“Stand To” Exercises. A well-trained garrison, accustomed to “stand to” quickly, without noise and confusion, cannot be easily surprised. When the call to arms is given by a sentinel, this call is repeated by all watchers in the successive lines of the support point. The officer of the watch runs immediately to the place of call. All the men of the garrison spring out of their niches and shelters, and proceed quickly, without orders, to their appointed places of combat. This execution must be automatic, and only a frequent repetition of the “stand to” exercise can give a unit this result. Besides these exercises, as we know, the garrison executes “stand to” one hour before dusk and one hour before daylight. Deep dugouts are prohibited in the first line because they may become traps in which the defenders are taken prisoners, and they materially lengthen the time for the garrison to take its place for combat.
Only in case of an expected attack and when the garrison is ready for it, is the alarm signal given by such special means as bells, whistles, or rockets. This is exceptional. The only practical alarm signal that will awaken the garrison any time during the night is the cry “to arms” passed along and taken up by everyone.
Rifle, A. M. R., and grenade fire from the first line will usually stop a surprise attack. But since it is impossible to ascertain the strength of the attacking troops, the defensive artillery barrage is called for. Similarly, the reserve troops located in the cover and support trenches may be used for the purposes of reinforcement and counterattacks, depending upon the success of the enemy’s attack.
The captain of a support point must not only keep up the offensive spirit of his garrison by all the means of trench fighting, but he must organize and maintain a vigilant guard and patrol service for security.
Attack in Force
Attacks in force are carried out to capture an important position, or there may be a series of such objectives along a front in a general offensive. On the other hand, the object of the defense is not only to repulse the enemy but also to inflict upon him as great a loss as possible.
The phases of a great attack are: the preparation, of which the final and most important element is the bombardment; the assault of the first line; and the exploitation of success by fighting in the interior of the position. The defending troops must combat each one of these phases by the most adequate measures. We shall take up these measures in detail.
I. During the Preparation of the Hostile Attack
Revealing Symptoms of the Attack. The preparation of the hostile attack reveals itself by different preparations: