Page:Aircraft in Warfare (1916).djvu/96

§ 36 disparity of numbers (probably in no case exceeding 2 to 1) the effect of concentration must have been not far from that indicated by theory. But to whatever extent thiswas the case, it is certain that with a battle-fleet action at the present day the conditions are still more favourable to the weight of numbers, since with the modern battle range—some 4 to 5 miles—there is virtually no limit to the degree of concentration of fire. Further than this, there is in modern naval warfare practically no chance of coming to close quarters in ship-to-ship combats, as in the old days.

Thus the conditions are to-day almost ideal from the point of view of theoretical treatment. A numerical superiority of ships of individually equal strength will mean definitely that the inferior fleet at the outset has to face the full fire of the superior, and as the battle proceeds and the smaller fleet is knocked to pieces, the initial disparity will become worse and worse, and the fire to which it is subjected more and more concentrated. These are precisely the conditions taken as the basis of the investigation from which the n-square law has been derived. The same observations will probably be found to apply to aerial warfare when air fleets engage in conflict, more especially so in view of the fact that aeroplane can attack aeroplane in three dimensions of space instead of being limited to two, as is the case with the battleship. This will mean that even with weapons of moderate range the degree of fire concentration possible will be very great. By attacking from above and below, as well as from all points of the compass, there is, within reason, no limit to the number of machines which can be brought to bear on a given small force of the enemy, and so a numerically superior fleet will be able to reap every ounce of advantage from its numbers.