André Laffargue

“ Taking the Formation for Combat.—The units of the second line should take their combat formation from the parallel of departure and from there be oriented on a well fixed objective; in fact, they risk coming unexpectedly under fire and should be ready for it at any time. There is, moreover, a reason of a moral order for it, which has been very often tested out. When taking the formation for combat, that is to say, when getting ready to fight the enemy before even having seen him, it seems that each one becomes imbued with a cold and silent resolution, which is alone irresistible. ”

“ ACTION OF THE SECOND LINE OF ATTACK. With the enemy all is disorder, the batteries flee at a gallop before the tide which has carried away all the obstacles prepared long ago and judged impregnable; all confidence disappears; the adversary, feeling his resistance giving way around him, no longer dares to hold out desperately, from now on the least thing induces him to turn tail. ”

“ On the 9th of May, by a single dash, our first wave submerged in one hour all the enemy’s first-line defenses to a depth of several kilometres.
The assault is extremely murderous; it is an implacable struggle in which one or the other must fall and in which the engines of combat not destroyed beforehand often make terrible havoc in the ranks of unprotected assaulting troops.
He who risks his life and does not wish to die but to succeed, becomes at times ingenious. ”

“ Each man down to the most humble feels conscious that his existence is of inestimable value, that it represents many efforts, many troubles, and many affections. The infantry soldier has so many and many occasions to die that he only gives himself up to it on real occasions, and this calm and conscientious 34self-denial which irritates those who would like to find the troops ever responsive to their orders is of a supreme grandeur. When one has seen the death and suffering of the soldier at close range, one ties to him as to one’s self and does not expose him for every whim. ”

“ Thus, emptying the magazine on the march, I was able to mount the parapet of the German trench without having permitted the enemy to fire a single aimed shot at me. If the man who marches unprotected in the spaces swept by bullets scorns the danger, the one who is sheltered is inclined to exaggerate toward the side of protection, and the men who are in the trenches when the bullets pass cannot keep from instinctively ducking. It is a sensation which the attack should take advantage of. ”

“ These are conditions likely to create disorder, the worst enemy of the assault. Think well as long as you are under cover because amid the bullets you march straight ahead without thinking. Transmit simple indications from man to man and orders to the chiefs of section by note.
Have all cease firing except the best shots; firing unnerves and distracts the noncommissioned officers and soldiers. On the contrary, silence is at once a mark of order; it impresses the men who collect themselves and make the appeal for a supreme resolution to their inner selves. ”

“ To take the first trenches is a task relatively easy; the artillery preparation is minutely regulated; the terrain is well known, and the attack is therefore free and open and is pushed through without reservation. But when the first lines have been crossed, one enters thenceforth into the domain of the unknown, one is on the lookout for ambushes and apprehends an unexpected trap at each step; this disquietude slows up the march and quickly transforms into a surprise the least activity of the enemy. ”

“ A few nights of sleep and a few days of good food are sufficient to restore the physique, but the nerve cells are reformed with all the slowness that is characteristic of them. How many times, some days after bloody fights which have left me weak and emaciated, have I found myself in a state of flourishing health almost shameful for a soldier, and felt at the same time a faltering courage at heart! ”

“ Before the attack, the physiognomy of the terrain and of the enemy’s defenses should be well impressed on the memory. The position should be known not only from the front but in profile. This study is of the greatest importance, particularly for the troops of the second line, because the greatest cause of stoppage in an offensive against a fortified position is the incomplete knowledge of the position. One is afraid, in advancing, of falling into an ambush. ”

“ The 75 has no effect on these shelters, and the infantry of the attack, who are delighted to see the parapets, the sand bags, planks, posts, etc., fly into the air as if pulverized by the ripping detonations, are stupefied on finding themselves greeted by a heavy fire as soon as they start out of their trenches. In consequence of this, the infantry is convinced that whenever the enemy has been able to construct deep shelters, an assault is certain massacre, in spite of the prodigious expenditure of 75’s, unless other and more powerful means of destruction have been employed. ”

