f the defending artillery
be equal in strength to that of the attackers, then the attacking
artillery will be wiped out. If it be not equal in strength, then both
may be wiped out. The losses will be so great that the artillery of both
armies will be paralysed, or it might be that the artillery would
inflict such heavy losses on the troops that the war would become
impossible. Owing to smokeless powder, batteries of artillery are more
exposed to the fire both of the enemy's artillery and of sharpshooters.
A hundred sharpshooters at a distance of half a mile can, it is
estimated, put a battery out of action in less than two minutes and a
half. Let it be added that the high explosives used by modern artillery
are extremely liable to explode, owing to being struck by the enemy, or
owing to concussion caused by an enemy's shell, or to mishandling.

For these reasons, the prospect before an artillery battery entering
into a modern European battle is a prospect of demolition.

The European infantry of the future will be composed largely of
imperfectly trained short-service soldiers and of reserves who have
forgotten their training. Infantry soldiers are liable to be killed by
bullets from enemies whom they cannot see, whose rifles, owing to the
distance, they may not even be able to hear. Their officers will be
picked off in great numbers by sharpshooters, and they will be left
without leaders. It is calculated that an average army is composed
one-third of brave men, one-third of cowards, and one-third of men who
will be brave if properly led. The loss of the officers must tend to
cause this latter section to join the cowards.

Furthermore, the enormous area of modern battlefields involves great
demands upon the endurance of the foot soldiers, and troops mainly drawn
from industrial centres can hardly be expected to meet such demands.

Unless the attacking artillery is overwhelmingly stronger than the
defending artillery, defensive infantry in an entrenched position cannot
be ousted from its position unless the attackers outnumber their
opponents by six or seven to one, and are prepared to lose heavily. The
murderous zone of a thousand yards lying between the armies cannot be
crossed save at fearful sacrifice, and the bayonet as a weapon of attack
is now altogether obsolete.

Can any commander be found who will possess the extraordinary qualities
needed for the control of a modern European army--a whole people
possessed