Chapter III: Introduction: Sidenote: Importance of training infantry (2)

In advancing the attack by rushes the size of the fraction rushing will be dependent upon the relative proportion of rifles necessary to hold your fire superiority. If rushes are practicable at all it will seldom be necessary to rush by smaller units than the platoon. But an advance will sometimes have to be made by fractions of only a man or two and sometimes by crawling. All these should be taught.

When the enemy is active the rushes should not be long, if of only 25 or 30 yards the time the men are actually running will be very short, too short for the average man to pick up the target, raise the rifle to his shoulder and fire with careful aim. Too much time is taken by the average man in getting up and down. The men must be practiced in springing to their feet and getting down again in the shortest time possible. There is a knack in this not difficult to acquire.

[Sidenote: Reinforcements]

Reinforcing a firing line will generally bring about intermingling of squads and platoons. To avoid this by closing in on the center by companies, thus creating gaps for reinforcements, is impracticable on a battlefield when reinforcing is necessary. In battle in the great majority of cases reinforcements will go in as they can and fall into the existing gaps where found. As this will be the rule in battle we should so drill it.

When the next rush is made, say by squads, where do these reinforcements go? In one regiment at least, they solved it satisfactorily. The points of division along the firing line remain where they were; the new man who joins the firing line always goes with the man on his right, he belongs to the squad and to the platoon of the man on his right. This provision should be added in the I. D. R.

[Sidenote: Mixing on the firing line]

In teaching the mechanism of the extended order, practice should be had in this by dividing the company into firing line and support and then feeding in the support and continuing the advance by rushes. If you expect this to be done in battle it must become a habit. To get the best practice in this mixing, as well as to train officers and sergeants to think quickly and to act properly, there should be many rencontre engagements so planned as to bring about a mixing of units on the firing line.

[Sidenote: Practice at war strength]

Some practice should be afforded with companies at war strength. This can be had by combining two or more companies. By this means it is sought to accustom officers to the fronts and depths of such a company and also to the greater length of time required to change formation.

[Sidenote: Redistributing the target]

In combat exercises of the company alone practice must be had in shifting part of the fire to new targets and redistributing the old. In large battles this will seldom if ever be required by men in the firing line, but it will occur in detachment work. The companies should get practice in this and it can be well coupled with the instruction in hasty deployments suggested on page 46.

[Sidenote: Work on the defensive]

Some work should be done on the defensive. A few men should be detailed to represent the enemy; if the man carries one little flag he represents a squad, if two flags a platoon. These men should be in charge of a competent man who as nearly as is practicable directs their advance as such units would really advance under the assumed conditions. Enveloping movements and surprise attacks can thus be well simulated, giving the company the opportunity to practice meeting such movements by the use of the support, redistribution of targets, etc.

[Sidenote: Company against company]

The instruction against an outlined enemy having been practiced until the companies are well instructed, the enemy should be represented, one company should work against another. This gives an opportunity for reconnaissance work before and during the attack and introduces the elements of uncertainty as to what the enemy will do.

[Sidenote: Night operations]

In war, night operations are inevitable and we must recognize this fact and prepare for them. Night marches by large commands, patrolling by both large and small groups, and outpost work, including the establishing of the outpost in the dark, will all occur as well as an occasional night battle. In all this work the principal difficulty seems to be to avoid confusion and mistakes.

[Sidenote: Orientation]

The men, especially those who are city bred, are unable to orient themselves in the dark. The darkness when coupled with possible unseen foes has a demoralizing effect and this effect will be the greater the more helpless the man feels himself to be in the dark and the less confidence he has in the ability of the company to act as a company. Much of this difficulty can be overcome by a little careful training.

The men should be taken out and taught to orient themselves by the stars and prominent features that can be distinguished at night. The effects of different backgrounds on the visibility of objects should be demonstrated, and especially the prominence of objects on a skyline. Estimating distance by sound should be practiced. The men grouped into small patrols should be made to find their way from place to place and then to operate against other patrols.

[Sidenote: Night drill]

The company should be drilled at night. Forming line from column, front into line, on right or left into line, and even forming line of skirmishers, should be practiced and an occasional night march made. A very few drills each season, held at night instead of in daylight, will do much toward giving the men that necessary confidence in the ability of the company to work together in the dark.

It will sometimes happen that a command will have to go into camp after dark and establish an outpost. This should be practiced at least once each season after the company has been well instructed in the work by daylight.

[Sidenote: Night attacks]

Satisfactory training for night attacks is difficult. The first principle governing night attacks is not to shoot but to get in as close as possible undiscovered and then rush with the bayonet. It is impracticable to practice this with a represented enemy; it is too dangerous. To practice it by allowing the opposing sides to fire blanks at each other is all wrong because it is teaching the men to do what they should not do in war.

