The employment of the field artillery in
combat
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Artillery in offensive
combat. The defensive combat can be of two different kinds : the encounter
battle or the deliberate attack on a position previously occupied by the
enemy. The encounter battle (срещния бой) is in many ways unexpected and
develops rapidly because both sides try to anticipate the opponent’s moves,
take the initiative in their hands and impose their will. Therefore, it
requires maximum energy in actions, ability to understand the situations that
arise, correct evaluations and quick decisions. Instead, by taking a position
in an expected battle (преднамеренная
бой), the enemy reveals much of
his intentions and forces. Therefore, the attacker has more time to examine
the situation and to choose the direction of the main attack, and can commit
his forces with greater caution. Moreover, the commander-in-chief can have
direct control over all his forces, and the artillery head can deploy his
batteries more accurately. During
the advance, only a little part of the artillery is attached to the vanguard
to aid infantry to clear obstacles that it is unable to clear by itself, and
to support it, if it is suddenly engaged by the enemy. Therefore, he must
always be ready for action. In this case, one or two batteries can occupy
uncovered or masked position, while the rest of the vanguard artillery
remains in a covered position ready at any moment to support them. The
artillery of the main body occupies its firing position only under
instruction of the head of the artillery, acting according with the order of
the Army commander. In most cases, it comes forward earlier than the infantry
of the main force, and occupy a position under the cover of the vanguard. If
the situation does not require it or the terrain does not permit it, it may
be not deployed entirely at first, but all batteries must always approach
their positions to be able to take part in the battle as quickly as possible
and before the enemy has placed all his gun in position. Aerial reconnaissance
can provide very valuable information about enemy artillery. During
the attack, to aid the infantry advance, artillery must immediately shell all
the enemy units (infantry, machine guns, artillery) that are firing at our
troops at any given moment. In addition artillery must be ready to oppose any
counterattack and promptly destroy any material obstacle that would stop its
advance. To
effectively perform its tasks, artillery must establish close communications
with its infantry, either by men or by telephone. In
meantime the artillery combat (артилерийска
борба) takes place,
with the aim of neutralizing the enemy artillery. Such combat, carried out
essentially from covered positions, can last a long time, and end without a
winner, involving a high consumption of ammunition. To avoid being forced to
remain silent for lack of projectiles, batteries must be careful not to waste
their shells aimlessly and uselessly. In
order to complete his various tasks quickly and promptly, as they arise, the
entire artillery of the Infantry Division involved in the action, or at least
the majority of it, must be placed under the control of the head of the
divisional artillery. He must ensure that he always has batteries available
to deal with unforeseen situations and identify which batteries can shift
their fire to new targets, with the least impact on the fight. To
prepare for the attack, the artillery chief must concentrate the fire of as
many batteries as possible against the enemy sector being attacked, taking
care to supplement the frontal fire with the fire of the batteries deployed
obliquely and supporting the infantry attack until the last minute. Finally,
it must protect the flanks of the attacking troops from enemy outflanking
attempts and from oblique artillery and machine gun fire. If
at the beginning of the battle, due to local conditions, the artillery is
forced to place itself far from the enemy, during the combat, all or part of
it must move closer to better see the targets and the signals given by the
infantry, to better distinguish its own troops and to destroy sooner and more
easily the objects covering the enemy. If the enemy’s artillery is not yet
weakened, this movement must be done successively with small units under the
cover of heavy artillery fire, or even better by night. When
the bayonet charge begins, the artillery transfer the fire 200- Often
the first attack may fail and the attacking infantry is forced to retreat a
bit to regroup and strike again. In this case the artillery immediately
shortens its fire and increases it to the maximum along the enemy front line,
to hit any enemy unit (infantry, cavalry or artillery) that tries to pursue our
infantry with movement or fire. Artillery in defensive combat. The tactics of the defensive
combat was greatly updated and developed, tacking account also of the defeats
suffered during the Interallied war.. The
defensive battle is undertaken with the aim – by means of firepower,
augmented by a stronger natural position and a strengthened artificial
position, and suffering fewer casualties – of defeating the advancing enemy
and thus facilitating not only the repulsion of his blow, but also his final
defeat by a sudden and vigorous attack. In
today's long battle lines it often happens that in the same battle part of
the troops is on the defensive, while the troops in the adjacent sector
advance. In such cases, taking advantage of the long range of the artillery,
the artillery commander, after having repelled the enemy attack, can direct
the fire of part of his batteries to support the advance in the adjacent
sector or employ part of the batteries of the offensive sector to repel enemy
attacks. If
a defensive battle takes place from a previously occupied and fortified
position all batteries will promptly occupy the most convenient positions to
face the attacker. Instead,
if it takes place following the suspension of the offensive, the first
batteries, trying to occupy any position, open fire on the front of the
attacker to allow the other batteries to hastily take up the position that are
in front of them, and open fire also. Only subsequently, the artillery will
occupy the most convenient places and entrench itself. Since
the key of the defence is the position of the artillery, it must choose its
positions before infantry. In defensive combat, artillery occupies mainly
covered positions and must be carefully entrenched and masked. It is divided into groups of divisions, spread in depth along
the front, in such a way that fire aimed at one division cannot inflict
damage on another. To deceive aerial observers, false piles of bushes with
the appearance of guns must be placed, so that they
cannot determine the number and exact position of the batteries. If possible,
the batteries can also prepare reserve trenches, where they can move in case
an enemy fires on their first position. The
bulk of the artillery, under the direction of a high-ranked artillery
officer, is placed in the principal sector of the
defensive position against the most important avenues of approach. A small
contingent of artillery (a battery, a platoon or even a single gun) is
detached to fire at approaches that cannot be hit
from the main position. The
main task of the artillery is to crush the enemy offensive, acting in concert
with its infantry. Artillery must concentrate its fire against the targets
that time by time prove to be most dangerous and support more effectively the
attack, but it should avoid to fire at great ranges, unless the target was
wide and deep. When
the enemy is still at a great distance, the defender’s artillery must limit
itself to slowing down its advance with the fire of a small number of
batteries, placed in such a position as to bombard the distant approach
areas. The bulk of the artillery, placed in well-sheltered positions, is kept ready to engage the enemy artillery as soon as it
comes to aid its own infantry. When the enemy comes within the range of the
defenders’ infantry and machine gun fire, the batteries are
moved to positions from which they can shell the ground ahead and help
repel the enemy. In
close combat, the dead space in front of the covered batteries must be hit from the frontal and lateral fire of our
infantry and our machine guns, from the curved trajectories of our mountain
guns and howitzers and from a battery or some guns positioned on the side.
