Suggested measures for the improvement of the senior ranks; for the improvement of the regulars and reservists; for the reorganization of the reserve troops; for increasing the number of combatants in infantry regiments—Machine-guns—Reserve troops—Troops on the communications—Engineers—Artillery—Cavalry—Infantry—Organi­zation generally.

Our recent experiences have furnished ample material by which we may be guided in our efforts to improve the war training and increase the efficiency of our forces. The War Ministry, assisted by officers who served in Manchuria, and by articles which have appeared in the military Press, has already embarked upon numerous reforms. I shall here merely express my own opinion upon the points I consider most important, and which should be settled first of all. Amongst these are measures for—

1. The improvement of the senior ranks.

2.  The improvement of the regular soldiers and reservists.

3. Reforms in the organization of the reserve troops.

4. Increasing the number of actual combatants in our infantry regiments.

5. Enlarging the war establishment of regiments, brigades, divisions, and corps, and, by means of decentralization, making them more independent.

As regards the first: Our three wars of the last fifty years have disclosed many shortcomings in our officers. Most of these have undoubtedly been due to the undeveloped state of the nation, and to the general conditions of life and labour, which have affected the army as an integral part of the whole population. Any serious attempt to improve our officers as a body, therefore, is only likely to be successful if and when a general improvement sets in in our social conditions. It has pleased the Tsar to inaugurate many fundamental reforms for the betterment of the civil status of all classes of our population in every walk of life, and reforms in the officer class should be instituted at the same time.

Why is it that, with so many capable, keen, and intelligent men as we possess among our junior officers and those in comparatively subordinate positions, we have so few original-minded, keen, and competent seniors? As I have said, the standard of all ranks of the army entirely depends on that of the nation. With the growth of the moral and mental faculties of the people at large there will be a corresponding growth in that of the military class; but so long as the nation suffers from a paucity of well-informed, independent, and zealous men, the army cannot well be expected to be an exception. If the uniform attracted the pick of the population, out of a nation of many millions, however backward, there would be at least hundreds of the very best men—in every sense—quite capable of commanding troops in war. It would therefore seem necessary—

1. To adopt a military uniform such as will attract the flower of our youth.

2. To insist that the best of those privileged to wear the uniform should serve in the army, and there acquire the military knowledge and strength of character necessary for war.

In the first of these two particulars we have succeeded, for in Russia the military uniform has been particularly honoured for years; but we have by no means approached near the second desideratum. The majority of the best men wearing military uniform have not only never served in the army, but are absolutely unconnected with it. In the eighteenth century a custom crept in of dressing the sons of grandees in military clothes, and they could get promotion at an age when they were riding toy horses round drawing-rooms. Then, little by little, military uniform, military rank, even that of General, ceased to become the absolute prerogative of the army, or, indeed, to denote any connection with war. The members of the Church were the only people not arrayed in it. Members of the Imperial Council, Ambassadors, Senators, Ministers of the different departments and their assistants, Governor-Generals, Governors, Mayors, Superintendents of Police, officials in the various Government departments and in the military institutions, all wore military uniform, and were graded in different ranks. With few exceptions, all that they had to do with the army was to be a source of weakness to it. Amongst the many names in the long list of generals, only a few belong to officers on the active list, and, what is worse, those who are serving in the army get superseded in rank by, and receive less emoluments than, those who are not. Consequently, the best elements in the service are naturally anxious to leave. The posts of Minister of the Interior, of Finance, of Ways and Communications, of Education, and of State Control, used to be held by generals and admirals, as well as the appointments of Ambassador at Constantinople, Paris, London, and Berlin. Service uniforms were therefore conspicuous at all diplomatic and ministerial gatherings. Military clothes also had a great attraction for other departments, and several of them tried to assimilate their uniforms as much as possible to those of army officers. The worst offender in this respect was the Ministry of the Interior, which adopted a uniform for police-officers and even for constables which could hardly be distinguished from that worn by military officers. The private soldiers were naturally unable to make anything of this multitude of uniforms, and never knew whom to salute or obey; indeed, the police-officers’ great-coats and caps with cockades were enough to puzzle the most discriminating. This all seems incomprehensible; but the ambition to wear military uniform is easily explained. It is largely due to the ignorance of the people. Not long ago, anyone wearing even a hat with a cockade was taken in the country for a person in authority; caps were doffed to him, and in winter heavily laden sledges would be turned into snow-drifts to give him the road, while his vulgar abuse would be patiently accepted.

Thirty years ago, when a young officer, I spent about a year on service with the French in Algiers, and travelled a great deal. I was astonished to find that it was found convenient, even under republican rule, to keep to a system of semi-military government for the native population—Arabs and Kabyles. It was, in this case, entrusted mainly to army officers, and those civilians who were also appointed had to adopt a uniform similar to that worn by the military. These officials told me in all seriousness that their spurs and the gold braid round their caps assisted them in their dealings with the Arabs, in collecting taxes, settling land questions, and other matters. It was so in our case. Undoubtedly the wearing of military clothes did facilitate the difficult work which our police-officers have to do; but a great change has recently come over the country, and a uniform alone is not now enough to command obedience. It is sometimes a drawback, if not a danger. It is, of course, to be hoped that such an unnatural state of affairs will not last; but it is very desirable to take advantage of the present indifference displayed by the civil population to uniform to take it from all who are not actually serving in the army. The time has come when the prestige appertaining to our uniform should be restored, and the status of those serving in the army should be raised.

