Machine-Gun Tactics

by R. V. K. Applin

THE ATTACK

Under cover of the advanced-guard action and the subsequent artillery duel the infantry will deploy for the attack. The first advance of the infantry will probably be covered and supported by the artillery, and they will generally be able to push forward to within long range of the enemy’s infantry, without the necessity of covering their advance by rifle fire. From here, however, the firing line will begin to suffer from rifle fire, and it will be necessary to reply to this fire in order to cover the further advance.

“To enable the attack to be prosecuted it is clear that from this moment the hostile fire must be met by fire of greater power, its intensity and duration being dependent on the effect produced. Moreover, from this point forward movement will as a rule be contingent on the mutual fire support afforded to one another by neighbouring bodies, and on the effects produced by the covering fire brought to bear on the enemy’s line wherever the ground admits of such action, by supports, reserves, and the troops specially told off for this purpose. Covering fire should be delivered so as to strike the enemy, disturb his aim, and compel him to seek shelter when the assailant is exposed or in difficulties. In such circumstances intensity of fire is of the first importance; but fire should be reserved when the assailants’ progress is satisfactory, or when he is under cover.”[17]

No one who has controlled the covering fire of infantry, even on manœuvres, will dispute the immense difficulty of timing the opening and ceasing of such a fire, with even a company, to coincide with the advance of the troops covered; while the necessity for observation of fire and its concentration on certain parts of the enemy’s position make it still more difficult effectively to cover the advance of troops with rifle fire at long range.

That machine guns will be able to perform this duty far more effectively and easily than infantry is manifest from the nature of the fire required, the features being intensity, control, and concentration, all of which are characteristic of machine guns. When required to cover the advance of infantry, machine guns should be used in batteries and must be so placed that they are able to see the infantry they are covering, and to sweep those portions of the enemy’s position from which fire can be brought to bear on the advancing troops. If the enemy’s artillery is not silenced or at least dominated by that of the attackers, it will be necessary to conceal the machine guns from view and provide cover from fire. That machine guns well concealed and provided with cover (pits) are able to remain in action under artillery fire for considerable periods, is proved by instances in the Russo-Japanese War (see [Chapter III. p. 28]). Major Kuhn, who was with the Japanese Army in Manchuria, in his report states: “Importance is laid on concealing the guns, and it was claimed that none had been knocked out by the Russian artillery.” Covering fire from the flanks is more likely to be effective than frontal fire, because it will enfilade entrenchments, reach men behind natural cover and have a more disconcerting morale effect than frontal fire. It will not always be possible to find suitable fire positions on the flanks for machine guns at this stage of the attack, and it will then be necessary to place them in rear of the attacking infantry and fire over their heads. This can be done with perfect safety—indeed, there is far less danger of accidentally hitting the attacking infantry with machine guns than with artillery fire. Direct fire should only be used when it is impossible to use indirect fire on account of the nature of the ground in the vicinity.

Indirect fire from the reverse slope of a hill has the advantage of concealing the guns and rendering them immune from artillery fire. The position must be carefully selected with due regard to the slope in its relation to fire from the enemy as laid down in chap. ii. p. 67, of Training Manuals Appendix, 1905. The best position is just below the crest of a steep slope, as observation of fire is rendered easier and the effect of shrapnel minimised. The safety of the infantry in front will depend entirely on the range, height of the guns above the infantry, and the position of the target (enemy). On level ground the range must not be less than 800 yards,[18] and the infantry will be perfectly safe at all distances between 200 yards from the guns and 200 yards from the enemy. (See table, Appendix A.) The methods of employing indirect fire have been given at the end of Chapter II., and its success will depend largely upon the careful observation of fire by the section commanders, who must concentrate their attention on this alone—the battery commander giving the signal for opening and ceasing fire, and the target or direction of fire for each section. Machine guns used as covering fire have ample time for preparation; and as ranges can be accurately taken, and great deliberation used in selecting positions, observing fire, and correcting errors, the maximum of accuracy should be attained. If the enemy is entrenched against frontal fire, good results may be expected from accurate distant fire, owing to the angle of descent of the bullet causing the low parapet or shallow trench to be no protection.

