[115.] Should any squad have Nos. 2 and 3 blank files, No. 1 rear rank takes the place of No. 2 rear rank in making and breaking the stack; the stacks made or broken, he resumes his post.
Pieces not used in making the stack are termed loose pieces.
Pieces are never stacked with the bayonet fixed.
The Oblique March.
[116.] For the instruction of recruits, the squad being in column or correctly aligned, the instructor causes the squad to face half right or half left, points out to the men their relative positions, and explains that these are to be maintained in the oblique march.
[117.] 1. Right (Left) oblique, 2. MARCH.
Each man steps off in a direction 45° to the right of his original front. He preserves his relative position, keeping his shoulders parallel to those of the guide (the man on the right front of the line or column), and so regulates his steps that the ranks remain parallel to their original front.
At the command halt the men halt faced to the front.
To resume the original direction: 1. Forward, 2. MARCH.
The men half face to the left in marching and then move straight to the front.