Manual of Military Training Part 90

1. The tendency is to make the trench too narrow; hence, guard against this.

2. Be careful not to throw the earth too far or too near.

3. Do not strike your neighbor's tools in working.

4. Do not use the pick unless necessary, because it makes considerable noise.

5. Do not sc.r.a.pe the tools together in order to get off the dirt; use a chip of wood or the toe of the shoe.

6. Make as little noise as possible in digging and handling your tools.

7. If discovered by the enemy's searchlights, do not become excited or confused; simply lie down.

8. If attacked by the enemy, do not get rattled and throw your tools away--put them in some fixed place where they can be found again.

=1100. Equipment.= At first the men should be taken out without arms, but later on they should be trained to work in full equipment. Teach every man what parts of his equipment are likely to make a noise under special circ.u.mstances, such as lying down, rising, crossing obstacles, etc., and instruct him how to guard against it. Bayonets should always be fixed, but in order to avoid accidents the scabbard should be left on them.

From the beginning of the training continually impress upon the men that it is absolutely criminal to fire without orders during a night operation and that the bayonet is the only weapon he can use with advantage to himself and safety to his comrades.

=1101. Night Firing.= As a rule men fire too high in the dark. They must, therefore, be cautioned not to raise the rifle above the horizontal, or incline the upper part of the body to the rear. When the firing is stopped be sure to turn on the safety-lock. Experience during the Russo-j.a.panese War taught the j.a.panese the kneeling position is the most suitable for horizontal firing. The following method, to be conducted in daytime, may be employed in training the soldier to hold his rifle parallel to the ground while firing in the dark:--Have each soldier, kneeling, close his eyes and bring his rifle to the position of aim, barrel parallel to the ground. With the rifle in this position, let him open his eyes and examine it. Then have this done by squad, by command. When they become proficient in this movement, have them close their eyes and while the eyes are closed, put up a target and have them practice horizontal firing, opening their eyes each time after pulling the trigger and then examining the position of the piece.

COLLECTIVE TRAINING

At first practice squads, then the platoons and later the company in simple movements, such as squads right and left, right and left oblique, etc., gradually leading up to more complicated ones in close and extended order, such as right and left front into line, advancing in platoon and squad columns, charging the enemy, etc. As far as possible the movements should be executed by simple prearranged signals from the unit commanders. The signals, which must not be visible to the enemy, may be made with a white handkerchief or a white flag, if the night be not too dark; with an electric flashlight, a dark lantern or luminous disk. The light of the flashlight or lantern must be screened, so it cannot be seen by the enemy. The following signals are suggested:

To advance: Raise vertically the lantern or other object with which the signal is made.

To halt: Lower and raise the object several times.

To lie down: Bring the object down near the ground.

To form squad columns: Move the object several times to the right and left.

To form platoon columns: Describe several circles.

As skirmishers: Move the object front to rear several times.

=1102. Night Marches.= In acting as an advance guard to a column, the company would send out a point a few yards ahead, which would be followed by the rest of the company. Three or four scouts should be sent out a hundred yards or so ahead of the point. They should advance at a quick pace, keeping in the shadow on the side of the road, being constantly on the alert, using their ears even more than their eyes.

They will halt to listen at crossroads and suspicious places, and move on again when they hear the company approaching. Should the enemy be discovered, one of the scouts will return to warn the advance guard--the others will conceal themselves and watch. Under no circ.u.mstances must the scouts ever fire, unless it be for the purpose of warning the company and there is no other way of doing so. The diagram on the opposite page is suggested as a good formation for a company acting as advance guard at night. A company marching alone would move in the same formation as when acting as advance guard, except that it would protect its rear with a few scouts. Of course, the nature of the country and proximity and activity of the enemy, will determine the best formation to be used, but whatever the formation may be, always remember to cover well your front, rear and flanks, with scouts, whose distance away will vary with the light and nature of the country. _Don't forget that protection in rear is very important._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2]

The men must be warned against firing, smoking, talking, striking matches, making noise, etc. They should also be informed of the object in view, direction of the enemy, etc.

In night marches the rests should not exceed five minutes; otherwise, many men will fall asleep.

