battalions. Both Major Gerard and General Langlois are advocates of their employment. General Langlois desires to oppose the brutal German battle tactics with rapid maneuvers of mobile reserves which he would form of cyclist battalions, artillery, and cavalry.
According to the Cyclist Regulations dated September
10th, 1904, the cyclist company is to be looked upon as
infantry, which is capable of moving at great speed, but is
tied to the network of roads. The cyclist companies are
principally intended for defensive action, holding an important
point until the arrival of infantry They are also to
serve as support for cavalry and artillery, but are not adapted
for reconnaissance work. Since it is difficult for them to
secure their flanks on the march, they are to be used mainly
in combination with other arms.
In winter campaigns, when wheel and horse cannot be used, recourse is had to the Canadian snowshoe (a web shoe) or to the Norwegian snowshoe or ski (skee). In France, Italy, Austria,[1] Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland marching on snowshoes is assiduously practiced, while in Germany the troops have so far done little in this line. The ski is, however, coming more and more into vogue among the rural population of the German mountains.
Deep snow is an effective obstacle for troops not equipped with snowshoes. This is not entirely due to the fact that the march is retarded, but to the unusual difficulties attending the service of security. Covering bodies are stalled. Besides, the difficulties of maintaining communication with neighboring detachments are increased when valleys or ab-*
- ↑ One of the most remarkable snowshoe marches ever recorded is without doubt that made by the ski detachment of the 4th Regiment of Tirolese Kaiser-Jägers (Austria) stationed in Salzburg. In June, 1905, this detachment, consisting of 4 officers, 15 men and 4 guides, all with field equipment, marched around the base of the "Grosz Glockner," via Mlttersil, Felber-Tauern (elev. 2,500 m.), Windisch-Matrey, Lienz. Dolsack, Hochtor (elev. 2,570 m.), into the Fuscher valley, despite violent cyclonic snow storms, a journey which, even in mid-summer, can only be undertaken by experienced tourists. In several of these detachments experiments were made with white covers for uniform and equipment, which enabled individual men and patrols to approach unseen to within 200 to 300 m. of an opponent.
