CHAPTER V

DEFENSE OF A POSITION

Different Kinds of Hostile Attacks

=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 daily requisitions 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 the mission 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.

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.

I. During the Preparation of the Hostile Attack

=Revealing Symptoms of the Attack.= The preparation of the hostile attack reveals itself by different preparations:

(1) The activity of the enemy:

His infantry will send out more numerous and aggressive patrols and reconnaissance parties.

His artillery will increase its daily destructive fire.

It will multiply its number of registering shots, establish barrage fires in the interior of your position, and begin to concentrate on communication routes.

His air service will take on unusual activities.

(2) Vigilant observation of roads and territory behind the enemy’s lines may reveal convoys carrying troops and supplies, the assembling of troops in woods, etc. (smoke from their kitchens), accumulation of materials in depots (often accompanied by explosions in artillery dumps).

(3) The observation service may discover new hostile works, such as the contraction of parallels of departure out in front of his first line. There may be also successive parallels behind the nearest jumping-off trench.

(4) Prisoners and deserters, who become more numerous because of the approaching offensive, may give valuable information concerning the coming attack.

The task of discovering the enemy’s preparation for an attack is incumbent upon all ranks, but above all, this duty devolves particularly upon the information service, balloon and air service, and artillery observers. In the sector, the intelligence officer must perfect his system of observation to the highest degree. The information in the daily reports is carefully sorted and tested.

=Preventive Measures before the Attack.= During this time, each chief of area takes all preventive measures possible against the coming attack. The attack is an expected event for which all must be prepared. The preparation simply consists in perfecting and carrying out of the original plan of defense.

=Perfecting the Organization of the Position.= New lines are created. The number of continuous lines between strong points and successive lines for defense in depth are increased.

Old lines, which are enfiladed by the enemy or which do not give flanking fire, are rectified or abandoned for new ones. The number of boyaux and communicating ditches are multiplied to facilitate the bringing up of reinforcements.

New accessories of defense are constructed and the old ones strengthened. This is especially done in the interior of the position with respect to parallel and perpendicular barbed wire belts to divide the position into compartments capable of all-round defense.

Additional false works are created, to waste the enemy’s artillery fire, The art of camouflage is extensively used during this phase. New shelter accommodations and dugouts are constructed for the better protection of the garrison during the preliminary bombardment.

=Increase of the Control and Discipline of the Defense.= The guard and observation services are reinforced. Sentinels, observers, and patrols are held to a stricter account of their duties.

Machine gun leaders are particular to perfect the disposition of their guns in depth of the position for interior fighting. The sector for each gun emplacement is carefully verified. Dugouts serving as shelters for guns during the bombardment are strengthened.

The support artillery must constantly verify the settings of their barrages. Numerous exercises are carried out for the call of the barrage with rockets, so as to keep the artillery constantly on the alert.

Liaison must be assured by other means than the telephone as this latter system usually breaks down under severe and continuous shelling. When the telephone is out of order, chains of runners must be resorted to. In the ordinary life of the trenches runners are not used. For this reason, when an attack is expected, new chains of runners must be established.

Supplies in the depots must be kept up to contemplated requirements. Besides the regular depots of the sector, numerous small ones are now established for the better distribution of extra ammunition and for the supply of reinforcing and counterattack troops. Supply parties are detailed to carry up ammunition during the battle.

=Moral Preparation of the Troops.= When an attack is expected, this fact must be told the garrison of each area, so that it can better prepare for it. The troops must not be left in ignorance, and upon the officers informing them devolves the responsibility of performing this task in such a manner as to raise the morale of their troops. The men must be maintained in the best of physical condition. Their food supply must be regular, of good quality, and sufficient. The tour of duty of the interior relief of the first line is shortened.

