THE COMPANY
Extended order practice
The first essential is that the men must know the mechanism of the extended order drill, including all signals used. To keep control of the skirmish line in battle, that is to maintain such order therein that it can be directed and used as desired, is far from easy. Excitement and confusion, especially in the last stages of the combat, are apt to occur. Everything possible must be done to preserve organization and control.
Much depends upon the start; if there is confusion at the start and the squads get mixed, success is more than doubtful. In the majority of cases the deployment will be made quietly at long range, but not in all. The company must be drilled until able to deploy from all formations, facing in any direction, in the least time practicable, and without any confusion or mix-up.
Calmness in giving orders
The captain who can give all his orders and commands at the start of a fight in a calm, unexcited manner has a great advantage over the one whose voice or manner indicates excitement. This calm manner should be cultivated during training. As good a way as I know for such training is to have a few men to represent hostile forces conceal themselves at various points in a moderately close country; march the company through this terrain and, as the represented enemy appears, form skirmish line facing the supposed enemy, give the range and the commands for opening fire in the least possible time. The captain himself should not know where the represented enemy will appear. This is training for the captain and also excellent practice for the company.
Restoring order
Occasionally during an advance points are reached where a company is sheltered from fire. Advantage should always be taken of such opportunities to reëstablish perfect order, replace fallen leaders and thus get a new start. Such an opportunity decidedly increases your chance of success in battle; real control is reëstablished. Practice this in your battle training when the opportunity offers, but never do it when, in a real combat, it would be impracticable.
Combat exercises
After the mechanism of the extended order drill is understood all combat exercises should have a problem or situation. These should always be simple; elaborate tactical problems for this instruction work are unnecessary. For a simulated attack as part of a line, all that is necessary is a statement that the enemy, a regiment of infantry, is holding the line from —— to ——, our regiment is to attack it at once, our battalion on the right, we are the right company, our target or objective the part of the line from —— to ——. This of course should be varied but need be no more complicated. The captain should give this to his whole company, let all the men know what they are supposed to be doing.
Situation and orders
Method of conducting exercises
The captain should then give his attack order, always carefully distributing the target. For a company operating alone the following form will answer every purpose: This company belongs to a division engaged with a hostile division five miles north of here. This company was detached to capture that building (pointing) which is assumed to be important. The defending force occupies the line ——. The order for the attack then follows. Usually in such a case, a small support would be held out. Of course the problems will vary according to what it is desired to teach. Always distribute the target and let the men understand what you are trying to do. All combat exercises should be conducted as nearly as possible as though the enemy were real. Allow nothing to be done that would not be attempted were it real war, otherwise you do not give instruction but misinformation. After the mechanism is taught, the captain and platoon commanders must conduct themselves in combat exercises as they would under hostile fire, keep close to the ground, use signals only. After the exercise is over have a critique, point out the errors made and tell the command how they should be corrected.
You must expect that if mistakes are made at the drill they will be made in battle; to correct these mistakes you should use only those means at drill that will be practicable in battle. The captain needs much practice in thus handling a skirmish line and those under him need more practice before the company can be well handled in this manner.
Means of representing enemy’s fire
The effectiveness of the enemy’s fire should be indicated that platoon commanders can practice the control of rushes. The simplest way to do this that I have found is to have a man at the hostile position with two little flags. Holding both of these vertically over his head means the enemy’s fire is wild and nearly harmless. One flag vertical the other horizontal indicates a moderately effective fire. Both flags horizontal indicates the maximum effectiveness—that the enemy has a decided fire superiority. When both flags touch the ground it indicates no fire.
The advance of the attacking force is only practicable by taking advantage of the times when the fire is ineffective or weak to push forward, and, when the hostile fire is too strong, shooting to gain fire superiority. Platoon commanders and men must become accustomed to seizing these opportunities to advance and suddenly getting down when there is a burst of effective fire. The flags on the hostile position may be controlled by an instructor, stationed behind the company officers, indicating how the flags are to be held.
Remember that the hostile fire becomes more effective in proportion as ours is less effective. If we have the most men we should gain fire superiority if our shots are well placed. If the firing line has not distributed its fire properly the instructor causes both flags to be held horizontally; no advance is then possible until the company officers find out the cause of the trouble and correct it. The same is done whenever a serious error in sight elevation is made. Majors should frequently conduct such exercises with their companies. The company officers must become quick in determining why the hostile fire is more effective than suits existing conditions and learn to correct the error.
Judging defects in firing
You may not be able to reduce the effectiveness of the hostile fire so that an advance under it is practicable and, in some cases, it may not be your mission to do so; but in every case where the hostile fire passes a certain point of effectiveness, depending on relative numbers, your range, distribution or something is wrong, or else your men have lost their nerve. Judging the effect of the hostile fire is something in which company and platoon commanders must be proficient, but off the battlefield this can only be taught in theory.
Advance by rushes
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.
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.
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.
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.
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].
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.