The latter must be well camouflaged, provided with
sufficient ammunition and not open fire until the attacking infantry is
engaged with frontal fire. If
the enemy attack is not stopped in any way, the
artillery withdraws under the cover of machine guns, infantry fire and
bayonet assaults. The artillery retreats by echelons, withdrawing at first the
batteries placed forward, screened by the rearward batteries or by the fire
of the nearby sectors. The retreating first batteries occupy the first
possible position to cover the retreat of the other units and to support counterattacks,
if they are undertaken. Under no circumstances, the infantry must retreat
behind the artillery, leaving it in the hands of the enemy. Usually
at the beginning of the retreat, the senior commander of the troops and the
commander of the artillery meet near the main body of artillery, and take all
the measures for its withdrawal. Small artillery units, detached from the
main artillery mass, retreat together with nearby infantry without waiting
for an order. In
some cases, the artillery must keep its position, continuing to fight to the
end without being able to withdraw its guns. Only the head of the troops with
an express order can fix this exceptional instance. In such circumstances,
the loss of the guns is not regarded as dishonour or
a crime. Finally when
night fighting is expected, the batteries that may be engaged in them do not
move from their positions after sunset, because in the darkness they cannot
aim. Command.
The commander of the larger artillery unit attached to a main body of troops,
such as an Army or a Detachment, is the head of the whole artillery assigned,
permanently or even temporarily, to it, independently of the kind of
artillery (field, mountain, howitzers and so on). Therefore, the commander of
the artillery brigade is the head of artillery of an entire Infantry
Division, while every Army has a special head of the artillery. In smaller
temporary detachments the head of the artillery is
the commander of the artillery regiment or artillery division. The
Army commander can take some of the batteries and form with them a large mass
of artillery, put under the direction of his head of the artillery, in order
to achieve the common goal of the Army. However, it is not necessary that all
the massed batteries are in the same place, it is enough that the Army
commander fixes which units must be put under the
direction of the head of the artillery. The
head of the artillery is regarded as guilty of a wrong allocation or an
incorrect direction of the artillery along with the commander of the troops,
if he has not reported his motivated opinion on the question in good time.
After having been fully informed about the plans of the commander of the
troops and having received his orders and instructions, the head of the
artillery leaves the headquarters and takes up the direction of the
artillery. During the battle, he must not leave his observatory and the
artillery position, staying constantly in contact with the commander of the
troops by telephone or through orderlies. Liaisons. The purpose of communications in
general is : to enable the senior commander to
influence the combat activity of the artillery by giving and sending
appropriate orders and instructions, and at the same time to be informed
about the progress of the battle, receiving the necessary reports in a timely
manner. The
communication between the commanders
is provided by means of all the available technical devices (telephone,
telegraph, heliograph, airplanes, flaying post), while between the lesser
artillery units even by means of flags (by day) or lamps (at night), through
written messages sent by the commander or even verbally. As
a rule the liaison was established : – in
general, from the lower-ranking to higher-ranking commanders, – between
different branches of the army, from the artillery to the infantry; – between
nearby artillery units, from right to left; – between different
artillery echelons, from back to front. To keep in constant contact with the superiors, these orderlies are
sent: – one
NCO from each battery or park platoon – to his artillery division commander; – one
NCO from each artillery division commander – to the artillery regiment
commander; – one
officer or NCO from each artillery regiment commander – to the artillery
brigade commander; – one officer or NCO with an
orderly from the commander of the artillery – to the Army commander. Communication via orderlies is very dangerous within the area affected
by enemy fire. Therefore, important information, orders and reports must be
presented in writing, and sometimes, for security, they are sent with two
orderly sent by different routes. The transmission of very important orders
is entrusted, if possible, to an officer. The most convenient means of communication is telephone, but it
requires well-trained telephone operators. For safety reasons it is necessary
to guarantee the connection via multiple types of connections simultaneously. To
establish communications with the
infantry, the artillery units sent to the infantry commander a liaison
officer or a NCO with some orderlies, equipped with telephones and
perspective sketches of the countryside prepared by the artillery units. In
order not to suffer losses from its own artillery, infantry should warn this
danger with a sign fixed in advance (flag, rocket, firecracker or bonfire) or
in another way. Regardless
of the material connection, each artillery commander is required to organize
continuous observation of the battlefield (with binoculars, telescope, etc.),
so as to be able, if necessary, to act on his own initiative depending on the
situation, even when other types of connections do not work. |