With the same object in view, we must continue to try and improve the material position and prospects of the corps of officers. An important matter, and one to which I have given much attention—so far without entire success—is that service on the staff, in offices and in branches of the War Department, should not pay better than service with the troops. Many of the officers now so employed in semi-civil duties can well be replaced by civilian officials. It is, moreover, essential that service in the Frontier Guards, in the Customs, police, gendarmerie, on the railway, and as tax-collectors, should cease to be financially preferable to service in the army.

As senior officers get on in the service, they must not be allowed to forget what they have previously learnt, a thing which is now only too common. It is essential that they should be practised in peace in commanding troops, and not be mere administrators, inspectors, spectators, and umpires. They should therefore be in a position to spend most of their time with troops in the field and in cantonments. With our military system the command of troops is at present almost entirely in the hands of the regimental, brigade, divisional, corps and district commanders.[31] Thus our infantry and cavalry regiments used to be under five masters. But, in the words of the proverb, too many cooks spoil the broth, and in war all was not for the best in all our regiments. Often while the ingredients and the fire left nothing to be desired, the cooks did not know what to do. How can such a state of things be explained? It will be said that the selection of commanders was not always happy. That is true; but it must be remembered that selections had to be made from those men who were qualified according to the regulations and the reports drawn up by various commanding officers. In some cases seniority was considered to be by itself a qualification for promotion. Efforts of a sort were undoubtedly made to get the best men we had, but they were insufficient. All the commanders in the five degrees of our military hierarchy are so occupied with their daily work of routine and correspondence, while many are so overburdened with the administrative details of their appointments, that they have little time to attend to the business of actual war. Yet, as they get on in the service, more knowledge of war is required of them. The short periods of concentration in summer, with only a few days of instructional work on both sides, give little practice in command, and at other times the number of responsible duties connected with administration places that art on a far higher plane than mere soldiering. And what is most important is that the whole of our service—of our lives almost—is spent doing things which do not go to form character. Of the five posts above mentioned, only two—the divisional and corps commanders—are in any way independent, and their occupants are immersed in office work. The relative amount of time spent on the different sorts of duties tends to turn the regimental commander into an administrator rather than a fighter, while a brigade commander has absolutely no independence; in fact, his absence or presence is scarcely noticed. Finally, the same tendency to produce office men and bureaucrats is noticeable even in the work of those on the highest rungs of the ladder—the general officers in command of military districts. Instances might be multiplied of men who, though long in charge of military districts, never once commanded troops on manœuvres, and for several years never even got astride a horse. How can this impossible state of affairs be remedied, and a body of leaders, constantly practised in the execution of those duties in command of troops that would be required of them in war, be formed?

I.

On active service the rôle of the regimental commander is both wide and important. To issue successfully from the test of modern war, he must have character, experience, and facility in manœuvring his unit in the field, must know his men well, and therefore have found the time both for intercourse with his officers and for perfecting himself in his profession. In battle it is men he has to deal with, and not files of papers and storehouses. But, situated as he is at present, he is so overburdened with important administrative details that most of his time is passed dealing with requisitions and inventories instead of with flesh and blood. The penalties he incurs by neglect of his administrative duties are far heavier and more tangible than those incurred by neglecting the tactical training of his regiment. The greater part of these duties—those such as are connected with clothing, transport, and rationing—should be removed from his shoulders. He should be made the controller of these sections of duty, and not the person actually responsible. Nor is his position easy in respect to the personnel. The great shortage of officers, especially in those units quartered in inferior barracks, is the cause of many difficulties. When mobilization is ordered, some of the already too small number of officers are told off for the innumerable miscellaneous duties and detachments; commanders of battalions and of companies are interchanged; many of the men are transferred to other units, a mass of reservists join, and, if there is not time for the new arrivals to settle down with the few old hands, the commander has to lead into action a regiment which he does not know, and which does not know itself. Our mobilization schemes, therefore, require revision in this respect, and every regiment should have in peace-time a permanent establishment of officers and men who would accompany the regiment on service. The company commanders in particular should not be removed from their companies. But to make such an arrangement possible, it is essential that one of the senior captains (who might be appointed to the staff) should run the regimental school. It is also important to keep the regimental commander as a man apart as far as possible; he should be made to realize upon all occasions the peculiar importance of the duties entrusted to him, and the respect due to himself personally by reason of these duties.

II.

In Manchuria, just as in the wars of the second half of last century, the great value of the infantry brigade as an independent fighting unit came out strongly in all the large battles; as also did the great influence of its commander on the result of the fight.

The advance and rear guards of army corps generally consisted of brigades. A brigade commander usually began the attack; a brigade commander usually finished it (by commanding the rearguard). And yet the post of Brigadier is not considered one of importance; his powers are insignificant, and his position does not allow him sufficient independence to enable him to train either himself or his unit. Divisional commanders and their chief staff-officers in peace-time often ignore the brigadiers as if they were not wanted, and were fifth wheels to the coach; and their absence for whole years, building barracks and roads, etc., is not considered to have any adverse effect on the successful training of the regiments under them. In such circumstances even the zealous ones, and those anxious to do their duty, become dulled, slack, and lose capacity for work. There can be only one way out of this unnatural state of things, which, from a military point of view, is most harmful: brigade commanders must in peace-time be given independent command of those units which they will have to command independently in war. This applies to cavalry as well as to infantry. Every brigade should have a small staff such as exists in independent brigades—namely, two adjutants, one an officer of the General Staff for operations, and one for administration. Each brigade commander should have powers in both these branches of their duty equal to that now delegated to divisional commanders, while their disciplinary powers should remain as at present.

III.

