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Show INFANTRY STILL KING OF BATTLE Ma Cannot Be Replaced by In-' struments, Say Experts. USE OF AIRPLANE IS UPHELD lut It Cannot Replace Cavalry In All Forms ef Rcconnoltiance, Military Men Assert War Department Sends Questionnaires to Chiefs of Combat Branches Devised to Bring Out the Beit Military Thought Regarding Progress In Military Tactic. The War department has under way an exhaustive study of the Influence that modern scientific developments will have upon the technique of wnr-fure, wnr-fure, especially with recurd to aviation, avia-tion, motor transportation and tanks. The Army Itccrultlnc News ln a recent lsue states that while tho fundnmen-'.al fundnmen-'.al principles of war, such as the necessity ne-cessity for co-operation and the ad-vuntnge ad-vuntnge of surprise, will alwnys re-niuln re-niuln unchanged, their proper application, appli-cation, which constitutes tho true measure of military nrt, vnrlcs constantly con-stantly with many factors, not least , uf which Is the advent of now oruia-tnrat. J.r order to obtain a baisls for nr-rlvlnt: nr-rlvlnt: at such uniform doctrine nnd understanding, the War department hns s-nt to the chiefs of comhnt, brant ties nnd to certatn others a questionnaire ques-tionnaire devised to brln out the best lllta7 thoufht regarding both buslc o. icstliJis und questions related to the sieclfl: clmnges brought about by tho advent of new developments, as aviation. avia-tion. Unks and motor transportation. "It vas known,- says the News, "that the latter class of questions would trlng out many divergent views, and suih was the case. i Concisions Reached. ' "It Is portable ot this time to announce an-nounce tho conclusions of tho War department de-partment : the basic questions, ns to which there was substantially unanimous unani-mous ugreement. It is concluded, and doctrine of tactics and of training will be based according v? "1. That niun remains the fundaments funda-ments Instrument In battle, and us such cunot be reolaced by any Imag inable 'Instrument,' short of one mofe perfect than the human body, Including Includ-ing the mind. j "2. That man l the bulk meaning the greater portion of armed forces, fichu with greatest freedom of action and with greatest efficiency when on' foot, not on horseback. In a tank, ln) an airplane, In a fixed fortification,' etc.; that to achieve decisive action he Is best armed with the rifle and bayonet; bayo-net; that man Is rendered least vul-, nerable when merely clothed against the weather and armored by his own agility, with steel helmet. "3. That battle Is normally determined deter-mined by physical encounter with the bayonet, or the fear thereof; all other agencies of destruction, ns artillery, machine guns and aircraft, are auxiliary auxil-iary In their offect, however potent, and serve to make possible tho advance ad-vance of the foot soldier to hand-to-hand encounter. "4. That infantry Is the basic com-' batnat arm upon whose success normally nor-mally depends the success of tho army; the primary duty of other arms, lien associated with Infantry, la to nsslst the Infantry to achieve Its mis-slon mis-slon by protecting and aiding It In every way, and by destroying enemy resistance to Its efforts. "fi. That no arm except lufantry can be expected under normal conditions to destroy an approximately equal force of enemy Infantry armed with rifle and bnyonet. . "0. That, while Infantry Is normally the basic arm In war, under certain conditions or during certain phases cavalry may replace It as the basic" nrm, for example ln operation against mounted forces, or against foot troops whose efficiency Is below normal for any reason. Cannot Replace Soldier. I -Due to the great publicity that has been given to tho possible effect of new Instruments of warfare, coupled with the natural centering of public Interest oh means of destruction which are both new and spectacular, misconceptions miscon-ceptions are likely to arise In the mind of the public as- to the powers and limitations of various weapons and tho rms developing und serving thorn. The War department, by making public pub-lic In sumw-y form the best military thought upo.i such subjects, hopes to Insure that the heresy shall never become be-come Implanted In tlte country that uny material means can ever replace in war the Individual soldier who Is willing and able to fight, "With regard to the more debatable questions covered ln tho second part of ihe questionnaire. It will be of Interest Inter-est t0 Pt t this time that on cer tain questions wherein the putlle seems to be In doubt there fa absolute ' agreement among military minds. For example, there Is agreement that the Increasing use of airplanes carrying bombs does not tend to obviate the necewlty for the use of mobile field artillery on the battlefields. "Similarly, it Is agreed that aviation avia-tion supplements but can never entirely en-tirely replace cavalry la all forms of I rcconnolsMance, aud use of alrcrarT for I tho purpose being In general dovoted I to greater distances than It would be I possible for the cavalry to reach, and I Its efficiency for reconnolssanre being I also affected bj bad weather condl I Uoaa." I |