They were successfully used by the Japanese as covering fire for infantry in the attack, as the following examples will show: “At Mukden on March 1st all the machine guns of a whole Japanese division (12 to 18 guns) were brought into action upon a Russian point d’appui. The Russian fire was silenced, but burst out again whenever the machine-gun fire slackened. The Japanese infantry used these pauses in the enemy’s fire to press forward to close range under cover of their machine-gun fire.”[19] On March 2nd the three machine guns of the 10th Japanese Infantry Regiment acted in the same way against a Russian fieldwork. This method of employing machine guns requires the closest co-operation with the infantry from the commencement of the attack.

Again, during the Japanese attack on Namako Yama the infantry were greatly assisted by covering fire from their machine guns directed on the Russian trenches. These guns were used from behind screens, and their success was largely due to their being well concealed.

It will rarely be advisable for machine guns to follow infantry into the firing line, where they present a conspicuous target which attracts fire and renders their withdrawal difficult.

We made this mistake in the South African War more than once. At Rietfontein the machine-gun detachment of the Gloucester Regiment, which had followed the battalion into the firing line, was almost annihilated. At Modder River the Scots Guards Maxim gun accompanied the firing line, and the detachment was annihilated by pom-pom fire, and the gun was left on the field alone all day.[20] In the attack on Cronje’s laager at Paardeberg, machine guns were used in the firing line on the left bank of the river, and when the attack failed the machine guns, having suffered severe losses, could not be withdrawn and had to be abandoned till nightfall.

When the covering fire of machine guns is no longer considered necessary, they should be withdrawn and concentrated in batteries in rear of the reserve or in such other convenient position as the G.O.C. may direct. They should take this opportunity of refilling belts, replenishing ammunition, water, etc., and if the guns have fired many thousand rounds, of exchanging barrels.[21] They are now at the immediate disposal of the G.O.C. and will be used by him as a mobile reserve. Circumstances vary so in war that it is impossible to particularize in their use at this stage, but their great mobility will render them extremely valuable in the following cases:

1. To assist a turning movement.

2. To reinforce a distant flank.

3. To repel a counter-attack.

4. To hold a captured position.

When the infantry reach close range, the point for the assault will have been selected and the reserves massed behind this point. When the reserves have been thrown in, and the fire fight has reached its height, the moment will have arrived when one side or the other will obtain superiority of fire. “The climax of the infantry attack is the assault which is made possible by superiority of fire.”[22] To assist in the attainment of this superiority of fire is the true rôle of machine guns with infantry, and, as their beaten zone at short ranges is so small, they can safely fire over the heads of prone infantry, even when the latter are within a hundred yards of the target. The guns should now be pushed up to the closest ranges, and fire of the most rapid description concentrated on the point of assault. When it is remembered that the machine guns of a single Infantry Division, as at present organised, can bring a fire of more than ten thousand shots a minute from close range where its accuracy is assured, at this crisis, there will be no need to say any more on the tactical importance of the probable result.