One method is to place men to represent the enemy behind a suitable fence, then to make the advance and attack, causing the represented enemy to open fire as soon as the attack is discovered. An open wire fence will not prevent the discovery of the attack but will stop the bayonet rush before anyone is hurt. This is not very satisfactory work for the company but is more appropriate for the battalion and regiment. In these latter it is desirable to practice the necessary formations for such attacks and to give the officers experience in such troop leading. For this work to be of benefit the officers must know their night tactics, the proper formations to take and the best methods of troop leading; this knowledge should first be acquired by study and then put to the test at night. It is not well to devote too much time to such work.

[Sidenote: Woods fighting]

In many posts practice can be had in tactical work in the woods. This opportunity should not be neglected. A good tactician will try to avoid a thick forest as a battlefield but with long lines of battle parts of the line will inevitably extend through forests. Hence the officers must study the principles governing woods fighting and seek to train the men so that they can play their part. Woods combat has many of the difficulties of night work.

[Sidenote: Fire problem]

There should be considerable work on fire problems; it is excellent practice, especially for the officers and non-commissioned officers. Field firing is not here meant but simulated firing. A simple problem is given and the officer or sergeant with a platoon or company solves it practically. By using a few men with flags to represent the enemy and with a proper critique afterwards for all the company, great benefit should be derived.

As an example of such a problem: dispose one platoon of the company under cover near a ridge with a concealed man watching to the front and stationed about 25 yards from the platoon, the remainder of the company 400 yards in rear but in sight of the platoon. The following situation is then given out:

[Sidenote: Fire problem against cavalry]

“This company has been detached from a larger force back at X. Hostile cavalry is in this neighborhood and is doing much damage. The orders received when this company was detached stated that other companies were to go out on other roads and this company on this one to inflict as much punishment as practicable on this cavalry if encountered. We have reached this point and just halted for a ten minutes rest.”

As soon as the situation is fully understood and the men are in their respective positions, a troop of cavalry, represented by a few men with yellow flags, comes in view of the sentinel and halts. Either verbally, or by a signal agreed upon, the captain explains that they have dismounted for rest. The sentinel and platoon commander now have their problem.

As another example take the same general situation in such terrain that a glimpse is caught of the troop moving along a road but immediately it passes behind cover; several hundred yards beyond, if it continues on the road, the troop will again come into view and be exposed for a considerable stretch of road and within rifle range. What is done now?

After the exercise the captain assembles the company and criticises the errors made and points out what should have been done. In the first situation opening fire by a few men would result in the hostile troop’s mounting and getting away with little damage or else in their getting their horses back under cover and being prepared to fight on foot. After the company once opens fire it will have a target but for a very short time; hence great care must be exercised in estimating the distance, dividing the target and giving the other necessary orders so as to produce the greatest effect in the least time. The captain should carefully study his problem and be prepared to give an instructive critique.

[Sidenote: Suggestions for fire problems]

A little book called “Fire Problems” by T. D. Pilcher of the British Army is recommended to our officers; it treats this subject more fully, gives several problems and shows how the solutions should be criticized.

The problems must be gotten up, as a matter of course, to fit the ground you have. A great variety of fire problems is afforded by any terrain. There should be some problems in which more than one target is offered. In getting up problems do not let yourself be hampered by the critics who will tell you that a troop of cavalry would not have crossed your front without having discovered you or without having been warned by its patrols: you are teaching fire tactics, not cavalry tactics, and besides, even cavalry has been known to do foolish and careless things. Try to make the problem reasonable and one which might occur in war but do not discard a good fire problem which teaches a valuable lesson because the situation is one which ought never to arise in battle. Few problems that are tried out in maneuvers will ever be duplicated in that exact form in war but the tactical principles involved will recur often.

[Sidenote: Distribution of fire problem]

There is one field firing problem which, if practiced once each year, would do a world of good in securing fire distribution. A line of prone figures is placed to represent the enemy on ground so selected that, while the figures cannot all be seen by the attackers, yet a man in the place of each figure could see the ground over which the advance is made. The defensive line should not be straight; it would seldom be so in war, it must conform to the ground. There should be stretches of thirty or forty figures that are concealed, then groups in plain view; brush, clumps of heavy grass afford the kind of cover desired. Have the battalion go through the form of attacking this line, using ball cartridges. Then have the men inspect the targets, see how plainly they could have been seen by the enemy while the latter was out of sight and see the effect of cover on the fire drawn and the faults in distribution. After this carefully explain the results of a lack of distribution; point out that the long stretches of the hostile line not under fire would have been doing target practice work on your advancing line and what the resulting losses would have been.

