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

17'4 M~ANUAL FORLE COMMG~ANWDERS O)FIP~bNFANTRY PLAgTOONS.
suit or' in compllletinlg a victory; thzey advan~ce oni the -flankl~ of az
b~ody of troops in na attack, a~nd cover. ·the~irflaink f·rom;thie
coaunter attack wrhich~ will p~roba~bly be madzce against: it ; audithey
covre w-ithl fre intervazls wtThichthavTe been left; inten'tidnally or
accijdenitally3 betw~een -two uniits: of the attackingf line.
On the dlefensive t~hey prolid~e a~long the front severa~l succes­
hsive ba~~rriers of flankin~g
day~~or by night.
fire, whlich can be openedl instantly bly
`To slum up~, we shoul1d (1) use malchine-gun fire liberally -to
~it
sav~e the infantry, (2) always~ try to use fromn fla~nking pos~i­
t'ionls, (3) conceal th~e manchine gnus in ordter that-~1their fire malcy
comle a~sal surpr~ise, and (4) echelon theml in dlepth~ ~and shelter
th1em1to prev~ent their· being dtestr'oyed early in thie a~ctioni.
2. AL-TOMAL'TICI RILE';S.
Th~le chara·2ctrilstics of t~he' automatiic~ rifle ane: (1) Gr·eat
mnobility; (2) destsr~uctixe ethfcien~cli nit short rang~es; the lire is
k~ept; lowT a2utomalticallly; (o) a ceittinLileflticiency atCmzid ranges;
it; is azs a~ccuirate as th~ munch me gun up to 700U or 800 yards,
andc ha~s considerablle (lispeision lbeyond t~hat r·ange;(4agra
elasticity of a~ct~ion; its swreep-ing fire is ea~sily hra~ndled ~and its
tire can be shifted fromt one t~iroet to anothler insbtanltly ; ('f)
it canl be fir~ed' whlrile adtvaneig, whrlich~ kieeps thle enemy in h~is
trecnches d~uring th~e last adT-ances ef the atta~ck andc allowTs ou~r
grienadiers~ t~o come up and~ (10 thieir work'1.
Th~is weap~on does mnot p~ossess either thle stea~diness or theg
r·apidity; of fire ofl t~he mlachine g3un aInd ctan ]not: entirlely rlepilace
it. H~owever, its ftire prloduc~es a~ simnilar moral~. effecst. And it;
is at1 the disposal ofi small1 infa'tntry units at times a~nd flader
condlitions w~here the use of ma~chine guns wouldi lbe imipossible.
TIhe automat'tict rifle is an~1excellent armnl o accompnypny t~he
infa~ntry, ~tohold groundt whliich hazs been ra~ined, and to r-epulse
countler· attackis. This is (mueto th~e (lens~ ~firew~hichn it :can
.instlant~ly ·deliver andi to its mnobility., The automatic ri-flles
make it possible, after'studyving and reconnoitering the position
takzlen, to conduact the machine gruns writhout loss of t~imle dIfrlectly
to the p~ositions muost favorable for thzem, especially those
from which they canl obtain a faznking fire. In short, thle au~to­