OUTPOSTS

Careful training in outpost duty at night is very hara.s.sing, but, in view of its importance, should not be neglected. This instruction should be given with the greatest thoroughness, strictness and attention to detail.

=1103. Sentries Challenging.= In challenging sentries must be careful to avoid any noise that would disclose their position. In fact, challenging by voice should be reduced to a minimum by arranging a system of signals by which the officers of the day, patrols, etc., can be recognized. The following signals, any one of which may be decided upon, which would be made first by the sentry and then answered by the approaching party, are suggested: Clap the hands together twice; strike the ground twice with the b.u.t.t of the rifle; strike the b.u.t.t of the rifle twice with the hand; whistle softly twice. The replying signal would be the same as the sentry's signal, except that in case of the use of the b.u.t.t of the rifle, an officer would reply by striking twice on his revolver holster. After repeating the signal once, if it is not answered, the sentry will challenge with the voice, but no louder than is necessary. In case of a patrol only one man will advance to be recognized after the signal has been answered. The sentry must always allow persons to approach fairly near before challenging.

=1104. Sentries Firing.= Anyone who has been through a campaign knows how nervous green sentries are, and how quick they are about firing.

During the beginning of the Philippine Campaign the author heard of several cases where sentries fired on fire-flies several hundred yards away. Never fire unless it be absolutely necessary to give an alarm, or unless you can clearly distinguish the enemy and are fairly certain of hitting him. In the French Army in Algeria, there is a rule that any sentry who fires at night must produce a corpse, or be able to show by blood marks that he hit the person fired at. If he can do neither, he is punished for giving a false alarm.

=1105. Marking of Route from Outguards to Supports.= The route from the support to the outguards, and from pickets to their sentries, should, if necessary, be clearly marked with sc.r.a.ps of paper, green sticks with the bark peeled off, or in any other suitable way.

=1106. Readiness for Action.= The supports should always be ready for action. The men must sleep with their rifles beside them and in such places that they will be able to fall in promptly in case of attack.

Some men have a way of sleeping with their blankets over their heads.

This should not be allowed--the ears must always be uncovered. The commander, or the second in command, with several men, should remain awake. When the commander lies down he should do so near the sentry, which is always posted over the support.

GENERAL

=1107. Connections.= It is of the greatest importance that proper connection be maintained between the different parts of a command engaged in night operations. It is astonishing with what facility units go astray and how difficult it is for them to find their way back where they belong.

=1108. Preparation.= It matters not what the nature of the night operation may be, the most careful preparation is necessary. Success often depends upon the care and thoroughness with which the plans are made.

All possible eventualities should be thought of and provided for as far as praticable. The first thing to do is to get as much information as possible about the ground to be covered and the position of the enemy, and care must be taken to see that the information is accurate.

Reconnaissance must be made by night as well as by day; for, ground looks very different at night from what it does during the day.

CHAPTER IX

FIELD ENGINEERING

=1109.= The following, from the =Engineer Field Manual=, together with the elements of field engineering covered in Chapter XI, on =Obstacles=, will give the company officer a good, working knowledge of those parts of field engineering for which he is most likely to have need.

Bridges

=1111. Dimensions and guard rail.= A roadway 9 ft. wide in the clear should be provided to pa.s.s infantry in fours, cavalry two abreast, and military wagons in one direction; a width of 6 ft. will suffice for infantry in column of twos, cavalry in single file, and field guns pa.s.sed over by hand.

The _clear width_ of roadway of an ordinary highway bridge should not be less than 12 ft. for single track, or 20 ft. for double track.

The _clear head room_ in ordinary military bridges should not be less than 9 ft. for wagons and cavalry; for highway bridges not less than 14 ft.

Ramps at the ends of a bridge, if intended for artillery, should not be steeper than 1 on 7. For animals, slopes steeper than 1 on 10 are inconvenient.

If the bridges are high, hand rails should be provided. A single rope may suffice, or it may have brush placed upon it to form a screen.

A guard rail should be provided along each side of the roadway, near the ends of the flooring planks. In hasty bridges it may be secured by a lashing or lashings through the planking to the stringer underneath.

Otherwise it may be fastened with spikes or bolts.