manual for commanders of infantry platoons. - US Army Combined ...

172 MaNU~haL FOR cOaN~~vaDERS OF INFs~sanTR PLATOONas.
narr·ow froit; and cdnsiclerabl'e depth-forl examp~lle, a~ th~ini ~inie
tdheac. in lank~~137.
'It shouldc be 'th~e ruzle to cupllpoy mazechinie-yeazcl firie i~n a ire~ect~iors
paalcl~el to t~he pr·obacble
inz fl7an~ingz posi~tionzs.
-frlont of thze el~nemy; ·that is to sal!,
;The swreep~ing movemlent shlould be emlplo~yed in tiring frontally
on a th~in line, but its dlensity theln becomles insufftiicint an~d its
effiectiveness is small. (See 11g. 280.) TPhe manchin~e gun. is
easily conealetl; it should be! kept cal; of sight· and neglect;
tarlgets of litt~le implor~tance; it; shouldl deliver. burst~s of tire
whlichi wtill conic as ar surl·prise; in th~is m~anner iti may! gazin
imlportant results.
Any commllander whlo hasr a mlac'hinle gun and wh~lo uses i~tonl~y
to reinrforce hris tir·ing li~ne mnkes use of onlyg p~art of the powei~r
at h~is dlisposa~l. Ti-e wvill use h~is machinze gun to t~he best; ad­
valntage in iflninc·1i:i.2g posit~ion~s, and hle sh~ould select in adcvaznee
several positions fr~om whihch th~emalchine guln can b3e used undtcer
va2riousconditions, depending upon the probable course of the
action.
Use of ~machine guns in trench warfarae.--In trenchl warfare
mhjchine guns are ordinarzlily gr~ouped~ in platuoons d~eta~ched 'frorri.
the company· and piostedl in strong positlofl5. If the enlemy iS
prepar~ingr for aLn at~tack he will make special efforts to destrioyz
the mlacthine gunms. Wte should then forltify thnem strongly.
screen themn fromu viewc, and echelon t-helm in the dlirection of
deeth. Mia'chine-gun positions w~ithout ovierhlead
be invalriably rejected, unless we h-ave ·su~eededt
cover atre to
in concealing`
thenir fromn the commencemnent of' the operation (if entrLenlching.
Guzn pits wsith~ stron7g overh~tead~ cover can nlot b~e used,? on account;
of th~eir relief', unless they~are scrleened by faivolrable conA
ditions,, such as being on a second siope, by wsoods,~ uud~erbrmfsi,
etc. Wie shouldl instead priepare positions of lowi reliejf and
wcell concealed, and nealrby` shrouldl dig deep shelters fromT3wh'~ich
the mlen of the gun dietachm-ent @can come qu~ickly to the gumz
The' gun positionls may be pits dug in the forml of howT\it;zer sh1ell
funnels, in front of ~the trench,' and connected wC~it~h tIhe shrelter
by: a. tuinnel.
W;e should increase the3 number of th-ese positions andt pr~ovide
a~ccess to themuby sheltered aznd concealedt trlenchzes, andc
shiouldl avoid tiring frequently from: positions wNhich are tlo be