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 The details of their tactical employment with the besiegers will differ greatly in accordance with the nature of the operations, and particularly with the situation of the fortress and the surrounding country. In the case of Port Arthur the broken and mountainous nature of the terrain, the deep ravines, and rocky watercourses all lent themselves to the employment of machine guns, and consequently the Japanese were able to make greater use of them than would have been the case under less favourable conditions.

It will be impossible here to do more than briefly indicate how machine guns may be used to assist in siege operations generally, and then show how the Japanese used them before Port Arthur.

"When the enemy's advanced troops have been driven in and the preliminary reconnaissance has enabled the line of investment to be fixed, this line will be divided into sections, to which commanders will be appointed and troops allotted Outposts will be established as closely as possible round the fortress in order to cut it off from outside communication and to protect the operations in rear."[A] Machine guns should be allotted to these sections in proportion to their importance in the line of investment. The commander of the section should use them according to the circumstances of the situation, but as a rule a large proportion of the guns should be distributed to the outposts The duties of outposts in siege operations