Our divisional commanders are independent and in direct touch with troops; but they also are overburdened with routine correspondence, and as they are frequently appointed to command the summer camps, it happens that they are more often present at the exercises of the troops as spectators than actually in command. In field operations where there are two sides, the divisional general rarely finds it possible to take command of one, partly owing to an exaggerated idea of his own abilities, and partly to the scarcity of officers of sufficient seniority to be umpires. Consequently, he only gets practice in commanding troops in the field during concentrations of large bodies of men. This is not enough. Commanders of infantry divisions, in particular, do not know nearly enough about the other arms, owing to the little practice they get in commanding mixed forces. So, while giving greater powers to brigade commanders, it will be also advisable to delegate to divisional generals the powers now exercised by corps commanders (with the exception of disciplinary powers). Divisional commanders should always remember that the 16,000 rifles which they command are a number that can decide the fate of any action. With the inclusion, in divisions, of artillery, sapper, and cavalry units, exceedingly instructive exercises can be arranged within these units both in summer and winter, and the troops and their commanders thereby trained for war under modern war conditions. The four[32] officers of the General Staff who would be with each division should be relieved of all routine, except that relating to operations, and they should devote the whole of their time and energies to preparing work for the brigade and divisional commanders in the training of the troops for battle.

IV.

Army corps commanders are quite independent, but, like the divisional commanders, are overburdened with routine correspondence, etc., and do not get sufficient practice in commanding troops in the field. Some, during a tour of duty of several years, have never commanded troops on manœuvres; and it is impossible for all of them to have sufficient acquaintance with cavalry, as some corps do not include this arm. They and their staff, especially the General Staff officers, have no practice at all, or else very little, in the use of technical equipment and the modern aids to warfare (telegraphs, telephones, mines, motors, balloons, etc.). The experience of the late war showed up the necessity of increasing the establishment of the army corps, and the actions of their commanders will have such an important, and in many cases deciding, influence, that extremely careful selection is necessary for these posts; the men appointed must be capable of teaching others as well as of learning themselves. As with the divisional generals, so should the powers of corps commanders be extended at the expense of those now exercised by officers in command of military districts.

V.

The commanders of military districts are the senior officers actually in charge of troops, and have at the same time important duties as administrative heads of districts. Here again administrative work, together with correspondence connected with the troops, occupies the greater part of their time, and only in exceptionally favourable circumstances (the large manœuvres with concentrations of troops from different districts) can they get any practice in commanding in the field. But as they also have to perform the duties of Governor-General, they are not able to devote sufficient time to the troops, even in inspecting them, or to improving themselves. I am absolutely convinced that, however much such a combination of two appointments—each of which requires a man of exceptional ability and character—may be desirable from the political point of view, it has the gravest disadvantages for the army. There is a limit to human power. As our governor-generals devote the greater part of their time and energies to civil matters, they entrust a large part of their military duties to the chief staff-officers of the districts. It can easily be understood that such an arrangement is not in the interests of the army. For instance, the most important military district—that of Warsaw—was, as far as the army was concerned, neglected in the time of several governor-generals. Indeed, at one time, much to the subversion of the authority of officers in command of districts and corps, the troops in this area were controlled by the chief of the district staff! Therefore, if we wish that the commanders of military districts—our most natural selections for the command of armies in war—should have time to prepare themselves for this important duty, we should free them from civil duties; otherwise we shall get no improvement. They must also be relieved of the numerous and responsible cares with respect to all those questions which in war mainly fall to the officer in command of the communications.

The inspection of hospitals, of supply depôts, engineer and artillery units, of parks, of offices—everything that takes too much time from the exercises for the actual training of the troops and of themselves—should be eliminated from their duties. These have become so heavy with the complications of modern war, and are fraught with such importance to army and country, that the men who will have to perform them must unceasingly prepare themselves in peace; but, for the reasons I have already given, few officers have time to follow up the developments in their profession. That is why in the recent war we were left behind in knowledge of the employment of artillery, of the utility of the various technical means of intercommunication, in appreciating relative value of different attack formations, etc. Our senior officers must be given sufficient leisure, while improving the troops under them, at the same time to improve themselves.

Improvement of the Regulars.

I have more than once pointed out how excellent the regulars were as regards military qualifications, and how much more reliable in the first fights than the reservists, especially the older ones. But we must look to the nation itself for the cause of the shortcomings of both. The lack of education in the peasant is reflected in the private soldier, and the non-existence of a martial spirit amongst the masses, coupled to the dislike for the war, resulted in the absence of a military spirit in our troops in Manchuria. Their ignorance made the conduct of modern war, which demands a much greater spirit of combination and initiative from the individual than formerly, very difficult for us. Consequently, while behaving with the utmost gallantry when in close order—in mass—our men, when left to themselves without officers, were more inclined to retire than to advance. In the mass they were formidable; but very few of them were fit for individual action, and this is a point in which the Japanese had a great advantage. Their non-commissioned officers in particular were better educated than ours, and on many prisoners—private soldiers as well as non-commissioned officers—we found diaries written not only grammatically, but with a general knowledge of what was going on and of what the Japanese were trying to do. Many of them drew well. One prisoner—a private—drew on the sand an excellent diagram of our position and that of the enemy.

It is never easy to turn in a short time an ignorant, illiterate recruit into an intelligent and keen soldier, capable of individual action; and the recent reduction[33] of the term of service has made the task still harder. The greatest difficulty, however, is to get good non-commissioned officers; even with the four to five year period with the colours we were not able to do this satisfactorily. The mass of our recruits are so illiterate, and so much book knowledge is required in the schools from our non-commissioned officers, that there is a natural tendency to pick the men for these posts on account of their education and outward sharpness. This is a mistake, as these qualities are often superficial. The simple recruits of the deepest and strongest characters are usually slow and uncouth and do not shine externally; consequently many of them never become selected for non-commissioned rank, and finish their service as private soldiers. But a surly man of some character often makes a better soldier than his smarter comrade. With the reduced term of service we can do nothing without a considerable number of time-expired men. The present conditions under which these men are kept on in the ranks are sound enough, but the men dislike doing time-expired, or what they characterize as “mercenary,” service. We must get over this dislike, and therefore as much as possible raise the position of sergeant-major and other non-commissioned officers.

