3. The man will then seize his adversary firmly by the throat, holding him at arm's length so that the latter can neither strike back effectively, nor wriggle away to avoid or parry the decisive blow.
Decisive Fire Torrent
4. Then while his enemy's whole attention is absorbed by the menacing hand at his throat, with his other fist the man strikes his opponent from an unexpected direction in an unguarded spot, delivering out of the dark a decisive knock-out blow.
To follow these principles is the only sure path to victory. We can only neglect the fixing phase, if our enemy commits some mistake, such as the neglect of his own security, by which he fixes himself without our intervention and so exposes himself to our decisive blow.
In war, as in individual combat, there are two kinds of security: Material and Tactical. The former is security against direct loss, such as casualties inflicted by the actual blows of the enemy; the latter is security against the indirect damage which we suffer if the enemy is able to avoid or parry our decisive blow, so that we weaken and expose ourselves to his counter-blow.
How does one obtain security? Exactly as did the man-in-the-dark. He pushed out one arm, which in war, means adopting a formation of security. He used his outstretched arm to grope for and feel the enemy, which in war means reconnaissance. When the enemy is located, we fix him so firmly by an attack from one direction that he is unable to avoid or turn to meet our decisive attack delivered from another direction - normally a flank.
Now let us consider the principle of economy of force as applied to Infantry. One must use the minimum strength for the phase of preparation, essential though it is. One must devote the maximum possible force to the decisive blow and its exploitation. In strategy or grand tactics the distribution of our available forces is a complex problem, but in infantry tactics it is comparatively simple. Each infantry commander, platoon, company, battalion, or brigade has only four fighting sub-units under his command, apart from certain auxiliary fire weapons such as machine guns or mortars.
It must be remembered that while the decisive attack is made by the maximum force, its success depends upon the enemy being really fixed. Hence the manoeuvre body is not necessarily the largest. The "last straw which breaks the camel's back" is a great truth in battle tactics.
When one speaks of weight or force in modern war it is essential to remember that it is weight of fire and not of mere numbers of men. An army composed of highly trained fire units capable of manoeuvre can defeat far larger armies who rely on mere masses of men. Thus highly-fortified enemy defences must be countered by an increase of mechanical fire power, and not by reducing the intervals, and so increasing the casualties, of the infantry.
Infantry tactics have been thrown into the melting pot by the realization, which has been forced upon us, that our former methods are inapplicable and wasteful of force under modern conditions. The outstanding change has been the realization that the weight, or force, of an attack does not increase in proportion to the numbers of men thrown in; that progress can only be made by intelligent manoeuvre of fire power.
Increasing the numbers beyond a certain density adds nothing to the effectiveness of the attack or defence, but only results in greater casualties. Instead of dense lines of bayonet men in attack, or crowded positions in defence, one must use widely dispersed combat groups containing comparatively few men, but well equipped with fire and smoke weapons. These must be allowed ample frontage to manoeuvre and find the enemy's soft spots. Thus the exact intervals will depend on whether the ground is open or close.
It is necessary at this point to remember that, in any large action, each of the infantry units will be restricted to a definite sector of the front. At first sight, therefore, it will be confined to a purely frontal attack. But modern destructive weapons have enforced a wide dispersion of the combatants on the battlefield. This dispersion has rendered possible penetration by the fire units--the sections--between the enemy defence posts. It is the role of the section, platoon, and company commander in turn by exploiting this penetration to change their sector of the battle from a mere bludgeon fight into a manoeuvre combat, thus fulfilling the principle of economy of force by striking "from an unexpected direction against an unguarded spot."
Security is the first essential. Hence each unit should move by bounds. In this method each body advances alternately while the other is halted in a position from which it can cover with fire the moving body. The manoeuvre body, in an advance, will only bound as far as a position in rear of the forward body, from which it can cover the next advance of the latter.
