The employment of quick-firing field
artillery in combat
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Relationship and
duties of the different heads. Giving
orders and instructions all the heads are directed
only by the tasks that has been assigned them. The responsibility for a
correct employment of the artillery bears on the head of the main unit –
Division or Detachment – to whom the artillery is attached.
The senior head of artillery assigned to the Detachment or to the Corps is
the head of their artillery. He executes the orders and directions of the
head of the Detachment. If the Detachment is reinforced
with additional batteries, they too are subordinated to the head of the
artillery. When some artillery units enter in the composition of a contingent
fighting independently, they are tactically subordinated
to the head of that sector of the front and the senior officer of the
artillery present there take on their direction. Single batteries occupying
positions in marginal sectors of the front are subordinated
to the head of the sector or to the head of the artillery unit, if he is the
only one, who can direct its fire. In combat, the batteries
are directed by commands, orders and conventional signs, the Detachment
mainly by orders. Signal must not be used. Communications. Since the quick and
sure transmission of order and reports is basic in a modern war, the
different heads must be permanently connected by the
most modern means of communications, like telephone, telegraph, and
heliograph. However since personal communications may be cut off, they can be
connected also by orderlies. Having good communications with his
subordinates, the head of the artillery is able to influence the action of
the artillery with appropriate orders and instructions, and at the same time he is constantly informed about the progress of the
combat thanks to timely reports. At that purpose, he
mus ever inform his subordinate about his position,
avoiding as much as possible to change it. Communications are
assured by orderlies as follows: 1)
every
battery and the first echelon of the park company send a warrant officers (feuerwerker) to the head
of artillery division as soon as the march began; 2)
every
head of artillery division sends a reserve officer or a good warrant officer
(feuerwerker) to the head of the artillery of the Division or the Detachment
at the start of the march; 3)
every head of the artillery
of a Division, Corps or Detachment sends a reserve officer to his superior
head of the artillery and to the head of the Division, Corps or Detachment
when he leaves his superior. As a rule, every
orderly is charged to keep communications only with
one head; if a head temporary carries out more duties an adequate number of
orderlies must be sent to him. Usually orderlies bring orders from the higher
heads; coming back, they can be charged to deliver
him some verbal or written reports. As a rule, reports to
the higher heads are carried out by adjutants, coming back they can be
charged to bring some orders. Reconnaissance of the position.
The artillery commander and his immediate subordinates, assisted by their
reconnaissance officers and scouts, make the reconnaissance of the artillery
positions. The reconnaissance must be very detailed, especially when the
combat is at the start and the position and strength of the enemy are not known. Only during the combat, when the
accompanying batteries must debouch near the enemy and come into action
quickly to support the attacking troops, they can occupy their position
without full reconnaissance.
Approaching the enemy,
the division commanders call the battery commanders at the head of the
artillery column, waiting for the artillery commander’s order to move
forward. When the latter communicate to the division commanders the task and
the sector assigned to them, they immediately go there, divide the sector
among the batteries and check how much these are still moving, so as not to
cause any delay in their entry into action. If
due of the distance the division commander cannot go out with all or at least
some of the battery commanders of his sector, he takes advantage of the time
available to do some of the work that the battery commanders have to do. If the battery commanders
are not called to reconnoitre or if they must open
fire while moving from marching order to battle order, they must advance and
conduct the orientation as the batteries approach the position. The
reconnaissance, carried out by the different artillery commanders, follow one
another immediately, or are carried out
simultaneously. However, each of them only deals with what concerns their own
assignment. When reaching the
chosen position, each artillery head studies how the artillery will be able
to carry out the task assigned to it, acting both against visible or already
engaged enemy units, and against those that will appear subsequently. Based
on this review he establishes the initial duties of his subordinate units and
determines the exact position they will occupy. It is very important
to identify the correct direction of the front, because changing the position
of the artillery front causes the fire to stop, and for long artillery lines,
this happens with great effort and often with large losses. To
speed up and facilitate reconnaissance and to relieve artillery commanders
from some details of reconnaissance, enabling them to concentrate their
attention mainly on the tactical side of their work, the Direction introduces the charge of orienteer-officer (офицер-ориентьр).
He
is employed to speed up and facilitate
reconnaissance, and to relieve artillery commanders from some of the details
of reconnaissance, enabling them to concentrate their attention primarily on
the tactical side of their work. Each
artillery division may appoint the division adjutant or one of the battery
officers as orienteer officer. When the division operates as part of an
artillery regiment or brigade, the commander of that unit determines how many
orienteer-officers to send and establishes their duties. He is sent in the following cases: 1) when the
vanguard artillery comes into action; 2) in an encounter battle, when you
expect to meet the enemy in a certain area; 3) when the general order of a
premeditated offensive battle is received and the area of artillery action is
known, but the artillery commander at that moment is engaged in
reconnaissance with the commander of the troops; 4) when changing position
forward; 5) in retreat, when the artillery commander is required to remain
with his last battery. The
text offers also a detailed list of the main reconnaissance duties pertaining to various officers in charge of
an artillery force comprising several batteries : – the
head of the artillery : 1)
reconnoitres the front and the characteristic of the area assigned to him, 2)
gives directives about the enemy and the targets chosen by the head of the
Detachment to be shelled, 3) chooses the positions, distributing them among
the units under his command, 4) assigns the target to the batteries that must
open fire at first and the areas where the remaining batteries must operate,
5) designates the artillery division, and eventually the batteries, that must
occupy observation or awaiting positions, 6) gives to the head of the artillery
divisions detailed information about the tactical situation; – the
head of the artillery division 1)
reconnoitres the area assigned to his batteries, his primary targets, the
front and the area assigned to his unit, 2) assigns the position of every
battery, indicating, if necessary, the way to occupy them, 3) designates the
batteries that must open fire at first, distributing the targets among them,
4) designates the batteries that must
occupy observation or awaiting positions, 5) stated where the ammunition
wagons and the reserve should deploy; – the battery
commander : 1) reconnoitres his sector, setting the position of the
battery, and the place where he will stay, taking care that from there he can
observe the fire and easily control and command the battery, 2) sets how the
guns must be deployed inside the area assigned to the battery, 3)
reconnoitres his target and determines the initial firing data, 4) gives
order for the battery entered in action without delay. During
his reconnaissance, the orienteer-officer
must establish: 1) whether the position assumed corresponds to the size of
the artillery unit that will occupy it, both in front and in depth; 2)
whether there are roads or convenient access to the battery position; 3)
whether there are observation posts convenient for the division commander and
battery commanders; 4) where our troops are close and in front; 5) on all
matters for which he has received specific orders. As soon as he has
finished the work for which he was sent, the orienteer officer returns to his
battery, or to the office he previously held. As regards the choice,
occupation and change of artillery positions, the Instructions anticipate
what will later be developed in the Field service
regulations for quick-firing field artillery. |