In bringing machine guns into action for this purpose, they will generally be used in batteries, but may come into action in sections or even single guns once the objective has been pointed out. The object being to obtain superiority of fire regardless of cost, rapidity and concentration of fire must be the principal points. The guns must therefore press forward to the closest range, and where it is possible to bring a cross or enfilading fire to bear, the opportunity must not be neglected. It may be necessary to fire over the heads of the infantry or even to push guns into the firing line itself, though this is seldom desirable if good positions can be found in rear. When any portion of the line advances to the assault, fire must be concentrated over their heads on the position assaulted; and when they are so close to the position as to render such fire impossible, fire must not cease, but be directed over the position so as to strike the enemy as they retreat. Fire from machine guns may be kept up from 500 yards’ range over the heads of prone infantry within 100 yards of the target with perfect safety, and from 800 yards over infantry advancing to within the same distance. General Nogi, speaking of the use of machine guns in the attack, says: “Our troops trained machine guns on the most advanced lines of infantry to overwhelm with fire the points at which resistance was greatest. Sacks of earth were used to mask them. They have often enabled the infantry to advance with success.” M. Ullrich, war correspondent of the Gazette de Cologne, was present in many engagements in which machine guns were pushed up to support the firing line in the final stage. He says: “In the offensive the Japanese frequently made successful use of machine guns. When the infantry were carrying out a decisive attack, they were supported by their machine guns, which concentrated their fire on points arranged beforehand.... When machine guns have been skilfully employed, their action has been infinitely more effective than that of field artillery, more especially when they fire at infantry ranges.” The following is an example of their actual use in this way. “The Japanese,” says a Russian eye-witness of the fighting round Mukden, “brought up during the night dozens of machine guns with hundreds of thousands of cartridges to their front line of skirmishers, from 400 to 500 yards from our positions, and entrenched them there. When the assault commenced, at dawn, the machine guns opened fire with fatal accuracy on the parapets of our trenches and on our reserves, preventing them from coming up. We could do nothing with the enemy, because when the machine guns showed the least vulnerability, they were at once protected by shields of bullet-proof steel.”[23]

The machine guns of the enemy will all be in action during the final stages, but they should not be engaged by the machine guns of the attack except when exposed. They are very difficult to put out of action by small-arm fire at any time, and when employed by the defence are sure to be well concealed and provided with cover. It is the duty of the artillery to silence machine guns, and this was so far recognised in the war between Russia and Japan that the latter brought up mountain guns on more than one occasion to silence the Russian machine guns.

At Kinsan on June 26th, 1905, when the Japanese were attacking the position, the Russians brought up two machine guns against the 43rd Regiment and a mountain battery at 3 p.m. The battery at once silenced the machine guns, and by 5.30 p.m. the hill was in the hands of the Japanese.[24] Captain Niessel, of the Russian Army, gives another instance. “It was on August 31st at 7 p.m. that the Japanese decided to drive the machine guns out of the village of Goutsiati by artillery fire. Knowing that their infantry had been checked, they posted at the village of Datchaotsiati a battery which showered on us shrapnel and high explosive shell. Although the men had taken cover behind a wall of earth, we had many wounded and could not breathe freely until nightfall, when the enemy ceased their fire, to which we could not reply on account of the distance. At 9 p.m. I was ordered to evacuate the position.”[25]

The moment the infantry assault is successful, the machine guns must be pushed forward into the captured position to secure the ground gained and to repel counter-attacks. As the confusion at this moment will be considerable, it will seldom be possible for the machine-gun commander to receive orders from the G.O.C., but this must not prevent him from immediately directing guns to occupy and quickly entrench themselves in positions which it may appear vital to secure, and to order the remainder of the guns not so required to follow and fire on the enemy wherever he may show signs of rallying. In order that these two distinct duties may be carried out instantly and without confusion, it will be advisable to tell off beforehand those batteries that are to pursue the enemy.

Theoretically every available gun should be launched in the pursuit, but the recent war between Russia and Japan has shown how often a position that has been stormed and captured has been retaken by a rapid counter-attack before the attackers have had time to rally and prepare to hold what they have taken. Machine guns can render a position safe from counter-attack so quickly and effectually that this duty should be the first consideration of a machine-gun commander with infantry in the assault.

Fresh ammunition must be brought up, and every endeavour made to conceal the guns and construct good cover from any material found in the position.

“During the battle of Mukden, on the evening of March 1st, a position at Sha-shan was captured by the Japanese. The Russians had taken up another position some 500 yards in rear, from which they opened an effective fire upon the Japanese infantry in the captured position. Another Russian force about 1,000 yards further to the west threatened their flank. The Japanese, however, succeeded in bringing up the machine guns which had taken part in the attack, and brought them into action under cover of a number of sandbags abandoned by the Russians. The effect was decisive: all counter-attacks failed before the annihilating fire of the machine guns.”[26]