Another burning question, and one with which we shall be confronted more and more in the future, is how to keep the destructive tenets of the revolutionary parties out of our barracks. Drastic action will of course be taken, but if we do not succeed in crushing these parties among the people, we can hardly expect to be able to keep the army from infection.

One of the most important requirements with our short term of service is that our men should not be taken away from their work for police duties. The part so frequently taken by the troops in putting down civil disorders by force of arms is particularly harmful to discipline. To turn to another point, owing to the inadequate funds allotted, our soldiers have always been treated worse than those of other armies. The Germans, for instance, spend twice as much per head upon the maintenance of their army as we do. Some improvement in this direction has already been made, especially in the feeding. With a serviceable cadre of time-expired sergeant-majors and non-commissioned officers, and with the living conditions of the men improved, we can face the future calmly even with a three-year term of service. But we shall only succeed if we relieve the troops of the large amount of extra regimental work which falls to them (tailoring, shoemaking, and other workshop work, care of reserve stores, etc.), and if we lighten their guard duties. Our recruits are free from this work and from guards only in the first year of service.

Improvement of the Reservists.

Our infantry in the recent war can be classified in four groups, according to the relative number of old regular soldiers and reservists:

1. The East Siberian Rifle Regiments, which were maintained almost on a war footing[34] in peace.

2. The infantry in the 1st Brigades of the 31st and 35th Divisions, which were filled up to war strength with regulars at the beginning of the war.

3. The infantry of the regular army corps brought up to war strength with reservists.

4. The infantry units formed from reserve troops.

According to the opinion of competent officers who served in the war (which I fully share), other conditions being equal, the more regular soldiers there were in a unit, the more it could be relied on in battle. The best troops we had were the East Siberian Rifle Regiments, and after them the brigades of the 31st and 35th Divisions. In the case of the army corps, which proceeded to the front direct from Russia, sufficient care was not taken to regulate the proportion of regulars to reservists. Some units—the 10th Army Corps, for instance—arrived at the front 20 per cent. below strength in men, and more in officers. In the first fight in which it was engaged, several companies of this corps had only sixty regular soldiers—thirty trained men and thirty recruits—who had not even passed their recruit’s musketry course. All the remainder were reservists, among whom were a large number of 2nd Category men. These regular units consequently were, to all intents and purposes, nothing but reserve units. Finally, our reserve units arrived almost without any permanent peace cadres, so swallowed up were they in the great mass of reservists. In the early fighting these reservists, particularly those of the 2nd Category, were vastly inferior to the regulars; many of them took advantage of every opportunity to leave the ranks with or without permission. There is little doubt that if the war had been a national one, and if the country had supported its sons at the front instead of doing the opposite, these men would have done better in the first fights; but it is also quite certain that, other conditions being equal, the man with the colours must be better than the other as a soldier. He is not torn from his family at a time when he has begun to think that his military liability is over; he is better trained, and possesses esprit de corps. Therefore, the best way of improving our infantry is to maintain it with a stronger peace establishment than at present.

In Manchuria a peace establishment of 100 men per company became so weak from the various causes incidental to active service that companies went into action with one-third regulars to two-thirds reservists. Nominally regular forces, they were in reality more like reserve troops. Regulars should be in the majority in every company, but the great difficulties and expense of maintaining troops on a strong peace footing compel us to pay special attention to the question of improving our reserve men. Modern war must be fought mainly with men temporarily called up from amongst the people.

The only thing that will insure devotion to their country among reservists proceeding to the front is the existence of a spirit of patriotism in the nation. Discontent and feelings of oppression among the people are naturally reflected in the minds of those of them leaving for war. But, independent of such all-important general considerations, there are certain definite things that can be taken to improve the tone of the reservists. According to the present system, when a man passes from the colours into the reserve his connection with his own unit—in fact, with the Service generally—almost ceases. The practice concentrations are not carried out on a large enough scale, and though valuable, are often dispensed with altogether on account of financial considerations. So it happens that a man passing into the reserve takes his uniform with him, but, with rare exceptions, never even wears his forage-cap; this he generally gives to some neighbour or relation—hardly ever a soldier—to wear out. The reservist himself only too gladly dons peasant’s clothes or other mufti; he is glad to feel that he is a peasant again. He starts in business, takes up peaceful occupations, and raises a family. When he reaches the age of forty, he begins to put on flesh. And it is under these conditions that he is suddenly torn from the bosom of his family, and sent to fight in a strange, “hired”[35] land for a cause for which he feels no sympathy, and which he does not understand. To this are added the general discontent all around him, and a flood of revolutionary proclamations. The separation of the reservist from all touch with the army once he has left it does not tend to his rapid retransformation from “mujik” into trained soldier. In the case of Manchuria he certainly became a good man after some months in the school of war, but so long a period of grace cannot be counted on in the future.

