第 18 节
作者:博搏      更新:2022-04-08 21:02      字数:9322
  soldier; by saying; 〃Not I!  I want to be a fighter!〃
  The professional officer of the old dispensation was a man
  specialised in relation to one of the established 〃arms。〃  He was
  an infantryman; a cavalryman; a gunner or an engineer。  It will
  be interesting to trace the changes that have happened to all
  these arms。
  Before this war began speculative writers had argued that
  infantry drill in close formation had now no fighting value
  whatever; that it was no doubt extremely necessary for the
  handling; packing; forwarding and distribution of men; but that
  the ideal infantry fighter was now a highly individualised and
  self…reliant man put into a pit with a machine gun; and supported
  by a string of other men bringing him up supplies and ready to
  assist him in any forward rush that might be necessary。
  The opening phases of the war seemed to contradict this。  It did
  not at first suit the German game to fight on this most modern
  theory; and isolated individual action is uncongenial to the
  ordinary German temperament and opposed to the organised social
  tendencies of German life。  To this day the Germans attack only
  in close order; they are unable to produce a real modern infantry
  for aggressive purposes; and it is a matter of astonishment to
  military minds on the English side that our hastily trained new
  armies should turn out to be just as good at the new fighting as
  the most 〃seasoned troops。〃  But there is no reason whatever why
  they should not be。  〃Leading;〃 in the sense of going ahead of
  the men and making them move about mechanically at the word of
  command; has ceased。  On the British side our magnificent new
  subalterns and our equally magnificent new non…commissioned
  officers play the part of captains of football teams; they talk
  their men individually into an understanding of the job before
  them; they criticise style and performance。  On the French side
  things have gone even farther。  Every man in certain attacks has
  been given a large scale map of the ground over which he has to
  go; and has had his own individual job clearly marked and
  explained to him。  All the Allied infantrymen tend to become
  specialised; as bombers; as machine…gun men; and so on。  The
  unspecialised common soldier; the infantryman who has stood and
  marched and moved in ranks and ranks; the 〃serried lines of men;〃
  who are the main substance of every battle story for the last
  three thousand years; are as obsolete as the dodo。  The rifle and
  bayonet very probably are becoming obsolete too。  Knives and
  clubs and revolvers serve better in the trenches。  The krees and
  the Roman sword would be as useful。  The fine flourish of the
  bayonet is only possible in the rare infrequent open。  Even the
  Zulu assegai would serve as well。
  The two operations of the infantry attack now are the rush and
  the 〃scrap。〃  These come after the artillery preparation。  Against
  the rush; the machine gun is pitted。  The machine gun becomes
  lighter and more and more controllable by one man; as it does so
  the days of the rifle draw to a close。  Against the machine gun
  we are now directing the 〃Tank;〃 which goes ahead and puts out
  the machine gun as soon as it begins to sting the infantry rush。
  We are also using the swooping aeroplane with a machine gun。
  Both these devices are of British origin; and they promise very
  well。
  After the rush and the scrap comes the organisation of the
  captured trench。  〃Digging in〃 completes the cycle of modern
  infantry fighting。  You may consider this the first or the last
  phase of an infantry operation。  It is probably at present the
  least worked…out part of the entire cycle。  Here lies the sole
  German superiority; they bunch and crowd in the rush; they are
  inferior at the scrap; but they do dig like moles。  The weakness
  of the British is their failure to settle down。  they like the
  rush and the scrap; they press on too far; they get outflanked
  and lost 〃in the blue〃; they are not naturally clever at the
  excavating part of the work; and they are not as yet well trained
  in making dug…outs and shelter…pits rapidly and intelligently。
  they display most of the faults that were supposed to be most
  distinctively French before this war came to revolutionise all
  our conceptions of French character。
  2
  Now the operations of this modern infantry; which unlike any
  preceding infantry in the history of war does not fight in
  disciplined formations but as highly individualised specialists;
  are determined almost completely by the artillery preparation。
  Artillery is now the most essential instrument of war。  You may
