ARTILLERY FROM AN INFANTRY OFFICER’S POINT OF VIEW. 263 
half at stations like this (Woolwich) where the limited extent of 
Government ground available makes its careful study impossible. 
The above remarks apply equally to all branches of the service avd 
certainly not more to artillery than to the other arms, but as artillery 
is the subject which we have in hand this afternoon, perhaps I may be 
permitted to describe the way in which German artillery come into 
action, for I have had opportunities of studying the German army, 
which have been enjoyed by few foreign officers. 
The commander of a unit, whether a brigade, battalion, battery or 
. company, is always blamed if he sticks too close to his unit when 
approaching the enemy, he should, according to their ideas, ride away 
well in front, study the ground and watch how, where and when he 
can most affectively and with least loss lead his command into action. 
In accordance with this rule the artillery commander is well away in 
front and, having chosen a position, orders his batteries to be brought 
up. If the position be a hill the guns are unlimbered 20 yards behind 
the crest and are brought up as much further as necessary by means 
of drag-ropes. I have often watched a position on which I knew it 
was the intention to bring up the artillery and have seen neither man, 
horse, nor the sign of a gun until fire was opened simultaneously from 
all the batteries. One battery is not allowed to open fire until all are 
ready, lest by drawing the whole hostile fire upon itself it should be 
crushed in detail. All that one sees of the guns in such a position is 
a flash from the muzzle, and it is extremely difficult to locate the 
position of a battery if one sees nothing but his flash. Only smokeless 
powder is used. If the ground and trajectory now admit of it (and it 
must be borne in mind that the trajectory of the German field gun is 
a good deal higher than that of our 12-pounder) the guns are now 
further withdrawn and indirect fire is entirely resorted to. I may say 
that indirect fire with clinometer elevation is rather the rule than the 
exception. Clinometer elevation most decidedly is the rule, as it is 
considered that much better practice can be made with the richt-bogen 
or spirit-level than with tangent scale elevation. The richt-bogen is 
moreover invariably used with high explosive shell, with which a great 
nicety of elevation is necessary for good results. 
Hvery gun also carries a richt-jldche or kind of a sight-rule on a 
pivot, which can be fitted to the gun ina second and which has attached 
to it an arc off which can be read the angle which the sight-rule directed 
on the auxiliary object makes with the line of fire. The following 
instance will serve well enough to illustrate the manner of procedure. 
On a certain day at last year’s manceuvres the western artillery was 
in position, when seven batteries of the eastern force galloped up and 
unlimbered behind the crest of a hill. From the guns of six out of the 
seven batteries the hostile artillery position was quite invisible, but it 
happened that it could be seen from Nos. 1 and 2 guns of No. 5 
battery. ‘hese two guns were laid direct on the hostile batteries, and 
after they had been laid the richt-jldéche was directed on a church steeple 
about a mile off and the reading passed to the other guns. When the 
guns had once got the direction in this manner, the point of a sword 
