Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/193

LEFT AMMUNITION 151 AMMUNITION ply for the army of the United States company bodies of infantry and cavalry, includes ammunition for small arms in- and caissons which accompany artillery eluding rifles, machine guns, and pistols, to the immediate neighborhood of the and ammunition for the Field Artillery, battle. Ammunition trains are held in In the United States the ammunition the rear to insure a re-supply of combat for the Field Artillery, prior to the trains. World War, included the following call- The initial advantage obtained by bers: 2.95-inch mountain gun, 3-inch Germany in the first years of the World iM RIFLE AMMUNITION A. Armor-Piercine .30 Caliber Rifle Cartridare B. Tracer .30 Caliber Rifle Cartridge C. Incendiary .30 Caliber Rifle Cartridge D. Ordinary .30 Caliber Rifle Cartridge field gun, and 3.8-inch field howitzers. In the case of these arms fixed ammuni- tion is used. The problem of continual and suffi- cient supply of ammunition is one of the most serious factors in war and was an especially difficult solution in the World War in which vast quantities of ammunition were expended. The supply is maintained by combat trains com- posed of ammunition wagons which ac- War were to a large extent due to the immense store of ammunition which had been prepared and held in reserve. Thus these years resulted in an industrial as well as a military combat between Germany and the western Allies. The Entente Powers soon recovered from this disadvantage and by 1916 possessed the advantage in artillery and ammuni- tion. This preponderance was even more marked in 1917 and continued