We would also recommend that some of the guns should always fire 
common shell, as these are better for regulating the range than any 
observation; moreover, it is very difficult to decide whether shrapnel 
or common shell is more effective at night. If, in spite of the fire, the 
batteries of the attack are so far completed as to be ready for their 
armament, and if the defenders, and the convoy with the guns, &c., 
come into the illuminated zone, then some of the guns should 
fire shell at the batteries, while the rest, and in fact any guns 
in the place which can be brought to bear upon the convoy directly or 
indirectly, should keep up a hot fire of common and shrapnel shell. So 
that although the indirect fire may produce but little effect compared 
to the numbers of shots fired, yet the whole zone through which the 
convoy passes will be kept under fire. 
If any of those positions in which the enemy’s works are suspected 
to be are not illuminated, or if the defenders possess no means of 
illumination, then it is by no means advisable to engage in the bom¬ 
bardment of the enemy’s works, for even in the best provided fortress, 
and if the exact position of the enemy’s batteries be known, there is 
always a possibility of the ammunition running short. Under these 
circumstances it appears most advisable for the defenders to redouble 
their efforts to prepare all things for an effectual opposition to the 
opening fire of the attack on the following morning. 
The Position op the G-uns op the Depence. 
While defenders are employed in the bombardment of the works of 
the attack, the arming of all that front which can take any part in the 
fight must be pushed forward with the greatest rapidity. On that 
front all the heaviest guns in the place should be mounted if possible 
in the course of that night. 
Let us now consider the arming for the regular artillery fight. 
a. The mode of placing each gun. 
b. The distribution of the guns in the place. 
. In former days the guns intended for silencing the siege batteries 
were all placed without any shelter on the rampart. Now-a-days only 
part of the guns are placed on the ramparts ; the remainder are partly 
mounted in the covered way, partly in batteries in front of and near the 
works, and partly completely under cover in the place. 
All those mounted on the main rampart are protected most carefully 
by traverses, and fire through embrasures. 
