IIIFIRE SUPERIORITY
We are told that in battle we must have fire superiority to win; and fire control and direction are held as important. I doubt if these terms are fully understood by all. A hope to aid some of our younger officers to a better understanding of these terms, and of the vital importance of fire distribution, is the excuse for this chapter.
Fire effectiveness in battle
A line of men firing with the rifle, if not disturbed or endangered by the fire of an enemy, can do approximately target practice work. Now let a heavy fire be opened on them, one that is fairly accurate and well placed, and their work falls off very greatly; the heavier the fire they are subjected to the less effective becomes their own fire.
Careful study and research by competent men of foreign armies leads to the conclusion that if this line, when not under fire, could make 280 hits in a given time, subjected to a heavy, well placed fire its effectiveness would fall to1/40or1/70; that is, from 280 hits to 7 or 4.
This looks extreme at first thought; but what captain with a good company but would know that he could deploy his company at from 800 to 1000 yards from a line of lying down figures and get a hit for at least every 10 shots. Yet history tells us that it takes from 1200 to 2000 shots in battle to put a man out of action. In the light of these facts our first figures look very moderate.
With our present infantry arm an advance against a hostile line doing 280 work is impossible. Bring the enemy’s effectiveness down to the four and keep it there and you can advance and win.
Fire superiority does not mean that you are firing more shots than the enemy, it does not mean he is firing less than you; it means that your fire has become so close and effective that he has lost his nerve and is shooting wildly.
Fire distribution
To obtain this fire superiority certain things are necessary. We must have proper fire distribution. To explain this let us assume that a hostile line is 200 yards long, that our force is the stronger. We concentrate our fire on the right half of the hostile line, leaving the other half untouched. The effectiveness of the fire of half of this line remainsat 280, the other half falls to 2, average 141; our advance is impossible. We now cover the entire target and its fire effectiveness falls to 7; our advance is possible.
Fire superiority is possible, then, only if we have fire distribution. It is not sufficient to fire a certain number of shots at part of the line, the whole hostile line must be subjected to a nerve racking fire to reduce the effectiveness of its fire.
Another thing to be considered is that the enemy will conceal himself as much as possible. On a large part of the hostile line no one will be seen; men will be hidden by tufts of grass, bushes, etc. But while this cover conceals the enemy from our view, he sees our location and his fire is not interrupted. There is a strong tendency to shoot only at the men that can be seen. This must be overcome; much of our firing must be aimed at a locality, although unseen the enemy is nevertheless there and his fire effectiveness must be kept down. Our fire must be distributed to cover every part of the hostile line whether the enemy is seen or not.
Fire control
To secure this fire distribution we must be able to direct the fire of our men, to placeit where wanted. But direction necessarily implies control; you can not direct what you cannot control. Thus a fire control system which will work on the battlefield is a primary requisite to success.
Fire discipline
Another term used is fire discipline. The word fire adds nothing to its meaning; but discipline is vital to success. No matter what your system of control, if the men do not respond with prompt obedience it is worthless. Disciplined men can be counted on to do what is wanted if they know how, others cannot. There is no fire discipline distinct from other military discipline.
To sum up: fire superiority is necessary to success, to attain fire superiority we must properly distribute our fire, to do this we must be able to control and hence direct it, and this can only be done if our men are disciplined. An attack with raw troops is possible only against still poorer ones.
Method of fire control
Our fire control and direction needs more explanation. A method must be had which will work on the battlefield. No one who has seen a modern battle will think for a moment that it is practicable to control and direct a firing line by verbal orders. A battalion commander must be far enough to the rearto observe his entire line. In the noise of a real battle his voice could not be heard ten yards by men on the firing line. The same is equally true of company and platoon commanders. These officers cannot be running up and down the line giving instructions; if they tried it they would not last long.
Use of signals
Our method must therefore be one that can be executed independently of the voice and with as little exposure of the officers as practicable. The method by signals given in our I. D. R. answers the requirements. The text of it can be learned in a few minutes, but to train a battalion so that it will fully respond under danger requires hours of practice: it is one thing that must become a habit.
After the mechanism of the drill is learned officers should conduct their line as in battle by signals only. Do not teach men to expect you to be running up and down the line personally correcting errors and giving directions, leading them to expect this to be done in battle. The effect of a decided change in conduct when danger is present is apt not to be good. Moreover, the command will not respond to signals alone on the battlefield if, in instruction work, they have never beentaught to depend on them exclusively. We should do everything at battle exercises just as nearly as possible as it will be done in battle.
I have seen at battle exercises men stand up in the open and wave their flags to give the signals. This is absurd. In battle it would be needlessly dangerous, would give the enemy too much information, and it is unnecessary. The necessary signals in the battalion can be given by a man lying on the ground with a handkerchief, or flag without the staff, and be seen for the short distances separating the major from his captains or the captain from his platoon commanders. Practice alone is required to enable this to be done efficiently. It must be so done in battle and must therefore be drilled that way.
