Tactical high ground

“ When an organisation is acting alone, and when both flanks are in the air, a weaker line is pushed forward and a reserve is retained....”
The enhanced power of firearms permits an extended front to be held, especially at the commencement of an action. The only restrictions are those dictated by necessity—always to assure effective control by the leader and mutual coöperation between the various tactical units. ”

“ Now the strategy of this new sort of war in its opening phase will consist mainly in very rapid movements of guns and men behind that thin screen of marksmen, in order to deal suddenly and unexpectedly some forcible blow, to snatch at some position into which guns and men may be thrust to outflank and turn the advantage of the ground against some portion of the enemy's line. ”

“ In the Active Defence, the Decisive Counter-Attack, ending in the overthrow of the enemy, is the manoeuvre originally in view when the defensive rôle is adopted. In the Passive Defence against superior numbers. Local Counter-Attacks end with the recapture of a tactical point or the repulse of a determined assault, and in the Delaying Action they overwhelm by surprise fire or assault a detached force which has advanced with such rapidity as to enable the defenders, without undue risk, to cut off and annihilate the isolated enemy body. ”

“ The sharp edges of conflict are stationary—sunk in the muddy trenches and nailed down to machine-gun emplacements. But while the fronts of the great war machine are thus held, they are never still. The wear and tear of conflict go on day and night, week after week, month after month. Behind the infantry in their earthy strongholds the great guns of the artillery hide, long-sighted and tireless. ”

“ Hostile attempts can be generally met by dismounted fire action in well-chosen strong defensive country, possibly supported by detachments of Infantry, Artillery, and 'Landsturm.' If the enemy's superiority is great, then one must retire until the equilibrium of the forces is re-established, the strategical necessity compels us to fight, or, finally, the tactical situation gives good promise of success. ”

“ Although foot soldiers, more than ever before, had to learn to co-operate with tanks and with planes, this did not spare them from having to be in the forefront of almost all important assaults. In short, while they could not advance against the enemy without the aid of tanks, artillery, and air, neither could those arms gain ground or destroy the enemy's will to fight without the aid of the infantry. ”

“ Whatever the tactical situation, it is by the vigour of the offensive spirit alone that success may be achieved in the face of a determined enemy.
MODERN WARFARE.—In modern warfare the defensive position plays a part of increasing importance, owing {80} to the great power conferred on the defence by modern armaments. "Machine guns and barbed wire permit the rapid organisation of defensive points of a value which cannot be disputed. In particular, they have given to a trench, or to a natural obstacle, a solidity which permits a front to be extended in a manner unsuspected before this war ”

“ When you are dealing with many miles of men whose armament is not only destructive at a great distance, but also over a wide belt of ground, you have, in the first place, a vast extension of any possible defensive lines. ”

“ As soon as it is sufficiently dark to preclude the possibility of aerial observation the enemy will begin shifting his defense elements with a view to preparations to resist our advance again tomorrow. He will be effecting a relief of his worn-out troops, shifting his machine guns to more advantageous positions, changing his artillery so as to more effectively cover the ground which we will have to pass over tomorrow if our attack is a success. ”

“ It is to be borne in mind that the fire can only have a decisive effect when it is directed against troops situated within effective range. The arm to which they belong has little to do with the question; the decisive point in choice of target is first and foremost the momentary tactical importance of that target. ”

“ By elevating the small guns the curtain fell farther and farther into the enemy's territory, thus making it possible for the Allies to go on farther and farther across No Man's Land.
The infantry rushed forward, fighting and dying nobly in a noble cause. Position after position was consolidated as the Germans fell back before the rain of shot and shell. It is always this way in an offensive, small or large. The first rush of the attacking side, be it German, French, British, or American, carries everything before it. It is the counter attack that tells. ”

“ In all probability the threat of turning a flank either by mounted troops or by machine guns will compel the enemy to abandon the position in the case of a minor engagement between squadrons—especially where a counter-attack [75] is rendered impossible by the strength of the frontal attack. ”

“ It may be stated tersely that the equilibrium between forces conducting respectively an attack and defence is normally maintained by a balance between strategic and tactical advantages. Thus the tactical advantage lies with the defender, in so far that he may be presumed to occupy chosen positions carefully prepared and fortified in advance, so that to place the attack on terms of equality the force employed must (locally at least) be numerically stronger; a numerical superiority many times that of the defending force may be required. ”

“ The most effective defense of beleaguered field artillery units, however, was that provided by prompt counterattack delivered by neighboring infantry or tanks, a tactic which turned on accurate local intelligence, unbroken communications, and the enemy inability to deflect the counterattack force with heavy supporting weapons or mines. ”

“ On the other hand, tactical considerations would indicate that a well-equipped army, of good morale, under an active and aggressive commander, covered by a modern intrenched camp, should be able to prevent the 73 investment; and by taking advantage of its interior lines, its heavy guns and its strong points d’appui, should be able to beat in detail a force very much greater than itself whose fractions, by reason of the extent of the line of investment, are necessarily not within supporting distance of each other. ”

“ When the terrain is favorable, infantry and machine guns should not hesitate to fire over the heads of their own skirmishers. The coöperation of artillery will, in any case, be of great value, and infantry will have to select those moments for advancing when the defender is driven under cover by the hail of shot.
The advance by rushes, consuming time and energy, is an expedient to which the enemy compels us to resort as the only means of gaining ground to the front. ”

“ Every strategic line of defense should always possess a tactical point upon which to rally for defense should the enemy cross the strategic front. For instance, an army guarding a bank of a river, not being able to occupy in force the whole line, ought always to have a position in rear of the center selected, upon which to collect all his divisions, so as to oppose them united to the enemy when he has succeeded in effecting a passage. ”

