The employment of quick-firing field
artillery in combat
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Fire direction. The head
of Detachment indicates in general terms the tactics of the combat, directes the fire and chooses the targets to be shelled, according with the directives received by the
head of the artillery. He chooses the targets, controls the fire, and gives
to the battery commanders information about the main
features and the distance of the targets. He also orders to shift the fire at
a different target. However, since the chance of target requires a new
adjustment, it must be carried out only after the
fire had achieved all its purposes, unless a new important target appears or rise
a menace for the artillery or the tactical situation as a whole. The battery commander can
change the target only if an unexpected attack or a combat nearby threatens
his troops, if the communications with the head of the Detachment are cut or a particular area is assigned to his action. The head of the
artillery can control the fire, verifying whether 1) the order are
understood, 2) the way of the fire is correct, 3) the results fit the
requests of the head of the Detachment. At that purpose, he can employ,
besides his orderlies, also other officers, and sent some scouts to places
from which the target can be observed. The head of the
artillery division can be informed about the effect
of the fire of his batteries, sending lateral observers with the necessary
orderlies. As a rule, the fire stops
as soon as the objective is reached, and is resumed
only if new results must be obtained. When the guns are not firing, the
servants take cover. The division artillery commander can intervene in the
adjustment only if the way of the fire is manifestly incorrect or there are
mistakes in the conduct of the adjustment. The fire must concentrated and
unexpected by the enemy. The batteries require to destroy a specific target must
be chosen accordingly with the width of the front, in order to keep a
sufficient number of batteries to fire at the enemy batteries that may appear
subsequently. Converging fire at the
point of the main attack must impede the enemy to hold the position and the
reserve to approach. At that purpose, the fire must be
directed in depth to shell all the troops deployed in the position, in
the flanks and in the rear, but avoiding to scatter the fire along the whole
frontline. In order to open fire simultaneously all the batteries chosen to
converge their fire must be put under only one
commander. The head of the
artillery division gives orders to the battery commanders, indicating their
targets and the firing data according with directions received by the head of
the artillery. The battery commander modifies the firing data according with
its target and the position of its battery and switch the fire accordingly. The direction of fire must
match every kind of situations, in particular : 1)
if the enemy artillery suspends its fire, the
batteries receive a wider front to shell employing slow fire, and moving
suddenly to a rapid fire only where the enemy shows some activity; 2)
if an important target must be destroy, it is
advisable to beat it with sweeping fire, without interrupting to shell the
rest of the front; 3)
if the target is small, every batteries narrows its
fire to not disturb the fire of the remaining batteries; 4)
even
if only one or two guns are able to reach the objective, the battery unity must
never be broken and all the guns must ever remain under the command of the
battery commander: the artillery platoons can have different heads only
exceptionally and temporarily. As a rule, artillery fires above the heads of the
troops, at an height sufficient to not trouble them: when troops are closest than
500 m, the batteries must not fire above their heads, when they are less than
300 m from the enemy line, the batteries must fire over their heads only to
cover them or to switch the fire to the rear. Reconnaissance
of the targets. The head of
the artillery is informed about the strength and the
deployment of the enemy by an officer, designed scout of the targets (разузнавач
на цельта),
supported by 1-2 ground-scouts (разузнавачи
на местностьта) and 1-2 orderlies. The duties of the
scout of the targets are : 1)
to reconnoitre the strength and the deployment of
the enemy artillery; 2)
to reconnoitre the main features of the ground of
enemy positions, the area behind and in front of them; 3)
to follow the movements of the enemy artillery
during the battle; 4)
to observe the effect of his artillery on the enemy, 5)
to
observe in general the battlefield near the position of his troops and around
the target. The
scout of the target is dispatched when the troops
enter in the sphere of influence the enemy and a combat is regarded as
probable. He moves with the vanguard of the cavalry column, and when it gets
in contact with enemy artillery, he tries to recognize its strength even
during the march. Then he advances as much as possible and occupies a good
observation post, sending quickly detailed reports to the head of the
artillery. After
the beginning of the combat, he plays the role of observer of the battlefield
(наблюдател
на бойното
поле), choosing an
observatory from which he can watch both the enemy and the batteries. He
informs the head of the artillery about the effect of the fire, the changes
of the targets, the units not yet shocked, the position of the concealed
enemy batteries, the hidden approach of enemy units, and so on. Observation
of the battlefield. The heads of
every artillery unit establishes an observation post to be
constantly informed about the progress of the combat and the changes
of the tactical situation. The observation of the battlefield
is directed : 1)
to assure the close defence of the batteries; 2)
to facilitate the rapid support of the artillery to
the other units of the Army; 3)
to
fulfil a rapid and effective fire at every targets that appear in a specific
area. Besides
the cover assured by the other troops, the artillery must provide for its
security with its own means, employing its scouts mainly to watch its flanks:
every flank battery, without any specific order, is responsible for the
reconnaissance of the flank. Cooperation
with the cavalry. Even if at
that time the Bulgarian Army had no horse artillery, the Instructions, following the French Règlement de manoeuvre, explained how the artillery must act during the
cavalry combat. During the reconnaissance, the
artillery is attached mainly to the cavalry advance guard, in order to open
her the way. In gorges, the artillery covers the exit and dominates the
ground at great distance. The head of the artillery division left the head of
the cavalry only when he must enter in action, after having received the
necessary orders and directives. The firing position must neither disturb the
movements of the cavalry nor be masked by the cavalry herself: if possible it
must be away from the roads. During
the combat, the primary target of the artillery is the enemy cavalry, and
only secondary the artillery. As a rule, the artillery shells at first the
head of the columns, then the front of the mass of the cavalry to prevent her
deployment, and the enemy lines in open formation, as soon as they enters in
the firing area of the batteries. When
the melee begins, the artillery shifts its fire at the rear of the enemy to
prevent the arrival of the reserves: – if
the cavalry begins to retreat, the artillery employed its power to stop the
pursuit of the enemy; – if the enemy begins to retreat,
it stops its fire and advanced at full speed, to support the pursuit with its
fire. In
general, the head of the artillery must show great spirit of initiative and independence.
Changing targets or positions, he must constantly operate without having
received specific orders, according with the situation. Since
the artillery is constantly exposed to the surprise
attack of the enemy cavalry, it must never be without cover. If attacked, the
batteries continues their fire until the very last moment. The
horse artillery can play a basic role even out of the combat, since it
operates rapidly and without engaging the different enemy columns. Therefore,
it must occupy positions easy to quit in order to move
rapidly to another place, as soon as it reaches its objective. The artillery
division attached the cavalry units during the battle, remains always with
them, operating usually at the flank or in the rear of the enemy. |