CAMOUFLAGED HEAVY GUN ABOUT TO FIRE.
THE CAPTURE OF VERMANDOVILLERS.
The arrival of French reinforcements. Photographed from accompanying aeroplane at 600 feet (p. [128]).
The Infantry
Before the battle, the attacking troops assemble first in the shelters, then in the assembling places and parallels made during the previous night. The battalion, company and section commanders survey the ground of attack with field-glasses.
During the battle, at a given signal, the assaulting battalions dash forward from the departure trenches, the first wave deployed in skirmishing order; the second and third, consisting of trench-cleaners, machine-gunners and supports, follow thirty or forty yards behind, in short columns (single file or two abreast). Reinforcements echeloned, and likewise in small columns, bring up the rear, 150 to 200 yards behind.
As a matter of fact, in actual fighting, each regiment attacks separately. The Commandant, realising the difficulties on the spot, must have in hand all the necessary means of success, the most powerful being the artillery, which accompanies and prepares each phase and development of the attack. Generally, the creeping barrage, timed beforehand, is loosed at the same moment of time as the assaulting wave. The infantry follows as closely as possible.