CHAPTER VDEFENSE OF A POSITION
Surprise Attacks.These may be raids or local attacks. A raid is usually for the purpose of taking prisoners; and a local attack, to capture a part of the line. These operations may be carried out without a preliminary bombardment, but are usually preceded by a short intense bombardment to destroy wire entanglements.
Attacks in Force.Such an attack may be made on a larger part of the line, as a particular sector, or on a considerable length of front in a general offensive. This kind of attack is, of course, preceded by a bombardment.
Special Attacks.Special attacks are made with gas, liquid fire, and mine methods. These will be taken up in detail in a later chapter.
Surprise Attacks
Precautions Against Surprise.In considering precautions against surprise attacks, it is not a question of combating patrols or enemy’s reconnaissance parties whose missions are to search out information of your intentions and situation. It is a question of raids and little attacks on your lines. Against such hostile operations the defense of the sector depends upon the following precautions.
Maintenance of the Barbed Wire Entanglements.A surprise attack, to be successful, must have besides surprise the element of swiftness. The enemy must make a dash across “No Man’s Land” up to your first line. This, however, is impossible, if your barbed wire entanglements are intact. Consequently each captain is responsible for the maintenance of the wire belt in front of his line.
It is the duty of the observation service to discover breaches or defects in your wire. To this end, the captain sends out at night patrols to ascertain the condition of his entanglements. If necessary, small detachments are sent out at night to make repairs. If this work is considerable, he calls upon the battalion commander for special working parties to assist. The captain, in his dailyrequisitions for material, provides for the supply of wire, chevaux-de-frise, etc., that he may need.
Service of Guard and Observation.One of the most important duties of the observers in the first line, and of the sentinels and patrols, is to locate breaches that the enemy has made in your wire, or to discover hostile parties in the act of tampering with the same.
Breaches or passages in your wire may be made by such means as bangalores and petards and detonators. The explosion of such an arrangement is a sufficient signal of alarm. These are usually poor methods.
Passages may be made by special hostile patrols using wire cutters. These wire cutting patrols may precede the attack. Alert sentinels or your own hourly patrols, that crawl along your wire belt, should discover such operations.
The usual method, however, is to destroy barbed wire by artillery fire. The object of hostile shelling of your position is not always easily detected. The enemy may carry out a general artillery fire on your position during the day, for example, just before dusk. At the same time he will concentrate certain batteries for a methodical destruction of parts of your entanglement. For this reason it is themission of the first patrol, sent out at dusk, to ascertain the condition of the barbed wire belt. The report of this patrol may carry important indications of the intentions of the enemy.
Sometimes a hostile surprise attack is preceded only by a short and unexpected bombardment. Registering shots for this artillery fire are made during the day. These registering shots, however, are fired short of the wire in “No Man’s Land” to deceive the observers that they are for the purpose of barrage control. In this case, the only means to baffle the attack is to have diligent sentinels to give immediate alarm, and a well-trained garrison to take its place in the fire trenches quickly.
“Stand To” Exercises.A well-trained garrison, accustomed to “stand to” quickly, without noise and confusion, cannot be easily surprised. When the call to arms is given by a sentinel, this call is repeated by all watchers in the successive lines of the support point. The officer of the watch runs immediately to the place of call. All the men of the garrison spring out of their niches and shelters, and proceed quickly, without orders, to their appointed places of combat. This execution must be automatic, and only a frequent repetition of the “stand to” exercise can give a unit this result. Besides these exercises, as we know, the garrison executes “stand to” one hour before dusk and one hour before daylight. Deep dugouts are prohibited in the first line because they may become traps in which the defenders are taken prisoners, and they materially lengthen the time for the garrison to take its place for combat.
POSITION OF SPECIALISTS AT “STAND TO”
Only in case of an expected attack and when the garrison is ready for it, is the alarm signal given by such special means as bells, whistles, or rockets. This is exceptional. The only practical alarm signal that will awaken the garrison any time during the night is the cry “to arms” passed along and taken up by everyone.
Rifle, A. M. R., and grenade fire from the first line will usually stop a surprise attack. But since it is impossible to ascertain the strength of the attacking troops, the defensive artillery barrage is called for. Similarly, the reserve troops located in the cover and support trenches may be used for the purposes of reinforcement and counterattacks, depending upon the success of the enemy’s attack.
The captain of a support point must not only keep up the offensive spirit of his garrison by all the means of trench fighting, but he must organize and maintain a vigilant guard and patrol service for security.
Attack in Force
Attacks in force are carried out to capture an important position, or there may be a series of such objectives along a front in a general offensive. On the other hand, the object of the defense is not only to repulse the enemy but also to inflict upon him as great a loss as possible.
The phases of a great attack are: the preparation, of which the final and most important element is the bombardment; the assault of the first line; and the exploitation of success by fighting in the interior of the position. The defending troops must combat each one of these phases by the most adequate measures. We shall take up these measures in detail.