ENCLOSED COUNTRY
This chapter would not be complete without some reference to the use of machine guns in enclosed country such as is found in the United Kingdom. Clery, in his Minor Tactics, p. 118, says that cultivated country is the most favourable to the attack, while in defence the country to the front cannot be too open. “In the first, infantry gains a succession of covered positions by means of which it comes on more equal terms with the defence. In the second, the infantry of the defence has a clear field to destroy the assailants as they approach.”
Apart from civil war, the only possible occasion for the use of machine guns in the British Isles is against an invader, and it is well known to students of modern war that the prospects of a successful invasion do not depend upon the strength or weakness of our fleet, but on that of our army for home defence. The duty of a fleet in time of war is to go to sea and destroy the enemy’s ships, and while it is absent on this mission an opportunity for invasion may occur, the success of which will wholly depend upon the force the invader will meet on landing.
The Japanese recently landed in Manchuria in spite of Russia’s superior naval strength; but because it was the case of an island invading a continent, we do not apply the lesson to ourselves, and are content to believe that a continent cannot invade an island.
It is obvious to the military student that no invasion will be attempted unless its success is reasonably certain, and the presence of four divisions of regular troops at home renders such an enterprise extremely difficult, if not impossible, without permanent command of the sea. But these four divisions are not the Home Defence Force, and form that part of our Expeditionary Army for service outside the United Kingdom. We may, therefore, rest assured that as long as we retain command of the sea, no invasion can take place until we are involved in an over-seas war which requires a more or less large portion of our Expeditionary Force—an event which has happened almost every decade.
It will be safe, therefore, to assume that in the event of an invasion we shall have to rely on our Territorial Army to meet the enemy, and it will be doing this force no injustice to assume that they will be compelled to act on the defensive in the face of a highly trained and disciplined Continental Army. Indeed, it is difficult for a soldier to realise how a Volunteer force, trained for fourteen days in the year and unacquainted with military discipline, can hope to meet on equal terms, even if superior by three to one in numbers, the pick of Continental manhood trained under an iron discipline for the minimum of two years.
Be that as it may, it is necessary to realise the difficulties to be faced, not the least of which is the question of training, for, as already pointed out, it is absolutely essential to the successful use of machine guns that the personnel should be very highly trained, and this applies to their use in enclosed country even more than elsewhere.
Although as a general principle enclosed country benefits the attacker and is disadvantageous to the defender, this is not always the case with machine guns, and provided the golden rule of “concealment, cover, and surprise” is intelligently applied, enclosed country is particularly suited for the use of machine guns in the defence.
For this purpose machine guns should be trained to work in pairs in mutual support. They must be so mounted that they can be carried by hand for considerable distances into position, and must be capable of firing from a low siting when they must be inconspicuous. If mounted, as at present, on a wheeled carriage, a light tripod may be carried on the carriage, which will render the gun far more inconspicuous and useful.
While all the principles for the tactical handling of machine guns with infantry hold good, there are several points of importance to be noted in using them in the defence in enclosed country. The advance of any formed bodies of the enemy will be confined to the roads; consequently machine guns must endeavour to command all roads leading from the enemy, especially where they become defiles.
The hedgerows, standing crops, woods, and lanes must be used to afford concealment in advancing or retiring from position to position, and scouts must be specially trained in finding the easiest concealed way from field to field by gates, gaps, or through stiles. The way from the road or lane to the selected position must be always marked by sticks or broken branches which are placed to indicate the direction of gates or gaps, or where a turning has to be made. The usual procedure will be for the scouts to work across country on one or both sides of the road. The section commander, who should be mounted, will select the position for the guns, and scouts from each gun will be sent out to guide them to the positions. The carriages and ammunition cart must move up the road to the nearest point to the position, and scouts should select and mark the easiest way to the carriages. Careful co-operation between the guns and carriages will often enable the latter to greatly facilitate movement, by pushing up by-lanes or across fields to a position near the guns. Ammunition will usually have to be carried to the guns by hand, so that great pains must be taken to get the cart as near the position as possible. The selection of the position will be governed by the facilities it presents for surprising the enemy in close formation at effective range. The range must be accurately found, and fire must only be opened by order of the section commander. In selecting a position care must be taken that it offers perfect concealment from view, and that the guns can retire under cover to their carriages. The neighbourhood of conspicuous objects, such as single trees, a gap in a fence, etc., must be carefully avoided, and care must be taken to secure a good field of fire for as great a distance as possible to the front, while the flanks and any cover within effective range which the enemy might occupy must be watched by scouts. It is in this matter of careful reconnaissance, of selecting ground and occupying or watching all neighbouring cover, that the successful use of machine guns in enclosed country mainly depends. The enemy is obliged by the nature of the country to move in close formation to pass defiles, roads, gaps, or to avoid crops, woods, and villages, and it is the intelligent anticipation of where this will occur that gives the machine gun its chance for decisive action. The hedges, orchards, lanes and woods, and other features will afford endless opportunities for bringing flanking fire to bear on the enemy. Nothing is so effective, and the morale effect on an enemy who is enfiladed at close range renders it usually decisive.