=Duties during the Preliminary Bombardment.= The most important and final act in preparation for the attack is a heavy and unusual bombardment of the position. Concentrated fire is brought to bear upon all visible points of the sector to demolish trenches, emplacements, dugouts, routes, and ammunition dumps, and to destroy the barbed wire entanglements. Certain batteries are detailed for counter-battery work. Barrages are established to prevent reinforcements from coming up and to cut communications with the rear. Against this bombardment, the defense has both a passive and an active rôle to play.

=Maintenance of the Garrison during the Bombardment.= The violence of preliminary bombardments is ever increasing and there seems to be no limit. High explosive shells of every caliber are used against the position. Any element of your system that is not properly concealed and can be located by the enemy is subjected to concentrated artillery fire until it is blown out of existence. Casualties inflicted upon the garrison are severe—in fact, it would seem from the violence of the artillery fire that few of the garrison could escape. However, when the assault develops, a machine gun may be found intact here and there in the position. One or two of these powerful weapons, by the use of flanking fire, may be enough to cause the failure of the enemy’s attack. It is possible to say that upon the use of M. G.’s depends the whole interior defense of the sector.

The maintenance of the garrison during the bombardment depends, of course, upon the number and depth of dugouts. The service of defense, however, requires many of the troops to execute their duties in the open trenches. The leaders must set the example in this respect by making their rounds, and taking their posts to observe the area from the observation posts. In other words, they must not stay in their dugouts.

The bombardment naturally causes a great deal of repair work to be done. This is executed at night or during lulls in the shelling. Only emergency works, however, are executed, such as repairing of accessory defenses, cleaning of trenches and rebuilding of shelters. When this work becomes too heavy for the garrison, reserve troops are brought up to assist.

=Reply with Artillery Fire.= The only means to decrease the effectiveness of the hostile bombardment is to reply with your own artillery. For this purpose, a certain part of your artillery is detailed for counter-battery work. The emplacements or approximate locations of the hostile guns are set down on maps. These are divided amongst the counter-battery artillery who attempt to silence or neutralize the same.

In a sector, the commander may ask for what is known as counter-preparation fire. This fire is similar to the preliminary bombardment of the enemy. It covers the entire position of the enemy and is just as methodical in its scope. All the artillery that is at the disposal of the general is used for this purpose, and consequently the call for this fire must be through the general.

Similar to the counter-preparation fire, but on a smaller scale, is what is known as preventive fire which may be called for from the support artillery. This fire covers the first and second lines and is used to prevent the enemy from assembling his troops in the first line for the assault. This fire has been found very efficient. It is called for by telephone and not automatically by rocket.

II. Defense of the First Line during a Hostile Attack

=Duties of Watchers.= At the moment the assault is launched, part of the enemy’s artillery establishes a barrage on your first line. The rest of the artillery, however, continues the regular bombardment to deceive the defenders as to the exact time of launching the attack. Therefore, the exact moment that the enemy comes over the top can only be determined by the watchers in your first line. It is their duty to give the alarm so that the garrison can reach its place in the firing line before the enemy reaches the same. This is a matter of seconds and not of minutes. Consequently, each dugout has a watcher located at its entrance and machine gun dugouts maintain special watchers. For each watcher at an entrance there is a second watcher within sight and calling distance ready to receive the alarm from the firing trench. If the second watcher is killed, the watcher at the entrance moves up and takes his place while another man from the dugout goes on watch there. These men are on duty only from fifteen to thirty minutes at a time. By a system of relief each occupant of a dugout serves a tour of duty as a watcher. The post of the watcher is protected as far as possible.

=The Officer and N. C. O. of the Watch.= During this time, the officer and the N. C. O. of the watch constantly make their rounds to see if the watchers are performing their duty efficiently. Instantly the alarm is given, the first duty of the officer of the watch is to set off the rockets calling for the barrage. At the same time, the orderly that accompanies him runs to the command post of the captain where the barrage call is confirmed by telephone and by rocket. Rocket signals are repeated and relayed from the same area until the barrage is obtained.

