Purpose of Smoke Screen
Smoke screens may be employed with one or more of the following objects in view:
(1) To mask known enemy observation posts and machine gun nests; to conceal the front and flanks of attacking troops, concentration of guns and tanks, roads and concentration points; to blind the flashes of batteries in action and to hamper aerial observations.
(2) As a feint to draw the enemy’s attention to a front on which no attack is being made, so as to hold his troops to their trenches, or to induce him to expend ammunition needlessly and to put down a barrage in the wrong place.
(3) To simulate gas and force the enemy to wear his mask. Gas should occasionally be mixed with smoke, to impress upon him the belief that it is never safe to remain in a smoke cloud without wearing his mask.
(4) In rolling or mountainous country, to fill valleys with smoke and thereby conceal the advance from all observation, including aerial.
(5) To cover the construction of bridges, trenches, etc., in the face of the enemy.