Page "Canon de 75 modèle 1897" Paragraph 27

The French 75 introduced a new concept in artillery technology: rapid firing without realigning the gun after each shot.

Older artillery had to be resighted after each shot in order to stay on target, and thus fired no more than two aimed shots per minute.

The French 75 easily delivered fifteen aimed rounds per minute and could fire even faster for short periods of time.

This rate of fire, the gun's accuracy, and the lethality of the ammunition against personnel, made the French 75 superior to all other regimental field artillery at the time.

When made ready for action, the first shot buried the trail spade and the two wheel anchors into the ground, following which all other shots were fired from a stable platform.

Bringing down the wheel anchors tied to the braking system was called " abattage ".

The gun could not be elevated beyond eighteen degrees, unless the trail spade had been deeply dug into the ground ; however, the 75 mm field gun was not designed for " plunging fire ".

The gun could be traversed laterally 3 degrees to the sides by sliding the trail on the wheel's axle.

Progressive traversing together with small changes in elevation could be carried out while continuously firing, called " fauchage " or " sweeping fire ".

A 4-gun battery firing shrapnel could deliver 17, 000 ball projectiles over an area 100 meters wide by 400 meters long in a single minute.

Because of the gun's traversing ability, the longer the distance to the enemy concentration, the wider area that could be swept.