Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/513

Rh planes are seen like rapidly approaching specks in the distance. Each platoon promptly deploys into little section groups, moving on under control, and yet so scattered and irregular and offering so small a target that the bombs bury themselves harmlessly in the ground. Futile cascades of earth and stones fly in all direc- tions. Other low-flying aeroplanes follow up the bombing attack by diving at the infantry and firing sharp bursts of bullets from machine-guns. The scattered groups crouch and open fire the aeroplanes disperse all save one which, caught by a burst of Lewis gun-fire, crumples up, and with the unforgettable thud that only a crashed aeroplane begets, strikes the ground in a tattered moil of canvas, steel and wood. The infantry move on, their apprehensions of the coming battle lulled by the excitement of the moment their moral heightened by their lack of casualties and the summary retribution which has overtaken one assailant. The rapid unmistakable chatter of machine-gun fire is heard over the rise beyond; the drifting patches of smoke from bursting shells which cover the position gained by the infantry ahead are warnings of the imminence of the call to play an active part in the battle. The deployed battalion is halted under cover of a rise, whilst its leaders survey the ground ahead, and the orders are is- sued two companies will lead the advance, a third will follow in support for manoeuvre and the fourth company will be retained as a reserve under the hand of the battalion commander. He tells the captains that, as far as is known, the enemy has not had time to organize his back defences and is holding improvised positions which the air service has not been able to locate definite- ly. He points out a low ridge 2,000 yd. ahead, and informs them that the battalion's role is to seize and hold this ridge and con- solidate a position on its further slope.

The frontage allotted to the battalion is about 1,200 yd. as marked on the map at the start, and an equal sector of the dis- tant ridge is to be consolidated. There will be no rolling barrage from our artillery it would only hamper movement but for- ward guns will engage centres of enemy resistance. A section of tanks will cooperate with the battalion, and the protective bar- rage now assisting the brigade in front will lift at 8 A.M. Then advance begins, and the battalion, deployed with 600 yd. of frontage allotted to each leading company, passes through the forward troops busy as ants digging in and strengthening the position they have gained. Once clear, the section groups shake out into little arrowheads or worms which push forward at a quick walking pace over broken ground; 100 to 200 yd. separates each front-line section. The shell-fire is heavy, but, thanks to the scattered and irregular formations, losses are slight. The air is clamorous with noise, the senses are afflicted by the sight and vibration of bursting shells, but the sections of six men each (sometimes flinging themselves down as a shell bursts over close, then leaping up and pressing on) are too wide apart, too well able to take advantage of cover, too closely knit by the kinship of the section with the corporal whom they follow, to feel the strain. They are too busy moving over broken ground to think of any- thing but to keep together and go straight to their objectives. The forward companies at last come under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from the enemy's new position, a system of posts sited to cover each other by fire.

The little groups then worm their way forward, making short rushes from cover to cover, crawling even when the fire is hot and ground too open, but always working nearer. At one or two points groups find covered approaches, perhaps a ditch, a hollow, the bed of a rivulet, by which they penetrate between the enemy's posts. The platoon commander moves with his manoeuvre sections to back them up then when the post is fixed by fire or blinded by smoke its flank is rounded and the defenders turn too late. Drab-clad forms rush in upon them from behind and hands are put up. That moral force which rules battles makes the actual shock a myth, and the nerve-stricken defender, overcome by the powerful moral weapon, surprise not out- fought but out-manceuvred surrenders or is bayonetted. In other instances the forward sections lose heavily or lack the vital will to close with the enemy; the section leader is unduly cautious; he hopes and waits for his neighbour to find a soft

spot, and thus the enemy confronting him are able to keep watch on their flanks and greet the outflanking section with a hail which crumples it up. A tank comes to the rescue, but there is much delay before the post is conquered. Yet in some places quickly, in others tardily, some sections and platoons push deeply into the vitals of the enemy's position. The company commander presses on in the wake of his more successful platoon, and pushes forward his manoeuvre platoon diagonally into any soft spot found on his wide front. Thus a success is immediately exploited. The sections are always pushing forward, seizing the fleeting chances given by a shell bursting near an enemy post to rush closer, by smoke to push round a flank, by the fire of a neighbouring section to dash to the next scrap of cover ever onward because they know that speed of advance is the way to victory and safety. Every man's agility must therefore be unencumbered by articles of kit, and must be stimulated by two thoughts: one is that the turn of his own company to be the leading and therefore the most combative unit only occurs once during eight battles engaged in by his brigade, and therefore every man is " all out " for the company; the second is that no less than ten companies of his own brigade are coming along behind and will not leave him in the lurch.

No dense targets are here, no close-packed uncontrollable waves each forward group under its own leader, fighting its way to the goal, following an irregular course dictated by the cover to be found, helping its neighbour by fire and smoke, in- spired by a common impulse: its guiding star the knowledge that it can and must push straight for the objective. The com- pany and higher commanders retain control of the fight by the use they make of their manoeuvre bodies. The accompanying tanks may be hit or delayed by obstacles, but the infantry, by the use in combination of its own weapons and its power to manoeuvre, can still fight its way forward. The help of the other arms artillery, tanks or aircraft is treated as providing oppor- tunities to be seized, not to be waited for and counted upon to clear the ground of enemies.

Here a company is held up by a counter-attack and the situa- tion looks serious; some men waver; their section leaders are down. But the understudies take charge; their little groups, now shrunk to half their strength but still effective fighters, lie down and open fire. The counter-attack pauses; a diversion comes; the battalion commander, who has followed in the wake of the other forward company, turns inward through the gap, throws in his manoeuvre company or a portion of it against the flank of the counter-attack. Surprise again. The enemy, caught by fire from two directions, faced with the threat of assault, waver and break. Their demoralization is infectious. Posts which had held out stubbornly give way; the tide of defeat sets in; everywhere enemies are seen trickling backwards. Pressing close on their heels the whole battalion makes its way towards another position of resistance. Here it beats vainly at first against the dam of the defence, seeking a crack through which it may infiltrate; it suc- ceeds, at first by driblets and then in increasing volume, till suddenly the whole dam is swept away. This means victory, exhilarating victory. The reserve company, the last, is put in, if it has not been previously employed. Some posts and machine- gun nests have still to be overthrown, but the goal is reached; the ridge is gained and the battalion halts on its further slope. The groups are dispersed over the ground; they begin digging in whilst the artillery put down a protective barrage ahead, until still another brigade passes through our weary but triumphant infantry to carry the advance farther. The battalion continues consolidating the ground won, ready to cover the battalion which has passed through, should it be driven back by a counter-stroke.

Such is a rapid sketch, designed merely to illustrate salient points in the tactics taught in 1918 in France.

Future Development. A question naturally arises as to the probable direction which the development of infantry will take under conditions caused by new inventions, particularly mechani- cal ones. In what way must we improve and reform our infantry methods in order to lighten the infantryman's burden in view of the probability that he may have to wear a gas mask in every