manual for commanders of infantry platoons. - US Army Combined ...

~ANUrAL FOR CO)M~IVWDIANE O`F INF~ANTRYSl FLIATOONS) 25
d~struction of objectives which the other classes of artillery,
either through, lack of range or the inadlequacy cC:their· pros
jectil'es, can not dlamage. ~Itherefore has for objectives str'ongly
fortifiedl supporting points, railway stations, centers of com·
inuhication or supply, aviation park~s.
The principal rifles are thle 1~4,16.B19, 24, 27, and32 centi~meter
alnd the 305 'and 340 millimeter (i. e., ·5.6, 6.4l, 7.6, 9B~6,
10.8j, -12.2, 12.8, 13.6 inches).
The principal*howitzers are the 37i0 and 400 mili~meter
(about 14.6 and 15.8 inches).
.Projeetiles.-Threeclasses:
Shirapnecl, which, at the bursting point, projects the bullets
cdntazined' by -it.
Iligh-elxpilosi aceshell, conatsining an ex~plosive which pr1odluces
its 'eff~ect by the rupture of the envelope and the bla'st of its garSes.
Special she~ll-Tlhe pr1ojectile' may burst on impllact (pirer~ussion
shell) or before impact at some point of its trajectory
(t'ime fuse). In ~both cases the shell is exploded by a fuse.
For' th~e effects of the several classes of projectiles see Chanp:
teP' XI;V, P~art III.
Racnging8-To score a hit wrhen ·the precise range is know~n,
it; is not sufficient to take the exact elevation cor~resp~ondling4 to
the distance. Exsample: To hit a target at a range of exac-tly
4,500 'yards it is generally 'necessalry to tak~e a slightly 'different
elevation (4,400, 4,47T5, 4550, etc.); the reasons for this cor·
rection are: Variations of temperature an(1 wind, d~ifferences' in
e'levation of- the piece as compared to the target (site), slight
differences in the quality or weight of p~owdter chargSe, 'br in the
weight of the pr~ojectiles, which are never entirely uniform.
To get the ranlige it is necessary to determine pract~ically the
elevation which will place the center· of impzact on3 the target.:It:
is of prime imnpbrtance to determine the exact elevation. WithL
out it fire is useless; it may even be detrimental.
Observationt.-In order' to get thle range it mlust hbeloossibl
to observe the effects of fire. The artillery observrel, w~hb is
generally ain officer, regulates the fire.
The useful effect; of artillery fire is proportionate to the extent;
to> wvhich its results can be observedl. Artillery can adljust
its fire to the advance of the infantry only wrhen it.ca~n see" or