Problem 10
My dear Dick,—
The problem I am setting you to-day has to do with fire control.
You are on outpost facing in a northerly direction and are in command of a picquet consisting of the headquarters of a platoon with a Lewis gun and thirty men at G. A man who has been sent in from a group on your left tells you that a company of the enemy is moving across your front from left to right along the road A B C D E F. He says that the company is marching with an advanced guard of one platoon about 200 yards in front of it. The platoon has a couple of groups 200 yards in front of it again. Five minutes after you have received this notice, you see a group of the enemy marching from the wood at B.
Problem.
How do you appreciate the situation and what action do you intend to take?
Solution.
So long as you remain carefully concealed at G and your men do not show themselves, it is at least as likely as not that the enemy’s scouts will not discover you. If, however, they should do so, your danger will come from the enemy’s company and the platoon in front of it and not from the scouts, and it is with these larger bodies that you must make your plans to deal. At this close range you ought to be able to put them out of action in the first minute after opening fire. If your men conceal themselves properly, even if the scouts do discover you, they will not do so until the enemy’s main body is nearing the point C. Your orders should consequently be somewhat as follows:
“Let every man conceal himself.