tss Posted January 3, 2001 Share Posted January 3, 2001 This is my second post on translated extracts from the Finnish 1936 Field Artillery regulations. This section is about firing against different target types. The text in square brackets is my comments and annotations. F. FIRE MISSIONS 1. UNPROTECTED SOFT TARGETS 286. Depending on the tactical situation and available resources, artillery tries to destroy or supress the enemy manpower or at least to stop its advance. The artillery effect on manpower depends on the formation of the target. Soft targets are the most vulnerable when they are in a closed formation. Soft targets, in particular those not affected by friendly small arms fire, can usually quickly move outside the artillery target area. Therefore, the element of surprise is the first necessary condition for a succesful fire mission. Soft targets may be destroyed only by using a whole batallion strikes. Soft targets may be supressed, in favorable conditions, by fire of single battery. When using artillery barrages, the objective is to temporarily stop enemy movement. 287. The most effective rounds against unprotected soft targets are HE shells [in Finnish "sirpalekranaatti", a shell that produces lot of shrapnells] with quick or timed fuzes. Shrapnell fire is effective only when surprise is achieved against moving targets. Sometimes it may be useful to mix few gas shells (combined gas-HE shells) among the HE rounds. [i think that suggestion of using gas rounds is pretty peculiar for a 1936 vintage regulation book] 288. If enemy infantry is moving in open, it should be stopped using artillery strikes or barrages. The average speed of an infantry formation that is not under small arms fire is about 2 km/h (~30 m/min). Since this figure includes numerous stops and other delays, the true advance speed is greater being approximately 50 m/min. The main difficulty is to plot the fire so that the moving unit is hit. The following two methods can be used: a) As many target points as possible are registered on the advance route of the enemy. The forward observer has to know the operational speed of the batallion (battery) and flight times of the shells. He then has to observe the enemy movement and determine the right moment to call fire. If it is not possible to pre-register targets, it is not usually possible to use target coordinates since then it would take many minutes before first shells arrive and it is not possible to plot the enemy movement that far in future. In these cases enough spotting rounds should be fired that an unchecked bracket ["tarkistamaton haarukka", a 100 m bracket that is correct with 50% probability] is obtained. Then the batallion should fire strike or barrage to the end of the bracket that is on the direction of enemy movement. If some fire missions have been fired near the target point before, a target adjustment is faster to do than bracketing. 289. An infantry formation that is under small arms fire moves irregularly and the average speed is much slower than in the previous case. The methods that were presented above must be used. Correct observation of the target movement is necesessary for accurate fire missions. 290. Infantry units that are manning positions should be destroyed or supressed with strikes that are fired using the parallel pattern [that is, all guns fire with identical settings]. Since defending infantry usually may not leave its positions, it is possible to do accurate fire preparation and fire calibration rounds [that is, firing few groups of shells on a different but nearby target to see where they land]. 291. An unprotected machine gun position may be destroyed or at least supressed with a strike of one battery if its location is known and accurate fire preparation is possible. The strike should be fired with the concentrated pattern [that is, all guns aim at the same point] and without spotting rounds. It is not usually possible to destroy machine guns using destruction fire because they can easily change their positions and avoid the fire. 292. Attacking enemy infantry tries to cross the no-man's land as quickly as possible. It can be stopped only by using pre-registered artillery barrages that should land at most several dozens of seconds after calling. 293. Infantry that is currently deploying (for example, in preparation for attack) is very vulnerable. Usually it is not necessary to use the highest fire concentration. Thus, the fire of a single battery to a 100x100 m target may be enough to stop the enemy attack before it commences. A batallion may fire counter-preparation fire against a front of ~300 m. 294. Infantry reserves are also very vulnerable. Because infantry that is outside friendly small arms fire zones can quickly avoid fire, the element of surprise is necessary. 295. Infantry march columns are vulnerable but they may quickly avoid fire. A march column advances ~100m/min. For achieving a surprise, accurate fire preparation (or bracketing) has to be done at a target point that is along the advance route of the column. The target point has to be selected so that the preparations are completed before the column enters the target area. If it is not possible to do an accurate preparation, bracketing should be done so that it will not alert the enemy. If the bracketing is done against the column itself, the only result is that the column leaves the road. A single battery strike is enough against columns so the fire of the whole batallion may be spread on 300 m front. If the column advances towards the guns a single battery may fire take a 200 m target. The mission should use the parallel pattern. 