OCR Text |
Show GOOD ROADS NEEDED EDfl JEM DDIS By Captain Arthur P. S. Hyde, U. S. A. One of the most important lessons learned from the present war in Europe is the effectiveness of heavy mobile artillery. ar-tillery. The world was astounded and at first incredulous over the reports of the German forty-two-oentimeter gun. a gam one-half inch greater in caliber than the great sixteen-inch gun at Panama, which is . the largest coast, defense weapon we have yet built. These forty-two-centimeter guns were transported with apparent ease from place to place and used with tremendous effeet against the land forts on the French frontier. Other guns of great caliber that are be ing used on the field in Kurope include the eleven-inch howitzer, which resembles resem-bles very much in both its appearance and method of mounting our own twelve-inch seaeoast mortar, and like the latter is used for high-auglc fire, j The use of these very heavy weapons i is made possible by the splendid high-j high-j way systems of continental Europe. I In the Dardanelles campaign it was j discovered that the Turks, doubtless un- dor the instruction and guidance of German coast artillery and engineer officers, of-ficers, were introducing; a new system of emplaeing coast defense guns. The British would attack a certain batterv and apparently silence it. The next day those same guns would open fire upon them from an entirely different place. In other word?, coast defense grins, instead of being permanently em-placed, em-placed, as has been the rule in the past, were being transported from pia.-e to place and tired from concealment from the most unexpected locations. I am not prepared to say that the day of the fixed coast defense guns of our present system is past, but it is the undoubted sentiment, among coast artillery ar-tillery . off icers in our service that we must at least supplement our permanent ones with some suitable type of heavy mobile artillery. Whether these guns should be mounted on flat cars to be transported on a railroad, or by motor trt:cks on the highways is an open question. ques-tion. The latter method would undoubtedly undoubt-edly afford a greater degree of mobility, mobil-ity, but in tlie present condition of our highway systems it is almost impossible impossi-ble of attainment. One of the most important phases of real military preparedness that can possibly pos-sibly be undertaken is that which is going go-ing on under the impetus of the good roads movement now become so general . all over the country. A good road, well-built-, wrl surfaced and well drained, may be of immense value from a military mili-tary point of view. In the location r roads, particularly along the shore, special spe-cial attention to military requirements in the laying out and 'planning of a highway may prove of inestimable value at some time in the future when that highway becomes a military road. Jn the last analysis a highway system is not an adjunct to military' operations, but is vital to them. |