Coming here into the heart of the country as I did nine months ago, and staying here continuously, I have been in a position to observe our reservists returning from the war. When the return stream first began in March, April, and May, there were large numbers. Sometimes when I passed they would fall in—in line—and receive me after the military fashion. They wore fur caps, very often military great-coats, and looked, as they were, a fine body of young soldiers. Nine months of hard work in the fields soon turned them again into peasants, and now, when they come to me, on business or otherwise, instead of saluting, they take off their caps and call me “Barin.”[36]

In Japan mothers counted it a dishonour if their sons were rejected as medically unfit to go to the front. With us how different it was! Women often came to thank me heartily for having “had pity” on their sons and husbands, because these latter happened to have been told off for duty with transport units or with hospitals, etc., instead of being sent into action,[37] and they did the same when their men returned safe and sound. In Japan, Germany, and other countries, some endeavour is made in education to inculcate patriotism into the people. A love of country and pride in the Fatherland is created in the children. As has been said before, the schools in Japan do everything they can to create and foster a martial spirit in the youth of the nation, and to practise them in military matters. There and in other countries the formation of various patriotic societies is approved, and all kinds of physical sport are encouraged. The authorities are not afraid to issue thousands of rifles to the people for rifle practice, etc. We do not do this; we are afraid for political reasons. Little is done to inculcate patriotism by education in our schools, and the great gulf between Church, rural, and Government schools makes matters worse. Students in the highest educational establishments have long ago abandoned study for politics; it has for long been the fashion to abuse everything Russian, and military service is thought to be dishonourable. Our infantry soldier is undersized and overloaded; he is usually untidy, often dirty, and wears an ugly and ill-fitting uniform. Is it a wonder that, as he slouches along, he excites more pity than pride in the man in the street? And yet it is on this undersized man that the integrity of the Empire depends. Money is tight, as we all know, but still, we do not keep the soldier clean and smart enough when he is serving, and when we pass him into the reserve we give him a dress which he can display with no pride to his neighbours or even his own family. Under such conditions, how can we hope that he will then suddenly turn into a martial warrior?

Only by the reformation of our schools, and the introduction into the life of the lower classes of reforms, which, besides increasing their comfort, will develop in them a love for, and pride in, their country, and a deep sense of the necessity for some sacrifice for it, shall we get in the reserve a thorough soldier of the right sort. The attainment of such a result cannot depend entirely on any actions of the War Department, which must, after all, be secondary; but the things that can be effected by it are nevertheless important, and I will enumerate those which seem to be the most pressing.

In an army discipline is the foundation of all efficiency; but to maintain discipline in an army is impossible when the mass of the nation have no respect for authority, and where the authorities actually fear those under them. The term of service with the colours is now so short that there is no time to overcome in the soldier the disorderliness of the people from whom he comes, yet to effect improvement in the reservist demands an iron military discipline. It must not be allowed for a moment that a soldier need not be afraid of his officer. The present greatest enemy to discipline is the employment of soldiers in the political struggle now going on. On the one hand, the force is corrupted by propaganda; on the other, men are taken away from military duties and detailed for almost continual police work, in putting down disorder not only of a military nature, such as mutiny, where the situation can only be saved by the assistance of reliable troops, but riots which should be dealt with by the police and the gendarmes. Officers are taken away to sit on field courts,[38] to judge, shoot, and hang political and other criminals. These duties make the populace hate the troops, and among the soldiers who suffer in killed and wounded it arouses a feeling of hatred not only for the civilians who shoot at them, but against the officers who order them to kill the civilians. The result is demoralizing to a degree. What impression can the man passing into the reserve take home with him if, during the two or three years of his colour service, he has been “maintaining order” in various ways with the aid of his rifle? The army can and must do all that is necessary to suppress mutinies, and to break down all organized opposition, but it should then return at once to its ordinary work. If this sort of duty becomes frequent, if the soldier sees that the Government is powerless to restore order even with the aid of troops, doubts will creep into his mind as to the expediency of the Government’s policy and as to his own commanders. According to what I hear, it seems that the heavy task which has recently fallen to the lot of the army is now coming to an end, and that order is beginning once more to be restored in our great country. Please God may it soon be the case, as otherwise the force must deteriorate instead of improving.

Under ordinary conditions our work should tend to make the man passed into the reserve arrive in his native village or town well disciplined, knowing his work, taking a pride in his old corps, and respecting those under whom he has served. We must therefore endeavour to prevent him from losing touch with the Service and quickly forgetting what he has learned in it. In some armies to obviate this they have what is called the territorial system, by which reservists maintain touch to the end of their term with those units in which they have served. This system is not possible for us in its entirety, but it might be applied partially and adopted on a fairly large scale. One of its great advantages would be that reservists would on mobilization at once join the units in which they had previously served. They would not be strangers, but would be known to the cadre of time-expired, but still serving, non-commissioned officers and the officers, and would soon settle down. Men of the same district would be more inclined to hold together under fire, and every man would feel that if he behaved badly his comrade would send news of it to his home. Units territorially connected with the people would be more dashing than corps collected from anywhere. There would, of course, be many difficulties, which would have to be overcome before the system could be adopted. For instance, men taken from a certain locality would, if employed to suppress disorders in that place, be more likely to waver than men from another unit and district. Cases have been known where non-commissioned officers who had been strict with their men have requested, on being passed into the reserve, not to be sent off in the same compartment of a train with their late subordinates, who had threatened to “make things even” so soon as they both passed into the reserve together. With us such a settling up of old scores might easily be effected under a territorial system, by which both officers and soldiers would, after their service, come together in one district.

It must be more frequently impressed on the reservists that they still are soldiers. Local concentrations should be organized for them so that they may get some training, and these should be arranged at such a time of the year as to interfere as little as possible with the crops. This would vary, of course, according to locality. Our recruiting officers are now mainly occupied, like everyone else, with office work; they should be more in touch with the reservists, who should look to them as their commanding officer, adviser, and protector. The relationship now is too purely official. An important matter also is the division of reservists in peace-time. In my opinion it is essential to have three classes. For the first two years after the man leaves the colours he should be considered on furlough; he should be made to wear uniform, and always be ready to be recalled in case of partial or general mobilization. The men of the last two classes should be on a different footing, and should be used on mobilization to fill up services in rear, hospitals, bakeries, parks, transport units, and to guard camps on the communications, etc.