It is an effective way of impressing on men’s minds the necessity of proper distribution and of firing where directed whether they see anything or not. It also shows the advantage of cover, if only from view. The men must be taught to take advantage of cover, if only from view, whenever offered, if it can be done without interfering with their doing their work.

[Sidenote: Combat against cavalry]

For combat against cavalry the men must be taught in their bayonet work the proper way to oppose a man on horseback. How to meet a charge with fire must be largely theoretical but it should be carefully explained and, if a few mounted men are available to outline a charging force, some practical work can be had; it is a fire problem.

[Sidenote: Special company problems]

There are many problems in minor tactics that should form part of every company’s training, such as forcing a defile or a bridge, passing through a village as a patrol or as advance party of an advance guard, passing a woods under the same conditions and, on the side of the defense, preventing a hostile force from doing these things. There may be no gorge or pass through hills in your immediate vicinity but the practice can still be had: two large buildings near together will answer for a defile; the garrison is a village. If there be no bridge, with a little imagination you can improvise something to answer. In this class of problems the captain must know the tactics of his problem and be able to explain it thoroughly. Generally in these problems detachments having important missions have to be made; give their commanders much latitude in carrying them out and in your critique point out the errors and how the work should have been done. It is well in all such problems to precede them by a simple talk to the whole company explaining the tactical principles governing the work. These problems can be made the most interesting part of the company’s training.

Instruction must be given the company in meeting artillery fire and in the work of the various covering detachments but these two subjects, owing to their importance and length, are reserved for consideration in separate chapters.

[Sidenote: Hints for company work]

The company commander must get the full help and support of his platoon and squad leaders, much depends upon them; they are the real leaders of the men; they require much training and practice, especially in leading the rushes and in controlling and directing fire.

The discipline must be strict in these exercises, the men must never be allowed to slight the work. A certain amount of latitude must be given but prompt obedience to an order must be insisted upon. Without such discipline an attack is hopeless; the drill field is the place to acquire it.

In all this work keep the interest of the men. Occasionally take them to a shady place and instruct them orally, explain the objects sought and the reasons for doing things in anything that is part of their proper training.

Do not keep at one class of work until the men are tired of it; vary the work. You can keep a company interested for four hours a day if you will only vary the instruction and put some soul into it. Give very little place rest; for a rest change the work. Combat exercises must be frequent. They are entitled to a large share of the time; the work of the firing line must be a habit.

THE BATTALION

[Sidenote: Hints for battalion training]

The period of company training having been completed that of the battalion commences. The same general plan should be followed as in the case of the company. The mechanism of extended order should first be thoroughly learned, then the attack against an outlined enemy, then battalion against battalion. The enlisted men have little new to learn, the work for them is merely practice in what they have learned in the company training. For the captains it is instruction in team work and in tactics.

The battalion is the attack unit and as a tactical unit is most important. An infantry attack is largely a combination of battalion attacks. Every exercise should be a problem which teaches some lesson as well as affords practice. The employment of combat patrols of some size can be made a part of the exercise and their proper use and leading taught. The use of the local support, how it is handled and how maneuvered, is a very important part.

In these exercises the major must control his battalion as in battle. The absurdity of his riding around and giving verbal instructions to his firing line must not be permitted. A great part of the value of these combat exercises lies in the practice given in handling a battalion with the limited means of control possible on the field of battle and accustoming company commanders to carrying out their part under the same conditions. Majors thus learn to give their initial orders so as to insure the carrying out of their plan of action.

The battalion being the attack unit, whether alone or as part of a long line, its rushes are independent of those of other battalions although as a whole it keeps the general line. Each company of course must govern its advance by that of the others in the same battalion. An advance can only start from one flank or the other of the battalion and then continue successively to completion. Rushes never start from both flanks or the center; the reason for this is obvious.

The little flags mentioned under company training can be used in battalion training to even better advantage. Captains are more on their own responsibility in a battalion than are platoon commanders in a company and must act according to assumed existing conditions. In the battalion the shifting of fire from one target to another is less frequent than in the company. New unexpected targets are cared for, as a rule, by the support.

Battalion commanders have more need of reconnaissance and must get experience in ordering it properly and judging the reports and basing their action thereon.

When a battalion operates against battalion the colonel should prepare the problems and act as umpire. If he does not do this the practice should not be omitted, the majors concerned must get up their own although this is not so satisfactory.

The battalion commander or colonel should give a critique after each exercise, pointing out all errors of tactics and of execution. There should be much more of tactical instruction and less of mechanical training in battalion work than in the company.

Majors should not be limited to these drill periods to instruct their officers but be allowed to have tactical walks at other times. A major should have a good knowledge of tactics, be able to give clear and concise orders and enter into the spirit of his work. Four good companies, under a competent major learn with very little practice to work together as a team and become an efficient battalion.