“ Assaulting troops—and all troops are far from being assaulting troops.
An overwhelming superiority of fire all the time and not only at the moment of assault.
The possibility of rushing forth from a line of shelter a short distance from the enemy, a condition equally to be sought for in any other phase of the combat.
In order that the assault may be unlimited, the sacrifice being resolved upon, it must be pushed through to a finish and the enemy drowned under successive waves, calculating, however, that infantry units disappear in the furnace of fire like handfuls of straw. ”

“ The trench produces cohesion in the small group, the period of exercise the cohesion in the organization.
THE OFFENSIVE SPIRIT. In order to rush headlong at the enemy out in the open, where at any moment shot and shell may do its worst, one must have an exuberance of energy. This increase of courage exists only among troops who have for a long time been able to accumulate reserves of moral force. A unit that has recently made a bloody effort is incapable of delivering a furious and unlimited assault, such as we wish for. ”

“ The second wave arrives in its turn, avoids the zone of destruction, plunges into the parts where the resistance has weakened, and thus the first trench, split up into enveloped sections, is definitely submerged by the second wave. They form beyond the captured trench and start forward again; but it is a disorganized combat by groups in the midst of shots and bullets which cross each other in every direction. The second trench is assaulted, certain parts are conquered through which the flood of assailants spreads out while desperate groups resist stubbornly in some redoubts. ”

“ In this case, one cannot count on surprising the enemy; he will open a more or less violent fire, especially during the crossing of the wire entanglement. It is very illusory to imagine that any company is stoical enough to allow itself to be fired on at point blank without replying when it distinctly sees the enemy; it will be necessary to open fire, and this will throw the assaulting line into disorder.
The thin line of skirmishers is intended to give this protection by fire in order that the line of attack may keep its elbow-to-elbow formation without firing until almost the last. ”

“ The assault being the most severe phase of the combat, it is necessary, in order to face it and push it through, that the will of each individual be transformed largely by habits and reflexes. Therefore, hold each day an assault exercise over ground which resembles in detail that over which the real assault will have to be made. ”

“ Here again there is hesitation: units held up by only a semblance of resistance or trying to avoid it; others, having approached to assaulting distance, dig in and dare not go forward openly into a supreme charge; others are turned away from their objective to get into another combat, which absorbs them. ”

“ The field artillery is too far away; communication hardly exists after passing beyond the extremity of the telephone lines. The question is of the greatest importance and merits study. It would be absolutely necessary that the first waves of attack be followed, after the taking of the first lines of trenches, by light guns, the 37 for example, drawn by their cannoneers. These independent crews would be all eyes and ears to discover the machine guns and destroy them immediately. There are enough officers or noncommissioned officers of artillery to command them intelligently. ”

“ It is the individual assault where each soldier shows himself as a real fighter.
The March on the Line of Attack.—Each echelon starts out successively at a single bound and moves at a walk (even in cadence, if it were possible) . It is curious to observe how much this pace conduces to cold resolution and fierce scorn of the adversary. At Neuville, all units instinctively started at a walk. Afterwards take the double time at slow cadence, in order to maintain the cohesion; make several rushes, if necessary, of 80 to 100 metres. They should not be multiplied, at the risk of breaking the élan. ”

“ Taking the Next Trenches.—Pursuit over Free Ground.—Generally in assaulting exercises, everything stops after the first trench is taken; everyone is out of breath, and only a few men here and there, generally noncommissioned officers, try to push on shouting, but soon, being absolutely alone, they have to lie down panting and spent. This is what always happens in our battalion exercises.
The exercise means nothing unless there is impressed on the mind of everyone the deep-rooted idea of routing all the defenders in one sweep. ”

“ The organizations passing through the intervals arrive in front of the second line of defense, which is not generally occupied continuously. They run against lively and sudden resistances, or else encounter empty spaces through which they boldly penetrate, pushing straight on always to the front without being intimidated by the silence or distracted by the resistance on the right or left. The units stopped rapidly organize the assault and attack by main force like the first waves of the attack without trying to maneuver, 42a temptation of weakness and indecision. ”