296. Counter-battery missions should be fired using strikes with intensive fire. Heavy guns are best for this because their shrapnells will penetrate gun shields. Surprise is again important since the gun crews will take cover during bracketing. By using acidic gases, the target battery may be forced to leave its firing positions. [Again, mention of gas warfare. Acidic gases include the mustard gas]. 297. Artillery march columns must stay on roads because vechicles can't move offroads easily even though the manpower may escape. Artillery columns are fired using the same principles as infantry columns. 298. Command, observation, and forward observation posts are either destroyed using strikes or blinded with smoke. One battery strike is enough. Surprise is important. If the objective is simply to make enemy abandon the position, this can be achieved with relatively dense harassment fire or with acidic gases. 299. Mounted cavalry formations may be caught in a strike only if they are not moving. A cavalry formation may move so quickly that it is difficult to hit them even using pre-registered targets. In these cases a 400 m bracket should be created using shrapnell rounds or a fire adjustment is done from a prior target. During the fire for effect the fire values should be adjusted continuously. As shrapnell rounds have large depth effect [a shrapnell ball is lethal up to 300 m, though most balls hit ground at 60 m], they are the best to use in these situations. 300. Fire against supply columns is conducted in the same way as fire against artillery columns. 2. SOFT TARGETS INSIDE FIELD FORTIFICATIONS 301. Infantry targets inside field fortifications may not be completely destroyed with artillery fire. For this reason, artillery should try to have as great moral effect as possible so that the enemy is incapable of resistance in the crucial moments of an attack. This can be achieved by accurate strikes using intensive fire. Often many strikes should be fired at the same target with irregular intervals. Heavy artillery is the most effective in this role. 302. The best round is HE with a timed fuze and the second best is quick fuze. If the trenches are covered, the fuzes have to be slow. If the trenches have numerous closets [that is, there are small one-man dugouts dug in the trench walls] the enemy seeks cover from them. In those cases it is advantageous to start fire with a short timed fuze strike, then change to slow fuzes. Alternatively, the first shells should have a quick fuze and the rest a slow one. 303. Artillery- and bomb-proof dugouts give good cover from artillery fire. Artillery strikes may be used to force the enemy to take cover from them. This lowers its combat efficiency remarkably. Large caliberes with delayed fuzes have a good moral effect on men that are in dugouts. 304. Field fortifications in an artillery position increase its durability only by giving the gun crews better cover from strikes. Sudden and concentrated strikes may still cause heavy casualties on gun crews. Delayed fuzes and 152 mm shells may destroy accomodation and ammo dugouts. 3. FIELD FORTIFICATIONS 305. Field fortifications are destroyed by using the destruction fire. This usually demands much time and ammo. The estimated ammo requirements are presented in the following paragraphs. BARBED WIRE 306. Mortars are the most effective artillery pieces against barbed wire. Artillery (light) is used only if other methods have failed. The quick fuze is the best to use against a wire obstacle. If there are many different HE rounds available, the one with the largest explosive charge should be chosen. Wire zones are usually composed from numerous thin obstacle lines. A zone that is at most 2 r_x [r_x = the expected round dispersion distance on the firing axis] is treated as a single obstacle. If the zone is 2-4 r_x wide, it is treated as a single obstacle but 50% more ammo is fired. A zone that is wider than 4 r_x is divided into two or more targets. The expected ammo usage against fixed wire on level ground may be read from the following table. The table supposes that the mean impact point stays at the midpoint of the obstacle during the whole fire mission. The table gives shots per meter of width of the breach. Range 76K 122H 152H 2000m --- 12 8 3000m 30 12 8 4000m 35 14 9 5000m 40 16 10 6000m 45 18 12 The depth of the breach is then approximately 2 r_x. If only slow fuze is available, the figures should be doubled. The ammo usage on targets on slopes is obtained by multiplying the figures with the slope factor [that is defined elsewhere, downhill needs most]. If the wire is not fixed ("spanish mounts", etc.), 50% more ammo is necessary. The fire should be fired as serial fire [that is, one round at a time] so that the range to each gun is checked separately. Depending on the width of the breach the fire is allocated either by gun or by 2 gun section to different targets that are separated by 4 r_y [r_y = the expected dispersion distance perpendicular to flight direction]. If the breach