Various artillery: cannons, bombs, howitzers

The artillery consisted of: - cannons: indirect firing weapons, which serve to disperse the masses of opposing opposing infantry troops.

The cannons naturally existed for a long time already.

Their shooting is said to be indirect since it cannot be targeted like that of a rifle, for example.

The power, range and movement of the cannons are studied and established by special artillery departments, made up of engineers, mathematicians, surveyors, since it is necessary to calibrate the indirect shot well to calculate its effectiveness on the target.

Similarly to the action of the Balearic slingers and the Greek archers of the Roman army, the aim of the cannons was to destroy the trenches and to disintegrate the rear, responding to the opponent's cannon shots and preventing him from sending reinforcements (called "interdiction" ").

A famous cannon produced by Germany, from the famous Krupp steelworks was the "Bertha".

The cannons of the First World War are all retro-charged.

Muzzleloading lasts until about the second half of the 19th century.

The only muzzle-loading "cannon", still existing and used, is the mortar, which is the infantry cannon.

This mortar has a smooth barrel and has bullets that explode twice: the first time, to be fired; the second when they reach the ground or, if calibrated (shrapnel type), in the air, hitting with the splinters, which fall in rain, even those who have laid down on the ground to protect themselves.

The muzzle-loading and back-loading presuppose two different types of rods.

The muzzle-loader wants the smooth barrel, while the rear-loader the ribbed one, which has a greater capacity and great precision.

In the First World War, the cannons, if used in mountainous areas (such as that of the Italian front) were dismantled piece by piece, loaded onto wagons or, more often, onto mules, and reassembled on site.

In the flat area (like that of the western front), they were loaded onto trucks.

- bombards: they were different cannons, which threw huge projectiles into the trenches, destroying them completely.

They were indispensable especially when it came to disintegrating the barbed wire fence - howitzers: these are larger cannons, with an always indirect but more imprecise shot.

They are useful for their size and for their mass, not for precision.

They serve to completely destroy the trenches and everything that surrounds them, causing huge craters - rifles: the infantry soldiers possessed rifles with only 6 shots, which were fired during the assault (a few meters on foot from the trench proper to that of the enemy, to cover yourself).

That's why, once they reached their destination, the clash took place essentially "hand-to-hand", using bayonets, daggers (the dared ones, for example), iron clubs (the Austrians) and any other blunt instrument (the butt of the rifle or other ): we have already talked about this on a previous page.

- hand grenades: obviously they were not used in assaults in the trenches, since the assailant would also have died - mines, very different and more rudimentary than the current ones.

The period movie (1916) shows the devastation caused by artillery, which was the most significant and terrible weapon of mass destruction of the First World War.

Not only did the bullets provoke huge craters, but the soldiers who moved running from one hole to another, were hit by the mini-projectiles contained in fired capsules, called "shrapnel".