THE REGIMENT

[Sidenote: Regimental training]

In the period alloted to the regiment the solution of tactical problems and thereby the gaining of experience in team work and imparting tactical instruction to the officers are the ends sought. The same rules as to method of control, giving of orders and critique apply as in the case of the battalion.

The colonel is responsible for the training of his regiment. It is not trained until the three battalions, the band, machine gun platoon and mounted detachment are trained, each in its special work, and then the whole is practiced as a team.

The training of the twelve companies, as such and as battalions, has been discussed.

[Sidenote: Band]

The band forms a large part numerically of the sanitary detachment of the regiment in battle. It must be trained and made efficient. This should be done by the officers of the Medical Corps serving with the regiment. There should be no perfunctory performance of this work; the colonel should see that it is thoroughly done.

[Sidenote: Machine gun platoon]

The officer in command of the machine gun platoon must not only instruct his men in the care and working of the guns, but in the proper care of all his equipment, including the animals. The machine gun is an emergency weapon; the commander of the machine gun company must thoroughly understand the tactical use of this weapon and be able to act as circumstances demand even without instructions.

[Sidenote: Mounted detachment]

The mounted detachment must be trained as scouts.

[Sidenote: Objects sought in regimental training]

The principal objects sought in the regimental period are practice and experience by the colonel in handling his regiment as a whole, practice by the regiment in team work, and tactical instruction for all. A practical knowledge of tactics on the part of the colonel is essential if these exercises are to be correctly carried out and his critique of value. Overlooking tactical errors in these exercises does much harm, younger officers gain wrong ideas and it is hard to eradicate errors once firmly fixed in the mind.

If the different units of the regiment are separately well trained it requires few exercises to make a team of them, good regimental work is largely a question of the tactical skill and ability of the colonel. If he is competent and the units are separately well trained the regiment is trained. Placing these well trained units in the hands of an incompetent regimental commander is but placing a fine and complicated machine in the hands of an unskilled operator; there is a fair chance that he will ruin the machine.

V

ARTILLERY FIRE

[Sidenote: Object of study of artillery]

Except in small engagements in detachment warfare the infantry will have the assistance of friendly artillery and will be opposed not only by infantry but by artillery fire. Some knowledge of artillery, its use, the effects it can produce and how best to utilize the aid afforded by our own and to meet the opposition of the enemy’s, is therefore necessary for the infantry officer and also for the men in ranks. While familiarity with the artillery will be far from breeding contempt, it will enable the infantry to escape much unnecessary loss and, by correcting the false conception so many have of its power, it will improve the morale of our men.

This chapter is not intended to teach infantry officers what they should know about artillery and its use. It is offered merely as a suggestion as to what our men should be taught and how to train them to meet certain phases of this fire. The officer should know much more about the subject and must go to more extended works by more competent men for the instruction.

Artillery is effective against infantry both physically and morally. The moral effect is the greater, the less instructed and trained is the man. Most untrained men have very exaggerated ideas as to the effectiveness of artillery, they know nothing but guess much. It is the terror of the unknown.

[Sidenote: Classes of artillery]

There are two general classes of artillery that accompany an army: light and heavy. The light artillery may be rifles or light howitzers; the first have a flat trajectory, the others, of greater caliber, have the advantage of being able to use high angle fire. Mountain and horse artillery are merely subdivisions of the light artillery and, except that the mountain artillery is less effective at long ranges than the others, “all look alike” to the infantry advancing under their fire.

The heavy field artillery in our service comprises 4.7” and 5” rifles and 6” and 7” howitzers. Their range is much greater than that of the pieces of the light field artillery. In a general way we may say that these heavy pieces will be used only against hostile batteries, earth works and material objects or against troops caught in some mass formation. They will generally not be used against an advancing skirmish line or troops in proper formation to meet light artillery fire. There is no training to be given infantry except discipline to hold them to their duty in an earth work under fire by heavy field artillery, hence in this chapter we may ignore it.

[Sidenote: Light artillery]

With light field artillery it is very different. The light field artillery is what concerns us most in our training. The extreme range for which these guns are sighted is 6500 yards, and at all ranges under 5000 yards they can produce serious losses on infantry exposed to their fire. They use two classes of projectiles, shell and shrapnel. The high explosive shell has a much smaller radius of action than the shrapnel, but is very effective within this area. It is generally used to batter material objects and with high angle fire to get at men in trenches or behind cover.