is narrow (< 4 r_y), the fire isconducted by using the concentrated pattern. In that case the ammo usage should still be calculated using the width of 4 r_y. If accurate observation is not possible, the ammo requirements are doubled. Sometimes there is not enough time for preparations and the fire has to be conducted using strikes of multiple batteries. In those cases calibration rounds should still be fired and the ammo usage doubled. Since ammo requirements increase with the range, batteries as close to the frontline as possible should be used. However, quick fuzes don't work reliable with very small impact angles (< 10 degrees) so too short ranges may not be used with cannons. The firing charge should be smallest possible. TRENCHES 307. It is not economical to destroy trenches by artillery fire because it demands an excessive amount of ammo. However, sometimes it is necessary to destroy intersections of trenches or machine gun nests. A trench intersection can be destroyed from medium range using - 122H -- 100 rounds - 152H -- 60-80 rounds The best effect is achieved with slow fuzes. If the distance between two target intersections is less than 30 meters, the connecting trench will also be severely damaged from the fire. MG NESTS, CLOSETS, AND DUGOUTS 308. Shrapnell-proof MG nests, closets, and dugouts can be destroyed with 2 direct 76 mm hits or by a single larger shell. If the dimension of the target is know, the expected ammo usage can be calculated using the method presented in Appendix I when the following effective radiuses are taken in accord: - 76 mm -- 0.9 m - 107 mm -- 1.2 m - 122 mm -- 1.6 m - 152 mm -- 2.0 m It is best to use the delayed fuze. Otherwise, slow fuzes have to be used but then the ammo usage is about 10% larger. The impact angle should always be at least 20 degrees so ricochets are avoided. The following figures give ammo usage estimates on destroying a 2.7 m x 1.6 m machine gun post: - 76 mm -- 4500 m -- 120 rounds - 122 mm -- 2800 m -- 40 rounds - 152 mm -- 2800 m -- 30 rounds If some area has a number of dugouts whose positions cannot be accurately established, a certain percentage of them will be destroyed by area fire. The following table has estimates on ammo usage per 100 m x 100 m area so that 30%, 50%, or 100% dugouts on the area will be dest oyed, supposing that a dugout has 15 m^2 surface area. Calibere 30% 50% 100% 76 mm 270 400 800 122 mm 120 180 360 152 mm 100 150 300 Artillery-proof dugouts may not be destroyed using smaller caliberes than 152 mm. The expected ammo expenditure for the 152 mm howitzer can be obtained by multiplying the figure in the above table by three. Bomb-proof dugouts may not be destroyed by field artillery fire. ARTILLERY POSITIONS AND GUNS 309. The guns of an artillery battery may be certainly destroyed only if the fire can be aimed at each individual gun separately. If only area fire can be used, an enemy battery may be partially destroyed or at least silenced for a long time using the following amounts of ammunition: Distance 76 mm 107 mm 122 mm 152 mm 3000 m 500 -- 250 180 4000 m 600 -- 300 220 5000 m 900 -- 450 320 6000 m -- 600 -- 350 7000 m -- 800 -- 500 The best fuze against artillery equipment is the slow one. If the firing positions have artillery-proof dugouts, 152 mm or larger caliberes are necessary. 4. VILLAGES AND OTHER INHABITED PLACES 310. Villages are best destroyed by fires that are ignited with incendiary rounds. If they are not available, shrapnel rounds may be used by setting the fuze so that they will burst after hitting the ground. Setting fires is not usually desirable since they are impossible to control. Buildings, stone buildings in particular, are very difficult to completely destroy with artillery fire and a large number of rounds has to be used. However, few direct hits are usually enough to rout the enemy from the building. 5. ARMORED VEHICLES [these regulations were already quite dated when the war broke out] 311. Armored vehicles are shot using either direct or indirect fire. When using direct fire, only one gun, that is taken to a suitable position, is used against a single target. If more guns are available, they all fire separately. If the fire range estimate is not correct, a 100 m unchecked barrage is created and the fire is aimed at the endpoint that is in the direction of enemy movement. The target movement is compensated by firing in the front of the target using the table on page 224. [i omit the table because it gives the adjustment using direct figures for azimuth control of different gun models.] The largest available charge and slow fuze should always be used. When indirect fire is used, strikes are fired against pre-registered targets and the forward observer should take into consideration the flight time and the target speed. The fire against heavy and medium tanks should use slow fuzes, against light (tankettes) quick fuzes, and against open topped vehicles timed fuzes. - Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted January 3, 2001 Share Posted January 3, 2001 Very nice post again T. Thanks for taking the time out to compile what you have shown us. Now if you were not kicking my ass so bad in our Pbem game I would feel much better. vs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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