Directive for the artillery
reconnaissance
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Since
the main sources of the Bulgarian Instructions
for the employment of the field quick-firing artillery in combat (i.e.
the French and Russian instructions) paid little attention to the artillery
reconnaissance, the Artillery Inspection issued a special Упътване
за артилерийското
разузнаване
(Directive for the artillery
reconnaissance), which examined in deep the question, adding some minor
changes. Reconnaissance. The
tasks of the reconnaissance were: 1. to provide
information about the enemy; 2. to secure information which would favour the
movement and deployment of the guns; 3. to provide for the security of the
artillery when such the security was not provided for by the other arms.
Every battery had three scouts (разузнавачи)
and two observers (наблюдатели),
all being NCOs. In addition every artillery officer and as many people as
possible should be trained to perform the duties of scouts, and all the
officers, warrant officers (feuerwerker) and non commissioned officers of the battery should be
trained as observers of the target. Remote reconnaissance (reconnaissance of the targets). The
aim of the remote artillery reconnaissance (далечно
артилерийското
разузнаване)
was to inform promptly the head of the artillery about the strength and the
position of the enemy at the beginning of the combat. For this purpose, the
scouts determined the strength and the attitude of the enemy artillery,
examined its position, the ground in front and behind it and its approaches,
and followed out the changes in these dispositions that occurred from time to
time during the progress of the action. At the beginning of the military operations,
the battery dispatched its three scouts, the artillery division the battery
scouts under the command of the division scout officer, and larger units like
regiments, the division scouts under the command of the senior scout officer. According
with the 1905 Instructions, they were dispatched when the troops entered in the sphere of
influence the enemy and a combat was regarded as probable. They moved with
the cavalry of the advanced guard, but when the enemy was located, they left
the road and occupied a good observation post, moving covertly. The Directives added, that, in order to
more successfully and timely perform their tasks,
they might go out with main body of the remote surveillance, or even before
it, slinking in front of the enemy mounted patrols and reconnoitring even
behind them. The
remote artillery reconnaissance should dispatch patrols for its own security,
and move away from the main direction of travel, keeping connections with the
head of the cavalry, since he might give information about the enemy.
Accurate reports should be made not only the enemy was in position, but also
when he was moving. After the determination of the enemy’s location,
the scouts should as soon as possible submit to the artillery commander an
accurate report giving every information which could interest him (strength
of the artillery, state of the position, emplacements of the batteries,
nature of the ground, deployment of the troops, location of observatories,
entrenchments, dummy batteries etc.). If possible, without prejudice of the
rapidity, panoramic sketches, that were very useful to understand the
situation, since they gave information that the map of the commander did not
contain, should accompany the report. After the beginning of the combat, the remote reconnaissance turned into the
observation of the battlefield. The observers observed the effect of the fire
on the enemy and the attitude of the enemy both in the immediate vicinity of
their own artillery and near the target. For this purpose
they choose a suitable observation post, from which they could watch at the
same time the targets and the batteries. Close reconnaissance (orientation). The aim of the close
artillery reconnaissance (близко
артилерийското
разузнаване)
was to collect the most detailed information about the ground features of the
battlefield and to perform some technical works to help the lower artillery
heads in occupying the position and opening fire. For this purpose, the
orienting patrols looked out appropriate positions for the artillery and
assisted the head of the artillery in the choice and exploration of the emplacements. These
duties were carried out by the orienting officer (офицер-ориентьор)
taken from the battery, one orderly and one scout, equipped with
rangefinder and battery telescope. When the troops come into direct contact with the enemy
(less than a stage) or the remote artillery reconnaissance had located the
enemy, they moved with the advanced
guard, informing the head of
the artillery of the situation and exploring every possible positions for
deploying the artillery in the area he had chosen. When they noticed that the enemy
was leaving his position, they leave their observation post and choose
another one. They
should secure information as detailed as possible about 1) the location of
the enemy, the emplacements of its artillery and the positions of the units
deployed nearby; 2) the location and disposition of their own troops; 3) the
terrain in the neighbourhood of the position chosen for the artillery and the
best methods of approaching it. In addition, they should obtain firing data,
prepare perspectival sketches, and tabulate data to assist the head of the
artillery in directing and conducting direct and indirect fire. The head of the artillery
dispatched the orienting officer every time the remote artillery
reconnaissance reported that the enemy had occupied or was occupying a
position, and when he was informed by the head of
the Detachment about the task of the artillery and was ready to take a
decision. Therefore, to avoid wasting time, he should have close to himself
the orienting-officer. Before sending the orienting
officer, the head of the artillery gave him: 1)
essential information
about the enemy; 2)
indications on the map
about the direction or the position where the main force of the enemy
artillery was deployed or was supposed to be deployed; 3)
notes about the area
where he assumed that his artillery would come into position; 4)
his assumptions about
the forthcoming course of the action of the artillery; 5)
directions about how
much time he had at its disposal; 6)
information about the actual position of the remote artillery
reconnaissance. Direct reconnaissance
and surveillance.
The direct reconnaissance (непосредственно
разузнаване)
included the roads reconnaissance, the fast reconnaissance and the marking of
a specific route, the reconnaissance of
the approaches and of the ways of retreat, the protection of the flanks. Usually
the heads of the ammunition wagons of the fighting unit and the battery
reserve or the supernumerary scouts attached to the staff were
designated as scouts of the roads (разузнавачи
на пътя).
They preceded the advanced guard of the artillery of Tracing
enabled to follow a direction without problems, when the movement was not
everywhere possible and orienteering was hard. The head of the artillery
designated the route-markers (жалоньори)
upon the command of a non-commissioned officer
and ordered the route to be traced. The marker indicated the correct route,
acting as guide if necessary over terrain where the route was difficult to
follow. As
a rule, field artillery, in movement and in
position, was guarded by the troops of the other arms; but
when this protection was lacking, the head of the artillery should post
scouts in the front or on the flank.
In combat, the scouts of the roads should guard the flanks of the artillery
unit. When the artillery in column of route had to pass the infantry that was
going before, the scouts moved forward and advised the infantry commanders to
give way. |