Page:Tactics (Balck 1915).djvu/498



The following figures in regard to the expenditure of ammunition during the battle of Vionville are taken from Kriegsgeschichtliche Beispiele, 8 and 9, by Major :

IInd Bn. Leib Regt. 12,749 rounds for 850 rifles, or  15 per rifle. Ist Bn. 40th Inf.     35,000   "     "   450   "     "   78  "    " IInd Bn. 40th Inf.     6,650   "     "   350   "     "   19  "    " IIIrd Bn. 40th Inf.    4,520   "     "   300   "     "   15  "    "

A very annoying shortage of ammunition occurred in those parts of the Leib Regiment which were with the 72nd and 40th Infantry Regiments in front of the wood. The retained echelons in the wood had sufficient ammunition, but the troops in front lacked the means wherewith to inform the retained units of the shortage. In the 11th and 72nd Infantry Regiments a serious shortage of ammunition occurred after they had been engaged but a short time. (In a little less than two hours, the 72nd Infantry suffered the following percentage of losses: Ist Battalion, 53.2%; Füsilier Battalion, 48.2%).

The defense of the stone wall at Buzanval by the 50th Infantry (German), on January 19th, 1871, was one of the most obstinate defensive fights of the war. The numerical superiority of the enemy at this point was overwhelming and his troops were excellent, nevertheless the regiment maintained the same splendid fire discipline it had already exhibited at Lundby. The fight lasted nine hours. In his history of the regiment (p. 350), Lieutenant-General v. Boguslawski says:

"The number of cartridges fired can no longer be accurately determined. Only the war diary of the IInd Battalion contains a note showing that 14,206 rounds were expended. As the 5th Company did not fire at all, and the 7th Company was only partially engaged, by far the greater portion of the ammunition must have been expended by the 6th and 8th Companies." The IInd Battalion, like the rest, has no record showing what ammunition was supplied to it during the battle. To cite an example: The 12th Company received about 3,000 rounds of ammunition during the fight. As the strength of this company was 180 men in round numbers, each man received 17 additional cartridges. He therefore had 97 rounds available, including the ammunition originally supplied him.

"Now, as each man still had an average of 5 cartridges on going into billets, he must have expended 92 rounds. From this we may assume that during the nine hours' fight, he fired a little more than ten rounds per hour."

In the battle of Beaune la Rolande, some of the companies of the 56th Infantry near Romainville had expended all their ammunition. In the 38th Brigade, only the Ist Battalion, 57th Infantry, was able to replen-*