Chapter 42

NIGHT OPERATIONS

=1091. Importance.= Because of the long range and great accuracy of modern fire arms, there has been in recent years a marked increase in the practice of night operations, such operations being of common occurrence not only for massing troops under cover of darkness in favorable positions for further action, but also for actually assaulting positions.

Read carefully pars. 464, 496, 498, 523, 524, 580-590.

TRAINING OF THE COMPANY

=1092.= Night movements are amongst the most difficult operations of war, and, therefore require the most careful, painstaking and thorough training and instruction of troops in all matters pertaining thereto. The history of night fighting shows that in most cases defeat is due to disorganization through panic. It is said that in daylight the moral is to the physical as three is to one. That being the case, it is hard to say what the ratio is at night, when a general atmosphere of mystery, uncertainty and fear of surprise envelops the operations, and, of necessity affects the nerves of the men. The vital importance, therefore, of accustoming troops as much as we can in peace to the conditions that will obtain in night fighting, cannot be overestimated. The following outline shows the subjects in which individual and collective instruction and training should be given:

INDIVIDUAL TRAINING

=1093. General.= The first thing to be done is to accustom the soldier to darkness and to teach him to overcome the nervousness which is natural to the average man in darkness.

The best way to do this is to begin by training him in the use of his powers of vision and hearing under conditions of darkness, which are strange to him. The company should be divided into squads for this instruction.

=1094. Vision.= Take several men to ground with which they are familiar. Have them notice the different appearance which objects present at night; when viewed in different degrees of light and shade; the comparative visibility of men under different conditions of dress, background, etc.; the ease with which bright objects are seen; the difference between the visibility of men standing on a skyline and those standing on a slope. Post the men in pairs at intervals along a line which the instructors will endeavor to cross without being seen. The instructors should cross from both sides, so as to compel observation in both directions. Have a man (later, several) walk away from the rest of the men and when he is about to disappear from view, halt him, and estimate the distance. Send a man (later, several) outside the field of vision, to advance on the rest of the men. Halt him when he enters the field of vision and estimate the distance. Send a number of men outside the limit of vision and then let them advance on the rest of the men, using cover and seeing how near they can approach unobserved.

=1095. Hearing.= Place a number of men a few yards apart and make them guess what a noise is caused by, and its approximate position. The rattle of a meat can, the movement of a patrol, the working of the bolt of a rifle, the throwing down of accouterments, low talking, etc., may be utilized. Take special pains to impress upon the men the penetrating power of the human voice, and the necessity of preserving absolute silence in night operations. Have blank cartridges fired and teach the men to judge their direction and approximate distance away.

=1096. Finding Bearings.= Show the men how to determine the points of the compass from the North Star. The Big Dipper constellation looks like this:

The North Star is on the prolongation of a line joining the two "pointing" stars, and at above five times the distance between the two stars. At another time have those same men individually locate the North Star. Using this star as a guide, practice the men moving in different directions, by such commands as, "Smith, move southeast." "Jones, move northwest," etc.

To test a man's ability to keep a given direction when moving in the darkness, choose a spot from which no prominent landmarks are visible, advance toward it accompanied by a man, from a distance not less than 200 paces. While advancing the soldier must take his bearings. On arriving at the spot chosen the instructor will turn the soldier around rapidly two or three times and then have him continue to advance in the same direction as before. No prominent landmarks should be visible from the starting point.

=1097. Moving in the Dark.= Form four or five men in line with about one pace interval, the instructor being on one of the flanks. Place some clearly visible mark, such as a lantern, for the instructor to march on. Impress upon the men the importance of lifting their feet up high and bringing them to the ground quietly and firmly, and of keeping in touch with the guide and conforming to his movements without sound or signal. The pace should be slow and frequent halts should be made to test the promptness of the men in halting and advancing together. As the line advances, each man will in turn take his place on the flank and act as guide. The light on which the men are marching should be hidden from view at intervals, in order to test the ability of the men to maintain the original direction. Later on, the number of men in a line may be increased considerably. The rougher the ground, the darker the night and the longer the line, the slower must the pace be and the more frequent the halts. After passing an obstacle men instinctively line up parallel to it, and consequently if the obstacle does not lie at right angles to the line of advance, the direction will be lost; so, be sure to guard against this.

=1098. Night Fencing.= Practice the men in charging in the dark against a white cloth or the dummy figure of a man. In the beginning have the figure in a fixed place, but later have the soldier charge seeking the figure, and not knowing just exactly where it is beforehand.

=1099. Night Entrenching.= It is frequently necessary in time of war to dig trenches at night in front of the enemy, and while this work is easy in the moonlight, it is very difficult in the dark. Bear in mind the following points:

1. The tendency is to make the trench too narrow; hence, guard against this.

2. Be careful not to throw the earth too far or too near.

3. Do not strike your neighbor's tools in working.

4. Do not use the pick unless necessary, because it makes considerable noise.

5. Do not scrape the tools together in order to get off the dirt; use a chip of wood or the toe of the shoe.

6. Make as little noise as possible in digging and handling your tools.

7. If discovered by the enemy's searchlights, do not become excited or confused; simply lie down.

8. If attacked by the enemy, do not get rattled and throw your tools away--put them in some fixed place where they can be found again.

=1100. Equipment.= At first the men should be taken out without arms, but later on they should be trained to work in full equipment. Teach every man what parts of his equipment are likely to make a noise under special circumstances, such as lying down, rising, crossing obstacles, etc., and instruct him how to guard against it. Bayonets should always be fixed, but in order to avoid accidents the scabbard should be left on them.

From the beginning of the training continually impress upon the men that it is absolutely criminal to fire without orders during a night operation and that the bayonet is the only weapon he can use with advantage to himself and safety to his comrades.

