Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1295

 DEFENCE 989

attached 18 reserve divisions ; 12 parks attaclieil to 12 reserve divisions in European Russia ; and 2 reserve mountain parks, attached to 2 reserve divisions in the Caucasus. Depot artillery has permanent peace cadres of 3 depot brigades, each of 3 batteries (expanding into 12 batteries) ; 3 depot batteries (expanding into 12) ; 1 guard battery, and 1 Caucasian battery (ex- panding respectively into 3 guard batteries, and 4 Caucasian) ; and 1 horse artillery depot battery. Imperial militia field artillery will consist of 80 batteries combined into 40 regiments, each of 2 batteries, attached to the 40 divisions of the militia infantry. The foot artillery consists of 56 fortress battalions ; 4 siege battalions ; 10 fortress artillery companies ; 2 fortress detachments in Asia ; and 5 sortie batteries. The imperial militia foot artillery will consist of 10 battalions in war.

The engineers consist of 25 sapper battalions ; 4 Turkestan and Siberian battalions ; 8 pontoon battalions, and 7 of field park engineers. There are 7 battalions of railway troops ; 2 engineer siege parks ; and an instructional balloon park. Reserve engineers consist of 2 reserve sapper battalions. The fortress engineers are 23 fortress sapper companies and 4 half companies ; 15 submarine mining companies ; 6 fortress balloon detachments ; 7 fortress telegraph detachments ; and 10 engineering artificer detachments. The depot engineers form on mobilisation 4 depot sapper battalions and a depot technical battalion. The imperial militia engineers will consist, on mobilisation, of 20 militia sapper companies in 5 battalions.

The frontier guard, stationed on the frontier, are in 31 brigades and 2 de- tachments, in all about 35,000 men. In addition to these components^ of the Russian army there are field gendarmerie (6 cadres kept up in peace), field post service, Caucasian native militia, the Palace grenadier company, corps of military topographers, veterinary service, sanitary divisions (attached to the infantry divisions), train (6 battalions), reserve horse depots, &c.

The infantry and rifies are armed with the new small-bore rifle (3 lines), with a magazine of five cartridges ; the dragoons have a t;imilar rifle taking the same cartridges. The active field and mountain artillery have steel breechloaders of four patterns : heavy, with an extreme range of 4,150 yards ; light, range 4,480 yards ; light (pattern of 1892), range 4,480 yards; and mountain, range 4,700 yards. The wedge gun of the regular horse artillery takes the same ammunition as that of the light batteries. The howitzers, used for shell and shrapnel, have a maximum range of 3,600 yards.