ARMY TRANSPORTATION. The European War has made a radical change in the systems of army transportation. Both strategy and tactics have been affected by motor transport. The strategical mobility of troops has been increased, and they have been rendered less dependent upon lines of communi cation. The increased size of armies engaging in warfare make necessary the more rapid con centration of superior forces. While armies are being mobilized, concentrated and engaged in warfare, they must be fed, clothed and fur nished with ammunition. The development of railroads has had a decided effect toward mak ing possible the rapid mobilization and con centration of armies; but, as the locomotive is tied to the rails, it necessarily follows that it cannot always move immediately with the army. So exorbitant is the demand on the sources of supply for draft animals in any modern war that the question of mechanical transportation has become one of great mili tary interest, and no military man will deny the fact that the army which can mobilize and concentrate most quickly, and can most rapidly advance after concentration, will have a de cided advantage over its opponent.
It is also true that the expense of carrying on a modem war is so great that no nation can neglect to take advantage of every means that will have a tendency to shorten the war and bring about a decisive conclusion. Troops must be fed and it is hardly possible that in any theatre of war in the future sufficient subsist ence for hundreds of thousands of troops can be secured by means of forced contributions. Especially will this be true of the advancing army which will have to traverse the territory over which the retiring army has already passed, and which it has already devastated. The immense amount of ammunition expended in modern battles makes its supply more im portant and difficult. The use of heavy artillery is absolutely necessary, and the transportation of this class of artillery and the ammunition for it adds another difficulty and materially in creases the demands on the transportation of an army. The extensive frontage of 50 to 100 miles occupied by large modern armies in the field makes more difficult the dis tribution of supplies to the smaller units. These and other considerations make it more impera tive that no practical means be neglected whereby an army may more quickly and efficiently supply its parts and reduce the neces sity for draft animals.
With the development of firearms has come an increase in the distance that must be ob served between the parts or elements of a column on the march. With the increased size of armies has also come the necessity for the utilization of more roads in an advance or re treat, as the principle still holds that only about 30,000 men may use the same road on the same day for the purposes of a march; and thus is increased the frontage of an army on the march. This has brought about the necessity for a more effective means of communication between the parts of a column and between the different columns. As the commander of an army will often be separated from some parts of his army by a distance of 40 or 50 miles, his personal observation of the conditions existing at the front are absolutely prevented unless he employs some more effective means of travel than that furnished by the horse. The signal troops, with telephone and telegraph, have sup plied the means of communicating; but even these sometimes fail, and, at most, they do not furnish to the commander of the army that detailed information and that understanding of the situation which he can get from a personal observation.
Animal Transportation.— Motor vehicles deteriorate rapidly under the service demanded in war and are very vulnerable to missiles. Beyond their limited sphere of utility, other facilities for transportation must be provided. On good roads and for long drives, the motor truck is very satisfactory. On bad roads and for short hauls, horse power is more econom ical and much more satisfactory. The latter must, therefore, still supply the principal means of transportation over muddy roads and ploughed fields, across streams and ditches and up steep slopes. Experiments conducted at the University of Wisconsin have indicated that, due to the intelligence with which the horse applies his motive force, and to the flexile qual ities of the latter, the efficiency of the horse as a traction agent is much higher than the horse vowel- developed would alone indicate.