Machine-Gun Tactics

by R. V. K. Applin

ADVANCED GUARDS

The action of the infantry of an advanced guard will follow the same lines whatever the dimensions of the force, and the battalion is a convenient unit with which to deal. There are four battalions in a brigade, and three brigades in a Division; consequently the Divisional General will have six batteries of four guns each, or 24 machine guns, under his command. We will assume that the battalion we are dealing with forms the advanced guard of its brigade, and that the Brigadier has given it a battery of four machine guns, two of which will probably belong to the battalion.

Field Service Regulations, 1909, page 79, says: “An advanced guard is divided into a vanguard and a main guard.... The special duty of the vanguard is reconnaissance. It will therefore generally be composed of the advanced guard mounted troops, with or without a body of infantry as a support. By day, when the country is open and the advanced guard is strong in mounted troops, infantry will not as a rule form part of the vanguard.... The main guard comprises the troops of the advanced guard not allotted to the vanguard.”

We will first take the case of infantry with the vanguard as a support to the mounted troops, and suppose that two companies are allotted for this duty and have been given a section of machine guns. The formation of the infantry of the vanguard will largely depend on the nature of the country and the proximity of the enemy. Where the country is open plain they will probably be extended in a long line of skirmishers, in which case the machine guns should march close in rear of the centre on the road. Should the country be close or broken, the vanguard infantry may be confined to the road—with small parties pushed out to the front and flanks—in which case the machine guns should march in rear of the advanced party, and not in rear of the vanguard. It must be remembered that machine guns are able to come into action and open a heavy and accurate fire in less time than it would take infantry of equal fire power to deploy and to open fire from a position; it is therefore the machine guns of the vanguard that should be the first to open fire and give the infantry time to deploy and find fire positions. When the enemy is encountered the object of the vanguard infantry must be to support the cavalry as quickly as possible, and enable them to mount and push forward round the flanks.

The section commander must go forward at once with scouts from each gun, and quickly grasp the situation, consulting the officer commanding the troops engaged as to the action to be taken; he must then select the positions for his guns to come into action. The scouts should take ranges and have everything ready for the guns to open fire on arrival. The moment the guns open fire, the section commander should send scouts off to find alternative positions to the front and flank from which it may appear possible to enfilade the enemy. Should the target be unsuitable, e.g. a line of well-concealed skirmishers, etc., fire must be reserved, and the guns should take up positions of observation while the section commander and scouts seek for a position on the flanks from which to bring an effective fire.

As soon as the vanguard infantry are deployed the section commander must co-operate with them entirely, and must take his instructions from the vanguard commander, who should leave him a free hand, merely telling him his intentions and how the guns may best assist him.

When the main guard comes up, in the case where the vanguard is checked, the section commander should take the earliest opportunity of placing himself under the battery commander, and at this stage the guns should be used to seize and hold positions of importance, especially artillery positions. If the advanced-guard action discloses the fact that the main body of the enemy has been encountered, and the G.O.C decides to engage, the advanced guard will be required to seize all positions of tactical value and to hold off the enemy until the main body has had time to arrive and deploy. Their action will vary according to whether the G.O.C. decides to act on the offensive or defensive. The latest German Regulations say: “On becoming engaged, that side will have the advantage which gains the start over its opponents in readiness for action, and thus reaps the benefit of the initiative.” No arm is better able to assist in this than the machine gun, and every available battery should be brought up at this stage to take part in the advanced-guard engagement.

The Germans say: “The advanced guard will fight on a wider front than that ordinarily allotted to a force of its size, so as to seriously engage the enemy. It will be disposed in groups more or less detached, which will occupy those positions the possession of which will most protect the deployment of the main body. It will be assisted by detachments of machine guns, which will be placed for preference on those positions which it is most necessary to prevent the enemy from capturing.”[16]

The commander of the machine guns of the advanced guard is under the immediate orders of the O.C. advanced guard, and must co-operate with him throughout the engagement. All officers with machine guns must remember that isolated action is useless, and that however effective their fire may be locally, unless it directly furthers the object of the action, it is an unjustifiable waste of fire power.

The seizure of ground likely to be of use to the main body—particularly artillery positions—must be the first consideration of machine guns with the advanced-guard infantry, once the infantry are in action. That they can hold these unsupported is certain. “There never has been and cannot be such a thing as a successful attack on a line of machine guns in a favourable position in action, until the machine guns have been well battered by artillery fire,” says Lieutenant Parker in his book Tactical Organisation and Uses of Machine Guns in the Field.

In the cases where the infantry of the advanced guard forms the main guard, the battery of machine guns should march with the foremost body of troops and should never march in rear, where they are useless, and where, if on a road, they can only be moved up with difficulty. The battery commander should remain with the O.C. advanced guard until he is fully acquainted with the situation and his intentions. Should the situation be such as to enable the advanced guard to brush aside the opposition, the machine guns must be used vigorously to support the infantry attack, and should be pushed forward to seize positions before the infantry deploy, and cover their deployment by fire. In the preliminary stages these positions will probably be on the immediate front, and the four guns should be able to occupy a front roughly coinciding with the first deployment of the infantry. As soon as the infantry come into action the machine guns may be withdrawn and used on the flanks to bring a cross fire to bear, and to fire on any closed bodies, led horses, etc., that may offer a target. At this stage the guns should work in pairs in mutual support, and may be used on one or both flanks as the situation requires.

Machine guns should rarely be used in the firing line after the infantry deploy, as they offer a rather marked target and can be far more profitably employed in pressing the attack on the flanks.

There are several instances of the successful use of machine guns with the advanced guard in South Africa in 1900 to support the mounted vanguard, and on many occasions they were able to brush the enemy aside without deploying the main guard or delaying the march of the column.