=Defenders of the First Line.= Immediately the call to arms is given, the troops of the first line spring out of their shelters and take their places at the parapet of the firing trench. If these parapets and fire trenches have been destroyed, the troops are not in immediate grave danger, because at this moment the enemy’s barrage on your first line has lifted and is progressing toward the second line. Besides this, the assaulting troops can not subject the defenders to fire during the advance. Also, the assaulting column is subjected to the defensive barrage and is more or less in confusion, due to this fire and having to cross the shell-torn area of “No Man’s Land.” Then, too, what is left of your barbed wire entanglements will hold up the enemy’s troops. In short, the advantage at this particular point lies entirely with the defenders if they can occupy the first line in time.

Among all the weapons of defense, the most powerful is the machine gun. The successful repulse of the hostile attack depends to the greatest extent upon the ability to use machine guns after the attack is under way. The opportune fire of one machine gun on the flank of an assaulting column may disorganize it and drive back its troops.

=The Captain.= As soon as the alarm is given or it is known that the enemy’s attack has started, the captain throws his reinforcing platoons into the first line. These troops, in going forward, employ the boyaux laid down in the plan of defense. The hand grenades that they carry are stored in their dugouts. The chiefs of the reinforcing platoons do not necessarily wait for this order of the captain, but act upon their own initiative in sending forward their units. If, however, the first line has already been taken, the reinforcing platoons automatically carry out the functions of a counterattack by leaving their boyaux and going over the top to retake the captured trench. This last movement of over the top by the counterattacking troops is facilitated by the fact that the hostile artillery barrage has by this time passed to the rear of the first line.

The next duty of the captain is to report to his chief of battalion the alarm, which is done by means of a chain of runners, by signaling, or by use of carrier pigeons, because usually by this time the telephone system has broken down under the artillery bombardment.

III. Fighting in the Interior of the Position

If the hostile assault on the first line is successful, the fight for the occupation of the position, which takes place in the interior, has only begun. Opposing his frontal progression through the position, the enemy will encounter, as we know, a series of defensive lines disposed in depth. Also, for instance, if a nest of resistance holds up the progress of a part of the assaulting troops, the successive overlapping waves will carry on along the flanks of this stronghold. If, then, the position is strongly divided into compartments, the fire of such defenses will take these overlapping troops in the flank and rout them. The defenders may also play an active rôle and the enemy is likely to encounter new troops sent up for the purpose of counterattack.

The division of the ground in support points, centers of resistance and sectors, has precisely for its object the localization of the enemy’s attacks. Each area must be organized to defend itself, independently of any other part of the position. Consequently, the officers must explain this condition to their men, so that they will have no concern if they see that the enemy has penetrated and is attacking them on the flank or rear. On the other hand, if several of these compartments hold their ground, the enemy may find himself surrounded in a certain area and cut off from the rear by barrage fire. Thus abandoned in a part of the position that he has momentarily taken, a vigorous counterattack will drive him out.

=Defense of an Area.= The defense of each area is made similarly to that of the first line, as these areas embrace the successive lines of the position. The areas range in importance from front to rear, the support point embracing the first line, the center of resistance the first two lines, and the sector all three lines of the position. The alarm of an attack is relayed by the area commanders, the captain to the battalion commander, who in turn communicates it to the colonel of the sector. Not only the attacked portion of the sector is affected by this alarm, but the whole sector, so to speak, takes up arms. Let us see what happens as a result of this.

All defenders of the area who have a special duty, immediately occupy their posts and remain there awaiting developments of the attack. For example, telephone men will remain at their instruments, runners will repair to their relay posts, observers occupy their observatories, and chiefs and headquarters officers remain at their command posts. And above all, the machine gun crews will man the guns disposed for interior fighting.