=1101. Night Firing.= As a rule men fire too high in the dark. They must, therefore, be cautioned not to raise the rifle above the horizontal, or incline the upper part of the body to the rear. When the firing is stopped be sure to turn on the safety-lock. Experience during the Russo-Japanese War taught the Japanese the kneeling position is the most suitable for horizontal firing. The following method, to be conducted in daytime, may be employed in training the soldier to hold his rifle parallel to the ground while firing in the dark:--Have each soldier, kneeling, close his eyes and bring his rifle to the position of aim, barrel parallel to the ground. With the rifle in this position, let him open his eyes and examine it. Then have this done by squad, by command. When they become proficient in this movement, have them close their eyes and while the eyes are closed, put up a target and have them practice horizontal firing, opening their eyes each time after pulling the trigger and then examining the position of the piece.

COLLECTIVE TRAINING

At first practice squads, then the platoons and later the company in simple movements, such as squads right and left, right and left oblique, etc., gradually leading up to more complicated ones in close and extended order, such as right and left front into line, advancing in platoon and squad columns, charging the enemy, etc. As far as possible the movements should be executed by simple prearranged signals from the unit commanders. The signals, which must not be visible to the enemy, may be made with a white handkerchief or a white flag, if the night be not too dark; with an electric flashlight, a dark lantern or luminous disk. The light of the flashlight or lantern must be screened, so it cannot be seen by the enemy. The following signals are suggested:

To advance: Raise vertically the lantern or other object with which the signal is made.

To halt: Lower and raise the object several times.

To lie down: Bring the object down near the ground.

To form squad columns: Move the object several times to the right and left.

To form platoon columns: Describe several circles.

As skirmishers: Move the object front to rear several times.

=1102. Night Marches.= In acting as an advance guard to a column, the company would send out a point a few yards ahead, which would be followed by the rest of the company. Three or four scouts should be sent out a hundred yards or so ahead of the point. They should advance at a quick pace, keeping in the shadow on the side of the road, being constantly on the alert, using their ears even more than their eyes. They will halt to listen at crossroads and suspicious places, and move on again when they hear the company approaching. Should the enemy be discovered, one of the scouts will return to warn the advance guard--the others will conceal themselves and watch. Under no circumstances must the scouts ever fire, unless it be for the purpose of warning the company and there is no other way of doing so. The diagram on the opposite page is suggested as a good formation for a company acting as advance guard at night. A company marching alone would move in the same formation as when acting as advance guard, except that it would protect its rear with a few scouts. Of course, the nature of the country and proximity and activity of the enemy, will determine the best formation to be used, but whatever the formation may be, always remember to cover well your front, rear and flanks, with scouts, whose distance away will vary with the light and nature of the country. _Don't forget that protection in rear is very important._

The men must be warned against firing, smoking, talking, striking matches, making noise, etc. They should also be informed of the object in view, direction of the enemy, etc.

In night marches the rests should not exceed five minutes; otherwise, many men will fall asleep.

OUTPOSTS

Careful training in outpost duty at night is very harassing, but, in view of its importance, should not be neglected. This instruction should be given with the greatest thoroughness, strictness and attention to detail.

=1103. Sentries Challenging.= In challenging sentries must be careful to avoid any noise that would disclose their position. In fact, challenging by voice should be reduced to a minimum by arranging a system of signals by which the officers of the day, patrols, etc., can be recognized. The following signals, any one of which may be decided upon, which would be made first by the sentry and then answered by the approaching party, are suggested: Clap the hands together twice; strike the ground twice with the butt of the rifle; strike the butt of the rifle twice with the hand; whistle softly twice. The replying signal would be the same as the sentry's signal, except that in case of the use of the butt of the rifle, an officer would reply by striking twice on his revolver holster. After repeating the signal once, if it is not answered, the sentry will challenge with the voice, but no louder than is necessary. In case of a patrol only one man will advance to be recognized after the signal has been answered. The sentry must always allow persons to approach fairly near before challenging.

=1104. Sentries Firing.= Anyone who has been through a campaign knows how nervous green sentries are, and how quick they are about firing. During the beginning of the Philippine Campaign the author heard of several cases where sentries fired on fire-flies several hundred yards away. Never fire unless it be absolutely necessary to give an alarm, or unless you can clearly distinguish the enemy and are fairly certain of hitting him. In the French Army in Algeria, there is a rule that any sentry who fires at night must produce a corpse, or be able to show by blood marks that he hit the person fired at. If he can do neither, he is punished for giving a false alarm.

=1105. Marking of Route from Outguards to Supports.= The route from the support to the outguards, and from pickets to their sentries, should, if necessary, be clearly marked with scraps of paper, green sticks with the bark peeled off, or in any other suitable way.

=1106. Readiness for Action.= The supports should always be ready for action. The men must sleep with their rifles beside them and in such places that they will be able to fall in promptly in case of attack. Some men have a way of sleeping with their blankets over their heads. This should not be allowed--the ears must always be uncovered. The commander, or the second in command, with several men, should remain awake. When the commander lies down he should do so near the sentry, which is always posted over the support.

GENERAL

=1107. Connections.= It is of the greatest importance that proper connection be maintained between the different parts of a command engaged in night operations. It is astonishing with what facility units go astray and how difficult it is for them to find their way back where they belong.

=1108. Preparation.= It matters not what the nature of the night operation may be, the most careful preparation is necessary. Success often depends upon the care and thoroughness with which the plans are made.

All possible eventualities should be thought of and provided for as far as praticable. The first thing to do is to get as much information as possible about the ground to be covered and the position of the enemy, and care must be taken to see that the information is accurate. Reconnaissance must be made by night as well as by day; for, ground looks very different at night from what it does during the day.