Machine guns are particularly suited to the defence of fortresses during this period, and Sir G. S. Clarke, in his book Fortification, says: "The fire of the Maxim gun, delivering about 700 bullets a minute,[A] can be directed by one man, who need not show more than his head (easily shielded) above the parapet, the feed being tended by another man completely under cover. In the special qualities of the machine gun there is a distinct advantage to the defence, arising from the fact that an intense fire over a particular area can he suddenly developed by a few men occupying a small space. This, in the case of night attacks especially, is a valuable quality. At Port Arthur the Russians in some cases employed machine guns with good effect, concealing them so that their fire came as a surprise to the assaulting parties. Their portability renders them well suited for the defence of positions, and they will doubtless form an important element in the armament of fortresses."
Speaking of the difficulty of "storming" the modern fortress, the same author says: "The vive force school proposed therefore—on paper—to shell them heavily and then storm, trusting to incomplete organisation and general unpreparedness. There is little or nothing in military history to bear out the views of this school, and modern experience is entirely against them. Only one such attempt was made in 1870-1, against the indifferent provisional works
