artillery divisions close together on the battlefield and combining the fire in one direction, must not be carried to an extreme.  The artillery certainly must be employed on a large plan, and the chief in command must see that there is a concentration of effort at the decisive points; but in particular cases, and among the varying incidents of a battle, this idea will be carried out less effectively by uniformity of orders than by explaining the general scheme to the subordinate officers, and leaving to them the duty of carrying it out.  Accordingly, it is important that the personal initiative of the subordinate officer should be recognized more fully than before; for in a crisis such independent action is indispensable.  The great extent of the battlefields and the natural endeavour to select wooded and irregular ground for the attack will often force the artillery to advance in groups or in lines one behind the other, and to attempt, notwithstanding, united action against the tactically most important objective.  This result is hard to attain by a centralization of command, and is best realized by the independent action of tactically trained subordinates.

This is not the place to enter into technical details, and I will only mention some points which appear especially important.

The Bz shell (Granatschuss) should be withdrawn as unsuitable, and its use should not form part of the training.  It requires, in order to attain its specific effect against rifle-pits, such accurate aiming as is very seldom possible in actual warfare.

No very great value should be attached to firing with shrapnel.  It seems to be retained in France and to have shown satisfactory results with us; but care must be taken not to apply the experiences of the shooting-range directly to serious warfare.  No doubt its use, if successful, promises rapid results, but it may easily lead, especially in the “mass” battle, to great errors in calculation.  In any case, practice with Az shot is more trustworthy, and is of the first importance.

The Az fire must be reserved principally for the last stages of an offensive engagement, as was lately laid down in the regulations.

Care must be taken generally not to go too far in refinements and complications of strategy and devices.  Only the simplest methods can be successfully applied in battle; this fact must never be forgotten.

The important point in the general training of the artillery is that text-book pedantries—­for example, in the reports on shooting—­should be relegated more than hitherto to the background, and that tactics should be given a more prominent position.  In this way only can the artillery do really good service in action; but the technique of shooting must not be neglected in the reports.  That would mean rejecting the good and the evil together, and the tendency to abolish such reports as inconvenient must be distinctly opposed.