  still get along with rather bad infantry; you may still hold out
  even after the loss of the aerial ascendancy; but so soon as your
  guns fail you approach defeat。  The backbone process of the whole
  art of war is the manufacture in overwhelming quantities; the
  carriage and delivery of shell upon the vulnerable points of the
  enemy's positions。  That is; so to speak; the essential blow。
  Even the infantryman is now hardly more than the residuary
  legatee after the guns have taken their toll。
  I have now followed nearly every phase in the life history of a
  shell from the moment when it is a segment of steel bar just cut
  off; to the moment when it is no more than a few dispersed and
  rusting rags and fragments of steelpressed upon the stray
  visitor to the battlefield as souvenirs。  All good factories are
  intensely interesting places to visit; but a good munition
  factory is romantically satisfactory。  It is as nearly free from
  the antagonism of employer and employed as any factory can be。
  The busy sheds I visited near Paris struck me as being the most
  living and active things in the entire war machine。  Everywhere
  else I saw fitful activity; or men waiting。  I have seen more men
  sitting about and standing about; more bored inactivity; during
  my tour than I have ever seen before in my life。  Even the front
  line trenches seem to slumber; the Angel of Death drowses over
  them; and moves in his sleep to crush out men's lives。  The
  gunfire has an indolent intermittence。  But the munition
  factories grind on night and day; grinding against the factories
  in Central Europe; grinding out the slow and costly and necessary
  victory that should end aggressive warfare in the world for ever。
  It would be very interesting if one could arrange a meeting
  between any typical Allied munition maker on the one hand; and
  the Kaiser and Hindenburg; those two dominant effigies of the
  German nationalists' dream of 〃world might。〃  Or failing that; Mr。
  Dyson might draw the encounter。  You imagine these two heroic
  figures got up for the interview; very magnificent in shining
  helms and flowing cloaks; decorations; splendid swords; spurs。
  〃Here;〃 one would say; 〃is the power that has held you。  You were
  bolstered up very loyally by the Krupp firm and so forth; you
  piled up shell; guns; war material; you hoped to snatch your
  victory before the industrialisation and invention of the world
  could turn upon you。  But you failed。  You were not rapid enough。
  The battle of the Marne was your misfortune。  And Ypres。  You
  lost some chances at Ypres。  Two can play at destructive
  industrialism; and now we out…gun you。  We are piling up
  munitions now faster than you。  The essentials of this Game of
  the War Lord are idiotically simple; but it was not of our
  choosing。  It is now merely a question of months before you make
  your inevitable admission。  This is no war to any great
  commander's glory。  This gentleman in the bowler hat is the
  victor; Sire; not you。  Assisted; Sire; by these disrespectful…
  looking factory girls in overalls。〃
  For example; there is M。 Citroen。  Before the war I understand he
  made automobiles; after the war he wants to turn to and make
  automobiles again。  For the duration of the war he makes shell。
  He has been temporarily diverted from constructive to destructive
  industrialism。  He did me the honours of his factory。  He is a
  compact; active man in dark clothes and a bowler hat; with a
  pencil and notebook conveniently at hand。  He talked to me in
  carefully easy French; and watched my face with an intelligent
  eye through his pince…nez for the signs of comprehension。  Then
  he went on to the next point。
  He took me through every stage of his process。  In his office he
  showed me the general story。  Here were photographs of certain
  vacant fields and old sheds〃this place〃he indicated the
  altered prospect from the window〃at the outbreak of the war。〃
  He showed me a plan of the first undertaking。  〃Now we have
  rather over nine thousand workpeople。〃
  He showed me a little row of specimens。  〃These we make for
  Italy。  These go to Russia。  These are the Rumanian pattern。〃
  Thence to the first stage; the chopping up of the iron bars; the
  furnace; the punching out of the first shape of the shell; all
  this is men's work。  I had seen this sort of thing before in
  peace ironworks; but I saw it again with the same astonishment;
  the absolute precision of movement on the part of the half…naked
  sweating men; the calculated efficiency of each worker; the
  apparent heedlessness; the real certitude; with which the blazing
  hot cylinder is put here; dropped there; rolls to