It should be remembered that the new semaphore code recently adopted does not apply to these signals. The new code requires men to stand; the old must be used for these battle signals.
Additional signals
Additional signals to those given in the I. D. R. may be taught and used in companies. It is doubtful if they are necessary and if not necessary they are wrong. The more signals you have, the more chance of mistakes.Signals for forming squad or platoon columns are unnecessary. These movements are not executed close to the enemy nor when your line is firing, hence verbal commands are practicable and when practicable are desirable, are surer and easier.
Signals are necessary when your line has commenced the fire fight but from there on few commands are necessary; there are so few things that can be ordered, the time for maneuver and instruction is past. One or two of those given might be dispensed with and one for fixing bayonets should be added; possibly there are one or two others that should be added.
Observing fire effectiveness
We have discussed how to obtain fire superiority; how may we know when we have it, if the volume of the enemy’s fire remains practically the same? Company and platoon commanders must watch for the effect of the enemy’s fire, where his bullets are striking. If the hostile bullets are going wild, some striking far short, others way high, and very few are effective, you have fire superiority; that is the time to gain distance to the front. On the other hand, although you may be suffering no loss, you see that the enemy’s bullets, well massed,are striking, say 50 yards in your front; you have no fire superiority; the enemy has simply underestimated the range and your advance will bring you into the center of his beaten zone. But this is your opportunity to gain fire superiority. Your men are suffering little or no loss, should be less affected and should do better work. If this opportunity is well utilized you will gain fire superiority.
When you have fire superiority you must push the advance, take full advantage of your opportunity; if you temporarily lose it, suspend the advance until you regain the necessary superiority.
Distribution of fire
Fire properly distributed is one essential to gaining fire superiority. Proper distribution means it is placedonthe target and on all of the target, not just one part. Placing our fire on the target requires that our men be at least fair shots, have their nerve and know the range. To cover all the target rather than concentrate on a part is not easy and to attain practical efficiency in this requires skill and practice.
In the deployment for battle the division is generally given a specific mission, the division commander assigns to each brigade its part of the task, and so on down to thebattalion, company, platoon and even squad.
There is little involved in the larger units except the tactical skill to know how to use the larger units to gain the required end; dividing the terrain is easy. It is difficult with the commanders of the smaller units; the division of the target generally becomes harder the smaller the subdivision. The major must divide his target, say between two companies, and do it so that there can be no mistake on the part of the captains as to just what part each is to cover. The company commander must then divide his section among his platoons and the latter often among the squads.
The captain’s problems
The battalion commander has only one difficulty—to find a way to make each captain clearly understand where is the division of target and where its extreme limit. The company commander has a shorter line to divide and has to divide it into more parts. Landmarks are not so common as he will then desire.
The captain has another problem in this connection: shall he divide his target into four parts and assign each platoon a separate part, or into two parts and give two platoons the same target, i. e., 1st and 3d the righthalf, 2d and 4th the left half? The captain has not only the problem of finding proper dividing points in the target, but he must divide and allot the target so as to get the best fire effect. It might happen, as I once saw in a field firing problem, that the right platoon could not see the corresponding part of the target, hence was given the other extreme flank and the rest of the target divided accordingly. It is not the division alone, but what is the best division and allotment, that must be considered.
Practice in distributing the target
This will all be more clearly understood if you will go in the country and assume a regiment is ordered to attack a certain line under certain conditions, and then give the colonel’s attack order, from that take each major’s target and divide it between the companies and then divide each company target. This should, of course, always be done at the same distance from the target that you would have to make the distribution if a real enemy were there. You should have two or three men with you to act as the subordinates in each case and to determine whether the division is fully and perfectly understood. It is easy on a map, but often very difficult on the ground; distinctive marks are sometimes very scarce.
Each commander should practice this, devising a method for himself that will work. Officers alone or together in small groups should practice it as a sort of tactical walk. But primarily it should be done in each unit: the colonel should take the majors on such a tactical walk; the majors their captains; the captains their platoon commanders. Estimating distance should be worked in the same exercise.
For the companies this is good work for the indoor season. There are days when work can be planned for the company that does not require the presence of the captain or of most of his officers and non-commissioned officers; these can then utilize the drill period as above described. It may be made a real tactical walk with special stress laid on the division and allotment of the target.
Assistance of artillery
It must be borne in mind that in most cases the artillery will play a large part in the gaining and maintaining of fire superiority. But this fact does not alter the work of the infantry; we must still do most of the killing and unnerving of the enemy and this is true whether the enemy consists of infantry alone or of infantry in conjunction with artillery.
In this chapter the first part is much like“right line strategy†mathematics applied to a battlefield where little is subject to such treatment. But that seemed the easiest and simplest way to make clear to beginners terms that must be fully understood. It is hoped that that part of the chapter will be understood as meant, as offering merely a means of illustration and not as implying that a battle can be worked out with mathematical precision.