Speed is the first essential, and therefore continuous progress must be aimed at, instead of movement by bounds. You will normally have two sub-units forward and two for manoeuvre. The formation will be a modified square. The two forward sub-units should be well apart in order to cover the whole extent of your frontage with fire and to thoroughly explore it for soft spots. The two manoeuvre sub-units should move as close together as the enemy's fire allows, in order to be under quicker control for manoeuvre. Section Formations We now turn to consider the formation of the actual fire, or fighting units, which are the sections. The extended line is not a formation of security; it is not under the instant control and direction of the section commander, and thus it prevents full advantage being taken of covered approaches and reduces the power of manoeuvre.
The very idea of a line presupposes a wasteful frontal attack instead of a manoeuvre combat. Hence it should be abandoned in favour of a formation such as arrowhead, with the section commander as the point of the arrow. Arrowhead is no more vulnerable to frontal fire than an extended line, whilst against enfilade fire it is even less vulnerable. It gives the section commander far greater powers of control and manoeuvre, and is capable of firing in any direction. Thus it forms our ideal of a human tank or moving strong point. When advancing through defiles or through woods and thick bush, the arrowhead can be closed in to form worm formation, in file or single file. During the advance the section commander must use his intelligence, and change from one formation to the other as the ground dictates.
Each forward body should advance direct on the enemy in order to reconnoitre him by fighting, discover and penetrate his weak spots and so continue its advance to the objective. If no soft spots can be found in the frontage allotted to it, it should fix him firmly, so that the manoeuvre body can work round his flank and deliver a decisive surprise blow. Thus when the fire of the enemy holds up a forward body, its duty will be to keep the enemy immediately opposing it fixed to his ground and to absorb his attention by maintaining a vigorous fire and working its way closer at every opportunity provided by the fire or smoke of neighbouring units or of the auxiliary arms. Any slackening of pressure by the forward bodies will only result in the defence being able to turn and meet the flanking attack. A resolute and speedy advance shakes the defender's moral and prevents him getting the range, so lessening the accuracy of his fire. The leading ,sections must not delay the advance by halting to fire until no further progress can be made without beating down the hostile fire. The action of the forward infantry in attack must consist of a constant pressing forward to close with the enemy in order to find the weak spots in his defences. To this end they must seize every available cover afforded by the ground, fire or smoke.
The forward sections can often fix the enemy defence posts opposed to them far more effectively by firing smoke to windward of them, than by rifle or Lewis gun fire. The smoke drifting down over the enemy blinds them and so enables the manoeuvre sections to work round their flank unseen to assault them. Moreover, this method economizes ammunition.
Each manoeuvre body will move close behind. Its normal purpose will be to assist, by means of manoeuvre, the forward body to advance and gain the objective. If the fire of the enemy holds up the forward body it will be the role of the manoeuvre body to turn the flank of, and enfilade, the enemy resistance which is opposing the forward body.
Battalion and brigade commanders should also move with their manoeuvre companies, or battalions, but only until they commit them to a definite role. They should subsequently move with their reserve. Thus every infantry commander will be able to keep control of the course of the attack and influence it without delay at the decisive moments.
In the case of the platoon the Lewis gun sections may often be used for manoeuvre. They are less mobile and present a larger target than the rifle sections, but if covered approaches are available, they are more valuable for manoeuvre, because of the greater surprise and enfilade effect of Lewis gun fire.
Simultaneously the water behind pours straight through the breach between the side eddies which are wearing away the flanks. Directly it has passed through it expands to widen once more the onrush of the torrent. Thus as the water pours through in ever-increasing volume the onrush of the torrent swells to its original proportions, leaving in turn each crumbling obstacle behind it.
Thus Nature's forces carry out the ideal attack, automatically maintaining the speed, the breadth, and the continuity of the attack. Moreover, the torrent achieves economy of force by progressively exploiting the soft spots of the defence.
The respective phases of Fixing and Decisive Manoeuvre will be carried out against each successive resistance, whilst the "expanding torrent" will ensure that the momentum of the attack is not lost by the delay caused by the clearing of these enemy defence posts. No forward unit must, however, press on, even if it finds a gap, unless it has cleared, or made arrangements to clear, all enemy resistance within its frontage. 2ff7e9595c
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