Stage II
Fig. 12
High wire entanglement showing method of linking posts head to foot and foot to head. Wire, plain or barbed, then festooned with barbed wire. Bind wires where they cross. Use broken bottles, crows feet, planks with spikes or fishhooks in conjunction with this entanglement. (From Knowledge of War—Lake.)
The low wire entanglement has stakes averaging 18 inches above the ground and the wire is horizontal only. This form is especially effective if concealed in high grass. In both kinds the wires should be wound around the stakes and stapled and passed loosely from one stake to the next. When two or more wires cross they should be tied together. Barbed wire is more difficult to string but better when done. The most practicable form results from the use of barbed wire for the horizontal strands and smooth wire for the rest.
This is the most generally, useful of all obstacles because of the rapidity of construction, the difficulty of removal, the comparatively slight injury from artillery fire, and its independence of local material supplies.
[1182]. Time and materials. One man can make 10 sq. yds. of low and 3 sq. yds. of high entanglement per hour. The low form requires 10 feet of wire per sq. yd. and the high 30 feet. No. 14 is a suitable size. The smooth wire runs 58.9 ft. to the lb. A 100-lb. coil will make 600 sq. yds. of low or 200 sq. yds. of high entanglement. If barbed wire is used, the weight will be about 21/2 times as much.
[1183]. Wire fence. An ordinary barbed-wire fence is a considerable obstacle if well swept by fire. It becomes more formidable if a ditch is dug on one or both sides to obstruct the passage of wheels after the fence has been cut. The fence is much more difficult to get through if provided with an apron on one or both sides, inclined at an angle of about 45°, as indicated in [Figs. 13] and [14]. This form was much used in South Africa for connecting lines between blockhouses. When used in this way the lines of fence may be 300 to 600 yds. long, in plan like a worm fence, with the blockhouse at the reëntrant angles. Fixed rests for rifles, giving them the proper aim to enfilade the fence, were prepared at the blockhouses for use at night.
| Fig. 13 | Fig. 14 |