Reforms in the Organization of the Reserve Troops.

We have already seen (Chapter VI.) how, when the war began, we found it necessary, in the absence of any assurance arranged by diplomacy against other contingencies, to be ready for any military eventuality on our Western frontier. Consequently, too great a number of reserve units were included amongst the troops told off to take the field in the Far East. Another reason for this was that we did not really know the qualities of different sections of our army. Our crack troops, taking both officers and men together, of three Guard and three Grenadier divisions, six divisions in all, were left in European Russia, while newly formed corps composed of reserve units were sent into the field. I have already mentioned how my recommendation to mobilize the reinforcements being sent to us immediately after Easter was for various reasons rejected, how they were mobilized a month later than they should have been, and arrived in Manchuria unsettled, untrained, knowing scarcely anything of the new rifle, without having fired a course of musketry, and not having done any combined tactical operations with the other arms.

The troops of the 6th Siberians, which certainly had been in camp for a short time before starting, had not been given a gun or a squadron to enable them to practise combined operations. Of the 4th Siberian Corps, which mobilized under most favourable conditions, only the Omsk Regiment had been trained in artillery, and this was of an old pattern; yet it had to go into action with quick-firing guns. Cavalry were hardly seen. Indeed, if we consider the haphazard selection of commanding officers, the lack of any community of thought amongst the officers generally, the almost complete absence of proper tactical training, the large number of 2nd Category reservists, general dislike of the war, and, finally, the absence of military spirit, it will be evident why some units of the reserve troops failed. In the first battles the troops of the 4th Siberian Corps won a good reputation in the army. The reasons for this were:

1. The splendid character of the men in them. Bluff, surly fellows of Siberia, they were strong in body and stout of heart, and understood better than others the reasons for which we were fighting in the Far East.

2. The careful selection of those in command.

3. The bravery of the officers.

4. The long time they had, compared with other troops, to train and acquire cohesion.

But, after the reserve troops which came out from European Russia had received their baptism of fire, they also did well. It is sufficient to call to mind the behaviour of the regiments of the 54th and 71st Divisions at Mukden, as well as those of the 55th and 61st Divisions. But this result was not reached till late, and cost many lives. In a European conflict the fate of a campaign will be far more rapidly decided than it was in Manchuria, for the first battles fought after the declaration of hostilities will have a deciding influence. In the recent war, owing to the slow concentration possible on a single-track railway, the reserve troops might have been collected sooner and given several months to settle down, and have thus arrived at the front more ready for battle. In a European war they will have to be transported into the theatre of operations in a very short time after mobilization. We made a great mistake in forming the reserve troops into separate army corps. In my opinion, it would have been much better to have put them into existing corps—either as third divisions or separate brigades. This would have improved our corps organization, which is too unwieldy and too big for a strength of only twenty-four battalions. With strong corps consisting of efficient self-contained brigades the confusion of units in battle would be minimized.

Before the war no army corps organization had been worked out for the reserve troops; everything had been arranged for a divisional organization. In my opinion, neither corps nor divisions are necessary. It would be more advantageous to form the reserve units into independent brigades of eight battalions, and to use them as army troops, or possibly as corps troops. The mobilization of the reserve artillery, sapper, and cavalry, should take place together with that of the infantry. Every reserve brigade of eight battalions (8,000 rifles) should have, with two batteries of twelve guns, one company of sappers and one reserve squadron of cavalry or a sotnia of Cossacks. This arrangement would permit of reserve troops being employed on secondary objects without the organization of the army being broken up, and it would no longer be necessary to find so many divisional and corps commanders, with their numerous staffs.

Steps to augment the Combatant Element in our Infantry.

Amongst the causes of our disasters has been mentioned (Chapter VI.) the small number of rifles per company we had in action as compared with the Japanese. We often had more battalions than they, but fewer men. The various reasons for this I have already enumerated. To lessen the number of subsidiary duties which take men away from the fighting-line of the regular army, we must create cadres for the troops of the rear services; we must also arrange that the casualties are quickly made good from the reserve troops, which should be kept up permanently and closely connected with the regular troops. (Every regular regiment should have one reserve or depôt battalion.) To augment the numbers fighting compared with the numbers fed, and, in particular, to increase the number of men in the firing-line, we must bring up the combatant establishment of our companies from 220 to 250 rifles. With 220 rifles on the roll of a company, we were never able to put even 200 in action; and in bringing the strength of these units up to 250, we must take steps to see that they all really can take the field. According to the “War Establishments,” a line infantry regiment has an establishment of 3,838 combatants and 159[39] non-combatants (total 3,997), which gives 235 rifles per company. But in this number are included 35 bandsmen, 33 drummers, 1 bugler, 3 regimental quartermaster-sergeants, 1 sergeant-major of the non-combatant company, 5 baggage non-commissioned officers, and, moreover, another 240 (15 per company) detailed for supply work, etc. Excluding these, 3,520 combatants are left, which gives 220 per company; but experience has shown that there is much leakage from this number.

