400 
FIELD ARTILLERY FIRE. 
Fire Effect. —This, in conjunction with mobility, is naturally the most 
important factor to consider, and the soldier would gladly set the 
question of expense on one side altogether. 
It is found, as a matter of practical experience in action, that with a 
4-gun battery there are pauses in the fire after every four rounds, that 
is that the battery cannot keep up the regular and continuous fire so 
sought after in the field. Irregular fire leads to hurry and confusion, 
and thus a 4-gun battery lacks an essential quality that a battery 
should have, viz., good fire effect. 
With an 8-gun battery it is generally found that there are two guns 
loaded and waiting for their turn to fire, consequently wasting time. 
With a 6-gun battery, which presents the just mean, there are no 
pauses, and every gun is doing its full work without hurry and without 
waste of time. 
Moreover, a 6-gun battery can range itself in just the same time as 
an 8-gun battery, because the guns cannot be fired quicker than the 
rounds can be observed and corrections made, consequently a 6-gun 
battery is at no disadvantage in this respect. 
An Austrian writer has lately been animadverting against their 
8-gun organisations, says he, te If three six-gun batteries engage three 
8-gun batteries they will range in equal times, and it is found prac¬ 
tically that 8-gun batteries fire no greater number of rounds per 
minute than do 6-gun batteries, therefore the 18 guns can engage the 
24 upon equal terms. Now, if 24 guns in 6-gun organisations engage 
24 guns in 8-gun organisations the former are practically six guns to 
the good and should, by the concentration of fire of two batteries upon 
one, rapidly gain the upper hand.” He, therefore, strongly recom¬ 
mends the adoption of the 6-gun organisation. 
With respect to the rate of fire from 8-gun batteries it is worthy of 
notice that the Russian batteries fire very slowly ; their “ very rapid ” 
fire being only at the rate of three rounds per minute. 
Amount of Ammunition Carried with the Battery. 
It will be observed that we are much behind other Powers in this 
respect. This is accounted for by their having 8, 9, 12 and, in the 
case of the Russian heavy field batteries, 16 ammunition wagons per 
battery. 
It should be remembered that the totals of the Austrian and Russian 
field batteries must be divided by 8, in order to show the common base 
of comparison, the number of rounds per gun. 
Draught. 
All nations, except ourselves, employ pole-draught for both guns 
and wagons. 
Ammunition. 
The main points of difference between foreign ammunition and our 
own have been touched on in preceding chapters. 