At the same time, the different troops held in reserve in the successive lines are used to hold their own line, to reinforce the line in front, or to make counterattacks. When the alarm is given, all supporting reserve troops take their places in their own lines. In each support point, the platoons held in reserve are sent forward as reinforcements to, or to make counterattacks against, the firing line. Similarly, in each center of resistance the companies held in reserve are employed as reinforcements or to recapture the first line. If, upon arriving at the first line, these troops receive no orders for particular duty, they replace the reserve platoons of the support point. Likewise, the sector reserve of the third line is sent forward to or, in case the enemy has taken it, against the second line. The static or passive organization of the defense lies in the series of lines of trenches disposed in depth, but the active rôle of the defender is carried out in these successive waves of defense moving forward in definite limits to meet the attack, not only to repulse it but to inflict as much loss as possible to the enemy. This transforms the defensive combat into more nearly a fight in the open ground, with the spirit of the offensive.

=The Counterattack.= It follows that the last and, very often, the most decisive means of defense of the sector is the counterattack. In each center of resistance, a counterattack has for its purpose the retaking of the first line when this is captured by the enemy. It is made by the battalion reserves located in the reserve line.

The sooner the counterattack is made after its necessity, the more effective it will be. It should arrive at the first line almost, one might say, at the same time that the enemy does. At any rate, the counterattack should strike the enemy by surprise while he is still in a state of disorganization. Consequently, in the plan of defense of the battalion, the counterattack must be foreseen and all its details must be laid down. All these details must be known and practiced by the troops who are to execute the counterattack, so that when the alarm is given the counterattack will start automatically without orders and be carried to a finish like a good piece of team-work.

The counterattack is launched on the initiative of the leader of these troops, without waiting for the orders of the battalion commander. The latter may not know the exact situation nor be so located in the area as to appreciate the opportunity of the counterattack.

=Troops Detailed for the Counterattack.= The company, or companies, held as reserve of the center of resistance, are divided into half-companies or platoons under the command of a single leader. Each one of these detachments is assigned to a support point and is put at the disposal of the captain commanding the same, to counterattack on his first line if captured by the enemy. In order to secure the proper liaison between these two units, the counterattack troops send a messenger to the command post of the support point which they are assigned to. When the hostile attack is executed and counterattack troops are needed, the captain sends this messenger back to call them up.

=Routes or Directions for Counterattacks.= Each detachment of counterattack troops has a fixed route for its attack laid down in the plan of defense. Usually a boyau that it employs or along which it travels, fixes the direction. For this reason, in the interior of the position gaps are left in the barbed wire entanglements to permit the passage of these troops in the counterattack. Portable chevaux-de-frise are employed to fill up these gaps when necessary.

=Form of the Counterattack.= The counterattack may be executed as a frontal or a flank attack. Frontal counterattacks are, perhaps, not as effective as the latter, but they are more easily executed, especially in the case where exact knowledge of the situation in the line in front is not known. This is the form of advance employed in the support point where the reinforcing platoons, starting forward to strengthen the line and finding it captured, change their tactics by leaping over the top and charging the line with grenades and bayonets.

A counterattack to the flank usually involves a little maneuvering. The most successful of these attacks are those executed in two detachments— for example, a party of grenadiers may attack the enemy occupying a part of the area either on one or both flanks. Its approach is usually through a trench or boyau. A second party of riflemen, at the same time, will make a frontal attack on the enemy over the top with bayonets. To completely surround the enemy, an artillery barrage is sometimes established to cut him off from the rear.

The battalion commander works out the plan of counterattack down to the most minute detail. But when the hostile attack is carried out, he is no longer the master of it. All the foreseen movements start at the proper time and are carried out in their workings like a piece of mechanism. The time of the start of the counterattack is in reality given by the enemy himself.

=Repair of the Position.= After a hostile attack has been repulsed, the chief of area must realize that similar attempts may be made without delay. The first and most important repair work that must be done is to construct a parapet along the firing line. There may be no trench left along this line, but a fire parapet of sandbags must be constructed immediately. At night reserve troops are brought up with tools and sandbags to put the line in the best state of defense possible.