Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1322

1200 in the infantry, field, and foot, artillery, and for 4 years in the other arms. The soldier is then transferred to the reserve (Zapas), in which he serves for 15 or 14 years, undergoing during this period 2 trainings of 6 weeks each. Having completed 18 years in the first line and its reserve, the soldier passes to the 'Opolchénié.' Service in the Opolchénié is for 5 years, that is to the completion of the 43rd year of the soldier's age.

The Cossacks, occupying the S.W, portion of European Russia, hold their lands by military tenure, and are liable to service for life. The Cossack troops are almost entirely mounted; they provide their own horses and equipment. The young Cossacks from the age of 19 are trained for two years at their homes. They then enter the 'first category' regiment of their district, in which they remain for four years. These regiments are permanently embodied and may be employed in any part of the Empire. The men then pass to the 'second category' regiment for another four years, and to the 'third category' regiment for a similar period. The men of the second category regiments live at their homes, but retain their equipment and horses; in the third category the men have their equipment, but no horses; they are called out for three weeks' training every year. Finally there is a period of five years in the reserve, which fills casualties in time of war. Besides this, every Cossack up to any age can be called out in time of emergency to assist in the national defence.

The Opolchénié, or territorial army, is divided into 2 classes, or 'bans.' The first ban includes not only the trained men who have passed through the first line and reserve, but the young men surplus to the annual contingent, and all are liable to embodiment in the active army in time of war. This part of the Opolchénié therefore serves the purpose of a supplementary reserve. But provision is also said to have been made for the formation of a large number of units, which are to be organised in 40 divisions, each consisting of 16 battalions, 2 batteries, and a cavalry regiment of 4 squadrons; these are for home defence. The second ban of the Opolchénié is the levy en masse, containing all those exempted from actual service, whether as students, only sons, &c., or as not quite up to the physical standards of the army, and also the older classes of the surplus men who have all had a certain amount of training.

There is a modified system of one year volunteers in Russia, which furnishes the majority of the officers required for the reserve troops on mobilisation.

A Russian division consists of 2 brigades of 2 regiments of 4 battalions. To each division is attached an artillery brigade of 6 or 8 batteries, with its ammunition columns, an engineer battalion and 2 or 3 sotnias (squadrons) of Cossacks. The normal army corps consists of 2 divisions, a howitzer division, a sapper battalion, and, in the case of several army corps, a cavalry division. A cavalry division ordinarily consists of 2 brigades of 2 regiments (one brigade of uhlans and hussars, the other of dragoons and Cossacks), and 2 batteries of horse artillery. Field batteries have 8 guns each, horse artillery batteries have 6 guns each. The fighting strength of an army corps may be taken as 36,000 men, without a cavalry division; and 40,000, if a cavalry division is included. In European Russia, including Finland, rifles are organised in regiments of 2 battalions, and form permanent brigades of 4 regiments (8 battalions). These rifle brigades have their own artillery (3 batteries), and they are not included in army corps; they are considered special troops, and are supplied with a better stamp of recruits than the line.

The field army of European Russia consists of 27 army corps, viz.:— the Guard and Grenadier Corps, and 25 line army corps. The cavalry