Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/355

LEFT ARTILLERY 283 ARTILLERY 42-centimeter guns. These were sup- plemented by other heavy guns of 28-cm. and 35-cm. and constituted the heaviest siege artillery hitherto employed in war- ful as that of Germany at the beginning of the war, but the disproportion stead- ily decreased as the conflict went on. The French, however, had two admirable 155-MILLIMETER GUN, WITH DIVIDED TRAIL (FRENCH MODEL, 1918) fare. The next class in size and power was their heavy army artillery with 13, 15, and 19 centimeter caliber, having a range of between 10 and 12 miles. Lighter than these were the corps ar- tillery pieces, of which the 105 and 150 pieces in their 75-mm. and their 155-mm. guns. The former was the most useful piece employed by either side. It threw projectiles weighing between 12 and 16 pounds to a distance of bV2 miles. It was mobile, light, and worked with re- UNITED STATES 4.7" FIELD GUN mm. howitzers were the types. These latter were the more mobile, and were able to follow or accompany the infantry to any desired position. The Allied artillery was not as power- markable speed and precision. A recoil mechanism, with which it is provided, allows a certain retrogade movement of the gun and then returns it to posi- tion for the next shot. Instead of being