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in the hostile position, or that on which the greatest volume of fire can be concentrated from enfilading or commanding positions. At all other points of the battlefield, the assailant will endeavor to deceive the opponent, with weak forces, as to his true intentions, but, at the decisive point, he should launch superior numbers. The French regulations contend that such weak points will only become apparent during the course of the fight, and therefore separate the troops into a preparatory and a decisive combat group.

The desire to strike the weakest point in the enemy's line causes the decisive blow to be directed against a flank, and the numerical superiority requisite for gaining the superiority of fire, leads to

6. ENVELOPMENT.

(Pars. 392-396 German I. D. R.).

The desire of the attacker to put a superior number of rifles into the fight, in order to gain a superiority of fire more quickly, naturally leads to an extension of the firing line and to an overlapping of the defender's line. The advantage of overlapping the enemy's line lies in the fact that part of the