“ Real superiority over the enemy is obtained by superiority of weapons; courage cannot make up for destruction, one must tax one’s brain to furnish the men with matériel which may be useful to them.
Grenades.—Every grenadier or member of a patrol should carry five grenades; each man should have one, not to throw himself but so that it may be possible to get a certain number of them together in case of need. If a fight with grenades is foreseen in a region cut up with trenches or boyaux or in a town, the supply should be increased. ”

“ Today as formerly, the word of the great chief, rational and assured, is graven in ineffaceable letters in the hearts of the combatants. Beyond the chief, the soldier clearly sees his native country, whose supreme will still claims the sacrifice, and in himself he feels his courage harden. ”

“ The best shots are designated by the chiefs of section. They construct masks in front of themselves, behind which they fire obliquely, that is to say, under excellent conditions of security and calm. They locate an adversary, keep aiming at him and firing each time that he appears, and they go successively from right to left. This method is very effective; the enemy does not dare to fire any more, and it soon seems as if his trench were empty. ”

“ Cohesion is very difficult to obtain with the continual renewal of men and noncommissioned officers; to cement it well, the men must have lived long together and have borne the same hardships during which are strengthened the sentiments of solidarity and affection which create in the company invisible bonds, stronger than all discipline and the only ones capable of resisting the fierce egoism of the battlefield. ”

“ The company commanders, particularly those of the first line, should indicate to their chiefs of section the successive points of direction for their sections, so that each one will be aware of the obstacles he will have to cross. The men should likewise know the ground well. I used to require them to study the future sector of attack, giving them the principal points to watch when they went on guard in the trench. ”

“ With these machine guns revealing themselves thus without our being able to foresee their emplacement, and taking up positions to stop our progress in a region no longer familiar to us, we must have the means of suppressing them instantly. ”

“ The aerial torpedo, on the contrary, seems to produce terrifying effects on the defenders of the trenches; it has also considerable destructive effect. This power is not always sufficient to break in the shelter caverns, but it completely knocks to pieces the firing trenches, produces cave-ins, blocks the openings of the shelters, and thus walls in the occupants. By its formidable explosion, the extraordinary effects of its blast, and the concussion that it induces in the ground, it annihilates all energy in the defenders, who at every instant think their last minute has come. ”

“ The preparation on the second line of defense is absolutely identical.
It is next necessary to cut the battlefield in two and isolate the zone of the first and second lines of defence, constantly manned by the troops near their combat positions, from the zone of cantonment. It is a matter of establishing an insuperable barrier. A barrier solely of ordinary shell fire is extremely expensive. The Germans have more simply solved the question by establishing a barrier of asphyxiating gas. ”

“ Each man should know that after having crossed the first trench, he should go on a few paces, lie down, open fire 21on the hostile groups who occupy the second trench, then get ready to start forward as before, and charge again with the same vigor in spite of fatigue. ”

“ The infantry urgently demands that the hostile artillery be put out of action before the attack. If the enemy artillery gets into 11action, the troops, crowded into the trenches, boyaux, [4] and parallels, have to suffer a painful bombardment, which causes losses and obliges everyone to hunt cover—an inauspicious attitude for troops which will have shortly to rush forward. Communications become difficult, the telephonic connections are broken, everyone gets nervous and perturbed. On the attack proper, artillery fire has an extraordinary disturbing effect ”

“ A resistance which starts up suddenly intimidates and paralyses the second line immediately, because the fear of the enemy leads to exaggeration of his strength and the mental disturbance prevents locating and estimating him rapidly. In addition, the reinforcements have during long hours of waiting been subjected to a very demoralizing artillery fire. ”

“ Then everybody, infantry, machine guns, light canon, instantly take up their dispositions.
By representing the enemy and having him fire blank cartridges, one becomes accustomed to making rapid reconnaissance of resistances.
IV.
Preparation of the Troops for Penetration. The battle of today, since the last evolution of the war, is only a succession of assaults. The assault being the hardest and 31most murderous phase of the combat, before which the attack generally breaks down, we should only undertake it with assaulting troops. All troops are far from being assaulting troops ”

“ Combat exercises by entire units, close-order drill, and passing in review which should always close an exercise session, contribute to develop the sentiment, which becomes blunted in the trenches, that the soldier belongs to a unit, compact and articulate. ”