Tactical (taken from a précis of the Austrian Regulations, 1908; published in Streffleurs militärische Zeitschrift, April, 1908).—(a) With Infantry.—During the advance it is well to give some machine guns to the principal units of the covering force, for they add to their resisting power, and in the many phases of the preparatory fight they are sure to have opportunities of effecting surprise. The place for the section leader is then near the O.C. detachment. When the machine guns leave the column it is always advisable to detail a few cavalry to cover them.
To take up a position it is necessary to observe the following:
(1) To manœuvre out of sight of the enemy. This will often necessitate unloading and carrying forward the matériel by hand.
(2) Not to keep the guns too close together, which may cause additional losses. The “position of observation” will play an important part in the machine-gun fight.
The narrow effective zone of the machine guns allows them to fire over the heads of other troops. Such fire will be advantageously employed when machine guns occupy high positions. But it is only allowed at ranges greater than 1,000 yards, and when the troops over whom they are firing are at least 400 yards from the guns. Under these circumstances the use of searching fire is forbidden.
Both in attack and defence it is necessary to remember that machine guns are not suitable for a continuous fight of long duration. If during the preparatory fight the machine guns have found opportunities of opening fire, they ought, when the general engagement has begun, to be withdrawn from the firing line and held ready to act again under certain circumstances of importance.
These circumstances are:
In attack: to act on the enemy’s flank to facilitate the infantry advance; to open fire on the decisive point, whether flank or front, from a dominating position, either over the heads of the infantry or by carrying the machine guns up into the firing line.
In defence: to reinforce threatened points; to stop enveloping movements; to repulse an assault; to take part in a counter-attack.
In most cases these tasks will necessitate the machine guns being at once carried into the firing line to fight side by side with the infantry.