_The Director_: “Captain Hall, how do you size up the immediate
situation?”
_Captain Hall_: “Our original mission has not changed. We must continue
the march to the front regardless of what the enemy does. The 2nd
battalion must be relieved tonight and our battalion must make the
relief. We cannot stand here and wait for the enemy’s fire to let up. It
is obvious that we cannot go through the shelled area without ruinous
losses. The only thing left for us to do is to go around it.”
_The Director_: “Those are the points I wanted to bring out. The
question before us is: How are we going to get around the shelled area?
What have you to suggest, Lieutenant Barry?”
_Lieutenant Barry_: “In the first place I will have to decide the
question as to which side of the shelled area we are to use in getting
around it. If the whole platoon goes around one side and the enemy fire
shifts in that direction we may get caught in it and lose a lot of men.
I think we would reduce our chances of loss by using both sides and
having one platoon go around to the right and one to the left.”
_The Director_: “Lieutenant Hunt, what do you think of that
proposition?”
_Lieutenant Hunt_: “I think it is all right. The question that arises in
my mind is that of loss of control by the platoon commander and the
difficulties of getting into the proper formation on the other side of
the shelled area again.”
_The Director_: “When you consider that the platoon commander has a team
of two sections each under the charge of a competent leader the
difficulties are really not so great as they would at first appear. Let
us decide that we are to go around the shelled area on both sides of it,
a section on each side. On which side will you have the leading section
go, Lieutenant Williams?”
_Lieutenant Williams_: “The 1st Section is the base section of the
platoon—as such it is the base element of the company and the whole
battalion. It is the unit on which the whole battalion is guiding its
march. It should therefore go around on the —— side so that the 1st
platoon can keep in touch with it and guide on it. When it gets to the
other side of the shelled area it can deploy and get its —— element on
the directing line again. By employing this method there will be no
chance for the 1st platoon losing connection with it. The 2nd section
will go around to the ——.”
_The Director_: “I think your reasoning is logical and if there are no
objections we will accept that method. Now the battery commander of the
battery being shelled will want to know what is going on. Captain
Hastings, how will you provide for this?”
_Captain Hastings_: “I will send a runner to him with a message giving
him the necessary information.”
_The Director_: “Let us assume that we have arrived at the decision
indicated in our discussion. How would you get the orders to the
troops?”
_Captain Hastings_: “When we get up as far as it is safe to go I will
signal the platoon to halt. And then call for the section leaders to
report to me. When they get here I will give them the orders necessary
for the execution of the maneuver.”