The peculiarities of Manchuria necessitated the employment of men on duties that would have been quite unnecessary, or less necessary, in a European war. Thus, in addition to the authorized transport, we had pack transport, which swallowed up fifty men per regiment. The large herds of cattle with regiments required twenty-four men to look after and guard them. There were nine regimental butchers. Two or three donkeys were told off to each company. (Indeed, they were of such great use in taking water and ammunition up into the firing-line that I consider they should be included in the establishments of troops in European Russia.) In each company one man was told off to these animals. The number of officers on the regimental rolls included those who had been wounded and were away convalescent, and many of these took their orderlies with them on leaving the front. The expenditure in these orderlies alone amounted to more than 100 men. For the special pack transport which was formed for the scout sections for carriage of ammunition and supplies, thirteen men per regiment were required. Judging by the experience of the war, I consider the following duties ought to be allowed for in every regiment in addition to the establishment of 159 non-combatants:

All these must be classed as non-combatants. Adding to these the prescribed establishment of 159 non-combatants, we shall get a total of 650 with each regiment of four battalions. They should all be armed, and be ready to fight either in the advanced lines or with the baggage.

The value of machine-guns is now so great that we cannot afford to be without them. In my opinion, each company should have one gun, and six men should be detailed to carry it and its ammunition. Thus, there would be 100 men with the machine-guns in a regiment (including four reserve men). The scout sections also did such useful service in the recent war that we ought certainly to have dismounted and small mounted scout sections in each regiment. This would take up 200 more men. Finally, the strength of every company, exclusive of all these extras, should be fixed at 250 rifles, which would make 4,000 in the regiment. The strength of a regiment would, therefore, total as follows:

The present establishment of a four-battalion regiment is 3,838 combatants and 159 non-combatants; total, 3,997. Therefore a total increase of 1,003 per regiment is desirable. Including fifteen men in every company for supply duties, the authorized non-combatant element works out at:

Fixing the total number of non-combatants required at 650, I thus add to the expenditure authorized by existing establishments 173. These, including stretcher-bearers, would never go into action. Thus, the addition necessary to bring the fighting element of a regiment up to 5,000 comes out as follows:

This increase would greatly add to its present strength.

Machine-Guns.

At the beginning of the war the army had only a small number of machine-guns. Recognizing the value of this weapon, the Japanese quickly introduced it, and furnished their field troops with a large number. We did the same, and several machine-gun companies and sections arrived from Russia during the summer of 1905. But the type of weapon did not satisfy tactical requirements—(1) as regards its weight; and, (2) adaptability to the ground. A pattern must be invented that can be carried even into the outpost line. Our high, unwieldy weapons, with their shields, more resembled light field-guns; and their unsuitable construction, combined with the difficulty of adapting them to the ground, was responsible for the decision that these guns should be organized into batteries, and be treated and used as artillery. Such an opinion is absolutely wrong, for the great volume of fire which they can deliver calls for their distribution at the most important points along the firing-line, and, therefore, a capability of advancing with assaulting columns. The organization of machine-gun companies did not meet the above tactical requirements. Each battalion should have four guns.

Reserve (or Depôt) Troops.

The reserve or depôt troops should be developed and given an organization which will permit of the wastage in units, both in officers and men, being made good from them immediately after a battle or during a long series of battles. Each infantry regiment should have its reserve (depôt) battalion, which should be formed on mobilization at a strength of 40 per cent. of the combatant establishment of a regiment—i.e., at 1,600 men.[42] Of these, 400, or 10 per cent. of the regiment’s strength, should be in the theatre of war. This number should be formed into one company, and should constitute the reserve depôt company of its particular regiment, and be continually feeding it. With every division these companies should be organized together into a reserve battalion of 1,600 men for the immediate replacement of casualties in the regiments of the division. All wounded and sick who are not sent to the base should be attached to this battalion till they are passed as fit. After great battles this reserve would be depleted, and would require filling up from the base depôt. The establishment of the other arms should be kept up to strength by a parallel arrangement. The casualties amongst non-combatants are less, but in their case a reserve is necessary, distinct from the combatant reserve, to make good their wastage. It should be mainly composed of 2nd Category reservists and those of the convalescent combatants not considered fit enough for the ranks.

The war shows very clearly the immense importance of rapidly repairing the wastage in units directly after an action. The Japanese succeeded in doing this, with the result that they were greatly superior to us in numbers. It was more important for us to be able to replace casualties by drafts than to receive reinforcements, and it would have made us stronger. For instance, with five troop trains available in the twenty-four hours, a complete army corps with its baggage and parks took twenty days to reach the front, and increased our strength by some 25,000 rifles. If drafts had been sent up during those twenty-days instead of an army corps, we should have received 90,000 to 100,000 men. In place of cavalry, baggage, artillery, parks, and a small number of infantry, we should have got a large number of the latter. It was infantry we wanted, for in our big battles it was the infantry that suffered so heavily. The number of guns per 1,000 rifles was too large, and the amount of transport and baggage was prodigious, with the result that the 10,000 to 12,000 rifles left in corps resembled an escort to the artillery, parks, baggage, etc.,[43] more than anything else.

Troops in Rear—Communication Troops.

By troops in rear I mean those at rest camps, railway troops, road working parties, telegraph sections, motor troops, transport of various kinds, all of which should be under the general officer commanding communications. There is also a large number of men in the departments, institutions, and depôts of all the field administrations, but as in Manchuria these were mostly fixed by the authorized establishment, I will not refer to them. The absence of any prepared organization of troops for the line of communication, however, led to their being formed at the expense of the fighting strength of the infantry. While officers commanding regiments complained of the great wastage of their men on duties in the rear, those in rear complained that the numbers they had were insufficient. Troops for the duties in rear should of course be formed on mobilization. In the part of my report upon the 1st Army which deals with the organization of the communications there is much valuable material which is based on war experience, and may be a useful guide for the future. By the end of August, 1905, the strength of the 1st Army alone was 300,000. Its own communications in rear had a depth of 150 miles and a frontage of 330 miles, including the detachments guarding the extreme left flank and the left flank corps under General Rennenkampf, with which we permanently occupied a front of about 70 miles. Under the general commanding the communications of the 1st Army, which consisted of six army corps, were 650 officers and officials, 12,000 men, and 25,000 horses, and this number was considered inadequate. In my report, I gave as my estimate for the numbers required for one army corps per day’s march in length of communications—

Engineer Troops.

