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

260 Mv'aNUaL FQU C0IM~ta~~a UR QFr~3' a'N"TTRuY PLAT001a~,
when 'it krnowspti lFcisely the; positkmPs occuxpied by the adlvance~
lines of the~ infantr~y.
* t is importatnt, ther~efore, thatt ar~tller~y hove etxcellent: observation
stations; that is; to say. poinits w7ihich afford a~dequate
fields of view for the observers, and wrhich (an be occupied inw
spite of the hostile firet. Wh~en the infa~ntry needs the suxppo~rt
of the artiller'y, the observer· is never, because · of dangfer. just~ifled
in qluitting his obser~vationl sta-t~ion. The: obsellrvatio:n sEtatfions
co~mmunicate by te~lephone, signals, me~ss;engerlls, etc., -wit~h
the batter~ies ofE which~ the~ycontrol' thetr die', andC with the c·IorInmantcler
of the infantr~y xvhich those bjat-teries suppor~t.
Dispe'·sionz of fi~re.-It has bee~n shown abotve thatt neitiherthie
pieces in a batter~y, nor' the charge~~s of pawc-ler, no~r thep projQectiles
are exactly uniform.' andcJ that- atnuiosphleric condlitions
also hove an influence upon the accuracy· cf tir~e. The shells of
a wvell-aimed tire ~rvillnot all fall azt thle samne point. Th~is is
una.voidablle, and the infantry must appr'ciatee this andl avoid
ca~lling upon its supporting ai~tillery to -increasel the tang~e of a
~Vell-aim3edsimnply fire because~ some of the~tshells havue fallen
short and in the vicinity of thle infantr'y ti'eaches. TheF infantry
which makies premature· or u~n~justif~ible compla~ints to;its
airtiller~y (listuibhs the fire of that ar~tillery and (liIninislles,· tothe
infan try's de~trimenet, the assi sta nie~ whi~ch, it a Fftords,
Dult~ of it~fanztryl inz c~onnecttion with ar~tZ1'Ti~.Tlc.Te in'fantry
must affor~d to the a-rtillery ·(0) info~rmration, (b) prtcitcion.l
Intforam72ation2.-L-~1de/r a o~raal coodi tto'nz s cf o trench wa tlrfaHre the
re~sult~s of the ser~vice of in~fortmation petrlformed by thet infamtr~y,
by. which it gathers, ·collates, andi verities· -all· the info~rrmattiion
relative to the activities of the host~ile artiller~y anti inifantry,
mnust be commr~unicatedc (ait~y -to the~ artille~ry whichb suppor!,lts. it.
The infantr~y ?should1 kieep the· artijllery info~rmed- as to, the r~eliefsl
of' the enemwy, their per~iodic~ity, hocurs of mrarc~hinrg, their-itineraries;
likewYise com1Yplete~ informati~ton as to th'e !etmey's servicre of
8u2Cpiy,'occulpataon of the trenches,~wfaltigue' detaiils, hosti~le observatioln
s~tations, manchine guns, bombh pr~ojecto~rs, etc. it is by
keeping the artillery informedl as to wha-t he, as an infantrymantn
k~nowYs or sees, that the' infantry off-ic~er,whiatever his rank,
obtains' to his owin adlvantag~e, ai'tillery7 suppo(rt that is vigilantl
an1d well informed, that crushes ·the enemly· by it~s opport~unet