[Sidenote: Shrapnel]

The shrapnel of the 3” rifle contains 252 bullets and on burst these bullets are scattered over an area, roughly speaking, elliptical in form, 200 yards in depth by 25 yards in width. The flatter the trajectory, the deeper becomes the pattern made; the width practically does not vary. In other words the 252 bullets are scattered on burst over an area of 5000 square yards.

If these bullets were uniformly distributed there would be _one_ for every 20 square yards or an area of 15 x 12 feet. They are, however, not evenly distributed, being thicker in a small area near the front end. This bullet will not penetrate the infantry soldier’s pack at any range, so that when lying on the ground his pack affords complete protection to his spine and considerable protection to all vital parts except his head. The chance then of a man being wounded by a single shrapnel, even when inside the cone of dispersion, would only be about 1 in 80 if in the open and very much less with partial cover, as a trench, log, etc. The shrapnel bullet will not pass through one man and wound a second as will the infantry bullet.

[Sidenote: Rate of fire]

While artillery can fire very rapidly once the range data is accurately determined it requires considerable time to get into position and determine this data. Until then it is harmless.

[Sidenote: Moving target]

An erratically shifting target is hard for artillery to keep on. The fuze must be so set that the burst is at the proper height and distance to the front of the target to be effective, both not easy especially in case of a moving target, and the more erratic the movement the harder is the task of the artillery-man.

[Sidenote: On the defensive]

On the defense the man’s protection is much better for he will generally have cover of some kind, but he has also a serious disadvantage, the line remains fixed, the hostile artillery soon locates it, gets its exact range and can place its own fire where it will do the most good. This is a decided offset to the defenders’ diminished vulnerability. The use of high explosive shells by their moral as well as physical effect weakens any advantage the defense might have as concerns artillery fire.

[Sidenote: Artillery targets]

To determine the relative vulnerability of different infantry formations let us apply to them the target made by a bursting shrapnel. A line of skirmishers at the normal interval extending across this beaten zone would have 19 or 20 men inside its extreme limits; if in squad columns there would be 2 squads at least and generally 3 squads or 24 men and the target, being much deeper, would give the artillery a better chance as it is easier to get direction correctly than the point of burst.

In platoon columns there can be but one platoon in the same burst if fire comes from the front, and platoons are 4 squads strong, but the whole platoon may be within it. If, however, the direction of the artillery fire be very oblique, and the platoons are on a line, more than one platoon may be caught by a single burst but not all of any one column.

In successive thin lines, if the advance be made by one man from a squad, and the fuze and direction be just right, there may be 2 men in the cone of dispersion, which is to say that, in that formation, the artillery has about one chance in forty of wounding a man. If the advance be by one man from each platoon the artillery’s chance, provided range and fuze are correct, is one in two that one man will be within the cone of dispersion of a given shrapnel and, if in there, there is one chance in 80 of his being hit; in other words, the artillery has one chance in 160 of getting one man and no possibility of getting two. Such a target will hardly draw artillery fire.

An infantry battalion in column of squads well closed up can nearly all be covered by the burst of a shrapnel. Such a target would likely draw many shots as would a company in this formation.

[Sidenote: The advance under artillery fire]

We can only win in the attack if our infantry can advance to the hostile position. We must get there, and as soon as practicable and with the least loss of life. We can not afford to lose too many in the advance or we shall be too weak at the end to drive the enemy from his position.

The infantry can not open fire until within rifle range of the enemy and should try to get much closer before doing so. In open country, however, infantry may be subjected to artillery fire while crossing the ground from 5000 yards to, say 1200 yards from the hostile position, with no chance to reply. The problem to be solved by the infantry commander is how to cross this zone without losing too many men and too much time.

[Sidenote: In skirmish line]

In skirmish line. The long advance in this formation is tedious work, and the target offered is sufficiently vulnerable to draw artillery fire. If no cover is afforded in the terrain the line is apt to suffer heavy loss and become more or less disorganized before reaching the point where it will take up the fire fight. Where the line of advance is crossed by ridges, sunken roads and other features of that kind affording cover, where the line can rest and to a certain extent reform, this formation can be used to advantage, especially if the terrain permits us to approach under cover from artillery fire to within two or three thousand yards. If this formation be used in a force of some size, as a war strength battalion or more, the platoons should not keep on a line but in an irregular echelon formation.

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This makes a much more difficult target for the artillery. The distance from front to rear between any two adjoining platoons should not be less than 150 yards. The advance in skirmish line has the advantage of being in the formation that it will be necessary to have when you open fire and no changes are necessary and, if the enemy is encountered much sooner than expected, you are prepared.

[Sidenote: The squad column]

The squad column. This formation was devised by our soldiers at maneuvers at Sparta and in California, where the ground in part was covered with thick brush. It was found an excellent formation to take when the skirmish line encountered these patches of thick brush. Since it was placed in the I. D. R. it has been understood by some as a good formation for advancing in the _open_ against artillery fire. This is a mistake. It should never be so used. In this formation there will always be two squads, and generally three, in the burst of a single shrapnel, exposing more men to danger than if they were in skirmish line.