The great development of science in warfare is very marked, but the late war did not display the employment of scientific forces that will be made in a struggle between two European Powers. In this respect the Japanese were much better served than we were, but even they were not technically equipped in the way that will soon be necessary. The speedy construction of strong fortifications, the laying of railways (especially of field railways) and construction of metalled roads, the organization of aerial and wireless telegraphy, of signalling by heliograph, lamps, and flags, the employment of balloons, motors, and bicycles, are all duties for which the demand increases every day, while the great quantity also of artificial obstacles, wire, mines, hand-grenades, explosives, reserves of entrenching tools, etc., now required must exist ready for use in large quantities. A much larger number of engineer troops, including sappers, telegraph and railway units, than we had available in Manchuria is necessary, in order that all this technical equipment may be used to the best advantage. Without touching here upon the railway troops necessary for the proper service of the communications, the number of which must depend upon the length of the existing lines, and of those proposed to be laid during operations, let us consider the question of the number of sapper and telegraph troops required for one army corps of three divisions.

The spade, which had been forgotten since the Turkish War, has once more regained its true position. With the volume and murderous effectiveness of modern fire, neither the attack nor the defence can be conducted without enormous losses, unless proper and intelligent use is made of digging. For a protracted defence strong fortified positions with both open and closed works and all possible kinds of artificial obstacles are absolutely necessary. Consequently, for the attack of such positions, special troops are required trained in the use of explosives and the destruction of obstacles, and in road-making, for heavy artillery demands good roads and strong bridges.

While every Japanese division of twelve infantry battalions had one strong sapper battalion, we had on an average only one company of sappers with each division. This proved to be too small a proportion. Our sappers worked nobly in the construction of earthworks and roads, but they did little in actual contact with the enemy, and, strange as it may appear, were often forgotten when an action began, even when we attacked the enemy’s strongly fortified positions. In the 2nd Army we had several sapper battalions, and yet in the assault on San-de-pu[44] not a single company was told off to accompany the storming columns. As our sappers were so scarce, we took the greatest care of them, as their small number of casualties as compared with those of the infantry proves. To get the best results from this arm, it seems to me necessary to associate them more with other troops, and therefore to attach them to divisions, instead of including them in the corps troops. If we succeed in getting strong regiments of 4,000 rifles, I consider it essential that every regiment should have attached to it, for offensive as well as defensive operations, one sapper company of 250 men, which would mean a four-company sapper battalion, 1,000 strong, for every division. They should be trained to put up obstacles very rapidly, and should possess the necessary tools and equipment for their destruction. A large supply of wire is also very important; it may be taken that every division should have a sufficient supply of wire for two defensive points, say 1 ton for each.

Moreover, there should be attached to each division a field-telegraph company of six sections, in order to organize rapid communication between each party of troops thrown out in front and the divisional staff. Each regiment should have with it a section which should be equipped to establish communication by telephone,[45] flag, cycle or motor. With every three-division army corps there should be a sapper brigade of three battalions, a field-telegraph battalion of five companies, a mining company, a balloon section, and a railway battalion. Two of the telegraph companies should keep up communication from the corps to army headquarters, to other corps, to its own divisions, to the parks, the baggage, and reserves.

One of our principal failings, as I have repeatedly mentioned, was lack of information. Owing to this, and the consequent loss of touch, commanders could not conduct operations intelligently or keep corps and army commanders and the Commander-in-Chief informed of what was happening. Every Japanese regiment laid down telephones as it advanced; we used to find their dead operators in our trous de loup, which showed that they were right up with the firing-line. With us touch was not infrequently lost even between whole corps and armies! The necessity for remedying this grave defect is obvious, and we must practise how to do this in peace. Not a regiment should be allowed to advance at manœuvres without at once being connected up by telephone with its brigade commander and the divisional staff, and it is essential that, as the information comes in by telegraph and telephone, the divisional corps and army staffs should at once fix on the maps the positions of both forces. Formerly commanders could watch the whole battlefield through a telescope from an eminence, could see their own troops, and could trace the position of the hostile infantry and artillery from the smoke. Now there is nothing to be seen. Often the troops are out of sight, and all that meets the eye are the puffs of smoke from the bursting shrapnel. Therefore orders and dispositions have to be worked out on the map, and we must learn how to keep these maps constantly up to time. In order that all intelligence may be at once noted, a “service of communication,” by means of motors, cyclists, and particularly of telegraph and telephone, might be organized, in addition to the ordinary reports brought in by mounted men. To attain these important results, considerable expense must be incurred in the creation of this “service of communication” or “service of information” of such a nature as to meet in every way the requirements of battle, of movement, and of rest.

An adequate number of sapper units with regiments will not only help us in the capture of fortified positions strengthened by obstacles, but will assist us rapidly to adapt them for defence when taken. The work of the mining company in future wars will be great both in attack and defence, especially in defence. It should have charge of all explosives required for demolitions, including mines, pyroxyline bombs, and hand-grenades. The great effect of the bombs thrown by revolutionaries and anarchists points to their extensive use in war in the future. If fanatics can be found who will rush to certain death in order to kill peaceful citizens, it should certainly be possible to find devoted soldiers who will advance ahead of the firing-line and throw bombs into the enemy’s obstacles.

Besides supply of field railway material for the army, each corps should have enough for thirty miles of line (steam or horse draught, according to circumstances).