“ Imagine the solid and continuous barrage of thousands and thousands of shells bursting in a line for miles and miles, the barking cannons on each side, like so many ferocious dogs spitting fire, roads filled with on-marching troops, coming up in formation from both sides, walking as it were, into that veritable valley of death and destruction; the air filled with hostile planes and our whole safety depending upon the supposition of being alone and so far behind the lines that the Germans would not realize the presence of an enemy plane. ”

“ If a man cannot move freely, he cannot fight. If a horse cannot move, what use is his rider? If the artillery-man cannot serve [80] the gun freely and the gun is immovable, field artillery is useless. Therefore, if gas becomes a standard weapon, we are left with the tank and the aeroplane as the sole effective arms for offensive action. Only as the static defenders of the fortified bases—the land-ports—of tanks and aircraft will there be a future for infantry and artillery, the former armed with super-heavy armour-piercing machine-guns, and the latter with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. ”

“ Small flanking parties, crossing at unguarded points by hastily improvised means, will dislodge hostile infantry and Maxims much more quickly and effectively than by frontal attacks, however powerfully supported by artillery. ”

“ It is better to construct several lines of small obstacles than a single line of large ones. The requirement that obstacles must not interfere with the defender’s fire, must not afford the enemy an opportunity to approach under cover, and must remain intact under hostile artillery fire, is best met by marshy ground and by wire entanglements. ”

“ Because every improvement made in weapons from the earliest recorded history of war has entailed corresponding alterations in tactics to meet it, and obviate, as far as possible, its effects. Instead of standing in massive columns, or in line with close ranks two and three deep, and reserving their fire until they could "see the whites of their enemy's eyes," troops now engage at longer distances, in loose order, and take advantage of whatever cover is to be found. ”

“ We do not see the guns that bombard us; the attacking lines of the enemy infantry are men like ourselves; but these tanks are machines, their caterpillars run on as endless as the war, they are annihilation, they roll without feeling into the craters, and climb up again without stopping, a fleet of roaring, smoke-belching armour-clads, invulnerable steel beasts squashing the dead and the wounded—we shrivel up in our thin skin before them, against their colossal weight our arms are sticks of straw, and our hand-grenades matches. ”

“ Steps should be taken immediately to secure any bridges, defiles, or other vital points on the line of retreat, at which the enemy’s mounted troops might intercept the force. Commanders of retreating troops must recognise that their greatest danger will arise from attacks in flank delivered by the enemy’s mounted troops and horse artillery; if possible, therefore, they should take precautions that all ground commanding their line of retreat is occupied by flank guards. ”

“ By Rapid Dominance, we are seeking the capability to dominate, control, and isolate the entire environment in, around, over, and under the objective area as quickly as possible, and with fewer forces than currently envisaged, although direct insertion of forces is an important component depending upon the tactical situation. In many cases, this capacity need not be the traditional firepower solution of only physically destroying an adversary's military capabilities. ”

“ The first troops to deploy will be able to attack with longer firing lines and weaker supports than are required in the ordinary case. But if the enemy succeeds in deploying a strong, defensive line, the attack must be strengthened accordingly before it is wasted.
527. If the situation warrants the advance, the leading troops seek to deploy faster than the enemy, to reach his flanks, check his deployment, and get information. In any event, they seek to cover the deployment of their own troops in rear—especially the artillery—and to seize important ground. ”

“ We must remember, here as elsewhere, that the dead-weight of numerical superiority, especially in Artillery, gives a force of low mobility, like the British force, a defensive power disproportionately greater than its offensive power. ”

“ Ordinarily the major will assign to the company an objective in attack or sector in defense; the company's target will lie within the limits so assigned. In the choice of target, tactical considerations are paramount; the nearest hostile troops within the objective or sector will thus be the usual target. This will ordinarily be the hostile firing line; troops in rear are ordinarily proper targets for artillery, machine guns, or, at times, infantry employing fire of position, as set forth in par. ”

“ By surprise either Army can bulge in a sector of the opposing lines but, until one Army loses its moral, neither Army can break through. An engine will be found to restore marches and manœuvres but, at this historic moment, our tactics are at that stage. To break through, Armies must advance some six or seven miles; otherwise they can't bag the enemy's big guns. But, the backbone of their attack, their own guns, can't support them when they get beyond five or six miles. ”

“ The battle is no longer between the opposing lines of the infantry, for to win a position you must hold it, and to hold it you must have brought up swiftly and safely from the rear bombs, ammunition, wire rations, and a means of entry for the supporting and relieving troops, the area of the battle is no longer the front line, it is behind this that the enemy barrage descends, and over a wide field of fire the German shells are searching for all those who would bring up succour and relief. It is under these conditions that the pioneers must do their work. ”

“ Operating in an enemy's country, and being supplied always from a distant base, large detachments had at all times to be sent from the front, not only to guard the base of supplies and the roads to it, but all the roads leading to our flanks and rear. ”

“ Even a defensive strategy, if it is to be successful, calls not only for defensive forces to hold vital positions while mobilizing and preparing for the offensive, but also for offensive forces to attack the enemy and keep him off balance. ”

“ The shortening and strengthening of the line of investment by closing it in upon the work make it imperative to hold all ground gained; and this is generally best accomplished by intrenching the line of outposts with continuous shelter trenches, strengthened at intervals by batteries of field guns, and supported by field works of considerable strength, placed within accurate cannon range of each other, but not exposed to the direct fire of the guns of the place. ”