Marching in column of files is not as easy as in line on open ground. Remember good artillery is pretty accurate in getting direction. Most shots will be at the head of a column and if at the head of one, another on each side is included in the burst. Direction is much easier to get in artillery fire than exact fuze setting in the case of a moving target; this is another reason against the squad column, the target is deeper and thus slightly improves the chances of the artillery. This formation not only has no advantage on open ground, in an advance under artillery fire, but does have disadvantages.

[Sidenote: Platoon columns]

Platoon columns. In average terrain this formation will be more used than any other. The distance between these columns is great enough so that a shrapnel bursting between two may entirely miss both; it also permits a more or less erratic or zig zag course to be followed. Each column is lead presumably by a more intelligent and better instructed man than in the case of the squad.

These columns should never be on the same line but echeloned as explained for the skirmish line.

In most terrains there are little hills, clumps of trees, buildings and other cover of the same general kind. Platoon leaders must while keeping generally within their own zones of advance, rush from one cover to another where it is offered and, where cover is wanting, vary the pace and avoid advancing in a straight line.

Properly done this formation is one of the best. No time is lost, the columns are far enough apart to allow of advantage being taken of all the cover afforded, and the target is not, on average terrain, too vulnerable. It is not so good on flat open plains and it should not be used on such ground if the artillery fire is very oblique to the line of advance.

This form of advance requires that platoon leaders understand the theory and also requires much practice on different sites to give platoon commanders facility in leading and skill in taking advantage of the cover offered. This is one of the things in which captains should give instruction during the indoor season with the aid of the sand table. In addition outdoor practice is most necessary. When this formation is adopted platoon commanders should know, if possible, before starting where line of skirmishers is to be formed.

[Sidenote: Successive thin lines]

Successive thin lines. This is by all means the safest formation on open ground in plain view of the hostile artillery observing station. The successive lines must be so far apart that no one shrapnel can reach two; this distance depends on the range but may be taken as 200 yards. With one man from each squad there will be two in the cone of a single shrapnel that bursts right; if the enemy is so situated that he can afford to fire at such a target and you do not want to pay the cost for such an advance, then send one man from each platoon in each line. Hostile artillery cannot afford to fire at such a target and if it does it will use up ammunition that will be much needed later and get small results for the expenditure.

The chief objection to this formation is the time it takes. In advancing in skirmish line or in platoon columns your firing line is established as soon as you get your first line up, while, with successive lines formed from squads, it takes the longer time required for a line to advance 1400 yards, and if formed from platoons it takes the time required for a line to advance 6200 yards.

This formation is also safe against oblique fire.

The training of the men for it is simple. Before the line starts the point where it is to be rebuilt must be carefully designated. That the line may be rebuilt without confusion or mixing, each man must be taught to keep his eyes on the next preceding man of his own squad or platoon to ensure his finding his right place in the new line.

After a few of the successive lines have reached the new position, they form a dense enough target to draw artillery fire. For this reason the position of the new line should be one affording cover from artillery fire if possible; if not, men must get cover by digging to protect at least their heads from shrapnel. Head cover and the pack will give them protection from being killed if not from being wounded.

If the advance in this manner must be for three or four thousand yards and the enemy has advanced posts or is likely to make an infantry counter attack, the advance over this whole distance can not be made at once but must be made by steps, growing shorter as you approach the enemy’s position.

[Sidenote: Artillery sweeping fire]

The artillery will often sweep with fire an area being crossed by infantry. This is done by increasing or decreasing the range after each shot until the entire area is beaten. If this process be repeated often enough the artillery will get anything within this area not under cover. But this does not change the average number of shrapnel required to get a man nor does it render advisable a great expenditure of ammunition for meager results.

Infantry encountering this kind of fire should, as it approaches, lie down and get what cover is available and, after the storm has passed, move on.

The artillery may determine the exact range to some zone which the advancing infantry has to cross and, as the infantry reaches it, open a heavy and accurate fire. The infantry must cross this zone in a formation which decreases its vulnerability as much as practicable, consistent with other conditions, such as the hostile infantry fire.

The enemy’s guns can get you if they expend enough ammunition at the task; but can they afford the ammunition? Your own artillery may interfere with such an expenditure even if the enemy were willing to make it.

A division deployed with 2500 men on the firing line, crossing correctly in thin lines a fire-swept zone from 4000 to 1200 yards, might lose 10% of this number from artillery fire and not have its advance even checked. With this open formation the loss is so small that the moral effect of it will be negligible with trained men. But a loss of 250 men at an expenditure of 160 shrapnel for each means 40,000 shrapnel. Even half that much would be more than could generally be afforded.

