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

218 1~aNUvlaL FO~R COBI1MTANDERS·~~%,$ OF:~INPFANg~TRY `PLTOOii'-~IS.j`
all of these fine points in the defense of a trench at the timze it
is dug, at least we can nmk&lejogs in the trench (fig. 199), whlichwill
provisionally assure thle division of the trench into companrtments,
just as the traverses do. Later on splinterpsrofs~
a~ndltraverses of gabions or sandbazgs are- construct~ed (figs; 200
'mdl 901).
1l·otcttion ainctlst gr-ena~de Thishiprotection may 1)e secured
cithei by plalcing al vertical nettin~ above thle firing crest or
by cox ci sg the tr~ench withr i oof of two skirts of grill work~
01 poles joined together, the whfole covered wvith a li~rhlt thlicknessof
oarth.
.The 'mrr'mngement desciibed in App~iendix 42, Instructions fot·
Gienade Com~bat (piv-otins cange with m~-etaltrellis work),? is very
effic'mcmous mnd has thle additional 'mdvatltage t~hat it can 1)e iiistantl~y
utilized in case of necessity, as an accessory of defense
to obstruct a zigzag or comlmunicalting trench.
Feldcciof fir~e.-It; is necessary that each elemlent hazve, in front
of it; a wrell-clearede f~ield o~ff-ire, but lii trench wvarfare wFe may
content ourselves wTit~ha fieldl of filre of aboult 1i10 yard'cls, and even
less, if the flanks are w~el~l secured and the accessory~ defenzses are
very well ar~ranged~.
Intfiuemzcc of gr~oundz in) r~eief-Oecz cupatizon of acroest.-A-h
t~hough the location of the crest of fire depends more often upon
thle circumstaznces of the comhat than upon the choice of the
(lefender who constructs it, still it is expedient to indicate how
it is best to locate it, as resgards the Inataral relief of the terrain,
when one is free to do so, whlich Ns often th~e case with th~esecondt
and third positions, if not wTith the fLirst. In g~ounild of ee-cn
slope, thle viewr being~ practicallyt the same, wh]erever t~he lo~cation,
this factor hasx but little influence on th~e ch~oice of the site
of the lin~e of fi're. On1 the othler hand, in brok~en country, w~hen
it is a question of occupying a crest, there mlay well he doubt.
Re-ferring to figure 204, it wvill he seen that the firing trench
might be put at A, almost down at the foot of the slope, because
the infantry couldl get a2graizing -fire over thle terrain in front,
~vhich could also be easily swept by our oxvn artillery fire, writh
good observations at B. But the terrain in rear of the fii'ing~r
trench is exposedl to hostile view and can be swept hy hostile
i.rtillery fire. M~ovements in this azrea willl be diffcult and
ncounter attack~s orf~anized there xviii meet with muany ob~tacles