Cover will generally be provided by the spade, and ditches require little work to turn them into excellent pits, the only thing necessary as a rule being to excavate a hole in rear for the back leg of the tripod. Where there is a ditch with a hedge in front of it, the ditch should be improved so as to provide a pit for the gun to fire through the hedge about six inches above ground level. If the hedge is too thick to fire through, it should not be cut down, but a hole should be cut in the growth for the muzzle of the gun sufficiently large to aim through. If it is necessary to cut a gap in the hedge, the growth should be cut through close to the ground, but without removing it until the moment for opening fire.
Alternative positions in the same hedgerow should be avoided, as it is certain to be discovered immediately, and the range is probably already known.
The edge of the wood, if it commands suitable ground, is an excellent position for machine guns; but if the carriages remain in the wood they must be provided with cover. When time and material are available, a good field of fire may be obtained by erecting a platform ten to twelve feet above the ground in the trees, and placing a machine gun on this; not only is the field of fire much increased, but the gun will be almost impossible to discover. This was done on one occasion in the Spanish-American War, when it met with considerable success.
When machine guns are used for the defence of villages or farms, they should be placed outside the village or farm buildings well clear of the walls. The salient angle will usually be the most suitable place, a good field of fire being the chief object. The guns should be placed so as to flank one side of the village, and must be most carefully concealed, a pit being usually the best form of cover. Walls should as a rule be avoided, as they are very easily destroyed by artillery fire and always afford a conspicuous target.
When time permits the pits should be deepened and hollowed out in front to afford the firers protection from artillery fire. Similar protection may be provided for the rest of the detachment by making a narrow and deep trench connected with each side of the gun pit. Should it be necessary to defend the village to the last, a second position should be provided in the centre of the village, commanding the main avenues, and the church tower, or roof, may afford a suitable site, provided artillery is not present.
Although machine guns have never been used in England, they were employed by the French in 1871 during General Chanzy’s retreat from the Loire to Le Mans with great success, and this campaign is particularly interesting to us because the country greatly resembles England. Dr. Miller Maguire, in his lecture given at the Royal Artillery Institute on this campaign, quotes the German official account as follows: “The entire country is covered with the densest cultivation of long-standing growth, with vineyards, orchards, and vegetable gardens.... Owing to the extensive subdivision of land customary in this country, every property is surrounded by hedges, ditches, and walls. There are, consequently, numerous positions and isolated points at which even moderate troops could defend themselves behind good cover. Although the superior effect of the chassepot here ceased to avail, the mitrailleuses were in their true element, and became a dangerous weapon in the narrow passes.” Dr. Maguire remarks: “I do not know how far you will be inclined to apply those remarks to the circumstances of your own country in the event of invasion. It might be a good lesson to try; for the several arms could be handled between Dover and London step by step.” Later on he quotes from a British officer, who says: “In fact, Kent and Surrey combined, with vineyards instead of hop gardens, would be an exact picture of the country through which the Germans were pushing on.”
There are numerous instances in this campaign where the mitrailleuse caused great loss to the Germans, and enabled the French to delay their advance and hold on to villages and positions with greatly inferior forces.
Remembering that the mitrailleuse of 1870 was a clumsy and primitive weapon, worked by hand and mounted on a field carriage, there is every reason to suppose that the modern automatic machine gun, on its light and mobile tripod, will be still more valuable in fighting in enclosed country.