[Sidenote: Forming skirmish line]

After the skirmish line is formed at the position for opening the infantry attack, the further advance from there is conducted as already explained. In skirmish line the hostile infantry is now by far your most dangerous foe, but the artillery will still be punishing you: your line must advance under both fires.

Artillery fire will seldom be uniformly distributed along the entire skirmish line or continuous in its action. There will be blasts of intense fire, then a lull. The troops must be trained to take advantage of these lulls to advance and to lie quiet during the periods of hottest fire. Of course, if for any cause the artillery fire is not very effective, the advance continues as against the infantry.

Our infantry must be taught to keep their fire superiority over the hostile infantry and to this object to devote all their skill and energy, but to avoid unnecessary heavy loss from artillery whenever possible. The hostile infantry is their real opponent, their real danger. As the opposing lines get close the losses from artillery fire become relatively slight, compared with the losses from infantry fire.

[Sidenote: How to practice advance under artillery fire]

How are we to get this training in most of our posts where there is no artillery to afford us the practice?

A man with a red flag indicates the position of a hostile battery, or, if the battery is concealed, a position that can be seen and is in the general direction of the battery. When the flag is waved rapidly it indicates a rafale or violent burst of fire; waved very slowly, it indicates slow fire by battery. In most exercises no flag is necessary; the instructor can give verbally the direction from which the artillery fire is coming in stating the problem; but in practicing the attack formation, under combined artillery and infantry fire, the flags should be used to practice platoon leaders in the rushes under such conditions.

[Sidenote: Infantry as an artillery support]

Infantry is sometimes detailed to support batteries that are somewhat separated from the rest of the troops and liable to attack by a rush of infantry or cavalry. Officers on this duty must thoroughly understand their mission. They must protect the artillery. Artillery can generally take ample care of itself if the attack comes directly from the front. The infantry commander must never mask the fire of the guns. Where he will place his men and what his general dispositions will be is a problem in tactics and the solution will vary with each case. These general propositions may be stated: his position must be such that from it he can effectively meet the attack; it should not be where he will get too much of the fire directed on the batteries; the command must be well in hand and the reconnaissance and observation groups so employed that he will have timely warning of the hostile approach and be prepared to meet it. His position will generally be to a flank and probably somewhat to the rear, never in front of the guns.

An occasional exercise in this work should be carried out as a maneuver. Something should be placed to represent the guns and a battalion or company assigned as their protection while another force is given the mission to capture them. This exercise should always be carefully umpired to see that the guns get credit for what they could do if fire is not masked. A problem of this kind is a small part of the work of infantry in war and when it comes it is a tactical problem like any other attack or defense. The reason for recommending it is that it affords excellent practice in security and information service and in combat when one position must be avoided. Combat exercises should be as varied as possible, here is another variety.

[Sidenote: Fire superiority]

The importance of fire superiority has already been dwelt upon as well as how much the effectiveness of hostile fire falls off as the effectiveness of our own increases. Infantry alone does not gain this fire superiority but it gains it by the help of our powerful ally and sister arm, the artillery.

[Sidenote: Artillery fire over infantry]

Battle fronts are too short for the artillery to occupy space in the line, even if this were a good place for it which it is not; it must fire over the infantry. All our men must be made to understand the effect of this artillery fire on the effectiveness of the hostile infantry, how much more effective this latter would be without the fire of our artillery, and the importance of having this artillery fire kept up to the last possible moment. Prove to them how much less we shall lose by an occasional premature burst than we should lose by the increased effectiveness of the hostile infantry if our artillery ceased to fire. The men must be taught that it is the infantry that does most of the killing and that, especially at the very short ranges, we want all the help we can get to keep down this killing by the enemy’s infantry.

It has already been shown why the attacker’s artillery has an advantage—the target is fixed. If the men are properly taught this there will be no trouble in getting them to want the artillery to fire over their heads as long as possible.

[Sidenote: Tactical connection]

The connection that must be kept between the infantry commander and the commander of the batteries told off to his support is of the greatest importance, but that will be the function of a higher ranking man than this book is written for.

[Sidenote: How to instruct]

How part of this instruction is to be given has already been told. It is believed that the best way to give the theoretical part is in small doses between exercises in the field—the little talks referred to before. Care must be taken not to give too much at once and to continue explaining until the men really grasp it. The theory should go along with the practical work; some of it can be best given in the non-commissioned officers’ school and, as before stated, on the sand table.

How and when you do it is of less importance than _that_ you do it.

VI

PATROLS, ADVANCE AND REAR GUARDS, OUTPOSTS

Patrolling. The great importance of this work calls for the most careful instruction being given our men in this duty. It is not easy to teach, there is so little of it that can be done by thumb rule except in the simpler forms as visiting patrols. The first requisite is that the instructor know the subject thoroughly. As this work is in no sense a treatise on tactics that phase of the question will not be entered into here.

[Sidenote: Teaching patrolling]

In teaching this subject in the company the following course has been found to give good results. In the winter’s school thoroughly instruct all the non-commissioned officers and selected privates in the fundamental principles; for example, the various formations, the necessity of the leader’s determining his mission and knowing how to interpret what he sees, how to write a message, and how to decide many other questions.

[Sidenote: Sand table work]

With this oral instruction there should be work on the relief map or sand table. This latter is one of the most important aids in teaching this subject. The instructor with a small group at the table gives a simple situation and then, turning to one of the men, gives him an order as patrol leader to make a certain patrol on the ground represented by the map. Allow a short time for the section to think it over then question the leader. First get his idea of his mission and plan of action, question the others as to what they think of it, then the instructor gives his idea or concurs in that already given by the men.

Next the leader should be required to tell what he would do up to the time of moving out, the inspection he would make, what men must have and what they must not have, all the instructions and information he would give his patrol. The other members are called on in turn to point out any errors or omissions, then this part is discussed. The leader then points out his general route and gives the formation of his patrol along this route under the supposition that no enemy is encountered. The others are questioned as to their ideas of the correctness of the leader’s decision.

The instructor should then take up the march in detail, something as follows: When you reached this point what would you do? How would you get from here to there? When you reached the bottom of this little hill what did you do? And so on, bringing out carefully and thoroughly how woods, bridges, defiles and villages are traversed, etc.

At the conclusion the instructor should go back to the start and at various points along the route have them see various hostile patrols and bodies of troops, bring out what should be done in each new situation, what messages sent, whether by one man or more, whether written or verbal, requiring in every case the reasons. The problem should be worked out once on the assumption that the patrol is in hostile territory and once as in friendly territory, the instructor bringing out clearly the difference in conduct. The mission should then be changed, as for instance from a patrol seeking information change the problem, on the same ground so as to give it a mission of screening.

The various phases of patrolling, in friendly and hostile territory, with a mission to gain information and then to prevent the enemy’s gaining it should be worked out carefully on the same ground with only the necessary changes in the problem to bring out the differences in their conduct. It seems to impress these differences on the men the more lastingly, the more closely the problems resemble each other in other respects and when they are on the same ground.

After this series is once worked through with the men, other problems on different ground are taken. It takes considerable work of this kind to make the men proficient in the principles of patrolling. As soon as they are deemed proficient they should be taken out for tactical walks in patrol problems on the ground and there given problems to solve, the instructor acting as umpire. This is all work that can be done in most posts in the winter season by taking advantage of the most favorable weather for the outdoor part.

The instruction in the principles of patrol leading can be given to better advantage on the relief map or sand table than on the ground but the latter training can not be dispensed with, some of it must be given. Later on there should be much opportunity for further practice in the course of the combat exercises.

[Sidenote: Other kinds of patrolling]

The work of the expeditionary patrol should be taught in the same manner. The work of the visiting and connecting patrols can be taught during the exercises in advance guard and outposts. They require very little effort. The company as a whole should be frequently exercised as a strong patrol. There is one form of patrol, often very strong, that is of great importance and yet its proper training is frequently neglected—the combat patrol. These patrols are always thrown out when a command deploys for action and upon their proper conduct much depends. Their mission is always to prevent the firing line from being unexpectedly fired into from the flank and they fulfill this mission according to the situation, either by securing the flank by themselves holding off the enemy, or by observing and giving timely warning so that the support or reserves can be disposed to meet the enemy and thus ward off the attack.

It must be thoroughly impressed on all what the mission of the combat patrol leader really means and that any position or formation of such a patrol, that allows the firing line to be so attacked is all wrong.

[Sidenote: The combat patrol]

The following must be thoroughly taught:

1. That when the patrol is so situated that it can see no more than the men on that flank of the firing line it is serving no valuable purpose.

2. That in practically all cases where it is not in advance of the firing line it will not gain the necessary information in time to be of any value.

3. That the enemy must not get within effective rifle range of the flank of the line.

The strength of the combat patrol must depend on whether it is merely to observe or to offer real resistance and its conduct must be governed accordingly.

It is believed that the principles governing this work can be best taught, after a talk in the school, by a form of tactical walk, where the instructor can devote himself to the handling of this patrol; later on it is, of course, practiced in all battle exercises.

[Sidenote: Combat patrol tactical walk]