NIGHT OPERATIONS
=1091. Importance.= Because of the long range and great accuracy of
modern fire arms, there has been in recent years a marked increase in
the practice of night operations, such operations being of common
occurrence not only for massing troops under cover of darkness in
favorable positions for further action, but also for actually
assaulting positions.
Read carefully pars. 464, 496, 498, 523, 524, 580-590.
TRAINING OF THE COMPANY
=1092.= Night movements are amongst the most difficult operations of
war, and, therefore require the most careful, painstaking and thorough
training and instruction of troops in all matters pertaining thereto.
The history of night fighting shows that in most cases defeat is due
to disorganization through panic. It is said that in daylight the
moral is to the physical as three is to one. That being the case, it
is hard to say what the ratio is at night, when a general atmosphere
of mystery, uncertainty and fear of surprise envelops the operations,
and, of necessity affects the nerves of the men. The vital importance,
therefore, of accustoming troops as much as we can in peace to the
conditions that will obtain in night fighting, cannot be
overestimated. The following outline shows the subjects in which
individual and collective instruction and training should be given:
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING
=1093. General.= The first thing to be done is to accustom the soldier
to darkness and to teach him to overcome the nervousness which is
natural to the average man in darkness.
The best way to do this is to begin by training him in the use of his
powers of vision and hearing under conditions of darkness, which are
strange to him. The company should be divided into squads for this
instruction.
=1094. Vision.= Take several men to ground with which they are
familiar. Have them notice the different appearance which objects
present at night; when viewed in different degrees of light and shade;
the comparative visibility of men under different conditions of dress,
background, etc.; the ease with which bright objects are seen; the
difference between the visibility of men standing on a skyline and
those standing on a slope. Post the men in pairs at intervals along a
line which the instructors will endeavor to cross without being seen.
The instructors should cross from both sides, so as to compel
observation in both directions. Have a man (later, several) walk away
from the rest of the men and when he is about to disappear from view,
halt him, and estimate the distance. Send a man (later, several)
outside the field of vision, to advance on the rest of the men. Halt
him when he enters the field of vision and estimate the distance. Send
a number of men outside the limit of vision and then let them advance
on the rest of the men, using cover and seeing how near they can
approach unobserved.
=1095. Hearing.= Place a number of men a few yards apart and make them
guess what a noise is caused by, and its approximate position. The
rattle of a meat can, the movement of a patrol, the working of the
bolt of a rifle, the throwing down of accouterments, low talking,
etc., may be utilized. Take special pains to impress upon the men the
penetrating power of the human voice, and the necessity of preserving
absolute silence in night operations. Have blank cartridges fired and
teach the men to judge their direction and approximate distance away.
=1096. Finding Bearings.= Show the men how to determine the points of
the compass from the North Star. The Big Dipper constellation looks
like this:
[Illustration: Fig. 1]
The North Star is on the prolongation of a line joining the two
"pointing" stars, and at above five times the distance between the two
stars. At another time have those same men individually locate the
North Star. Using this star as a guide, practice the men moving in
different directions, by such commands as, "Smith, move southeast."
"Jones, move northwest," etc.
To test a man's ability to keep a given direction when moving in the
darkness, choose a spot from which no prominent landmarks are visible,
advance toward it accompanied by a man, from a distance not less than
200 paces. While advancing the soldier must take his bearings. On
arriving at the spot chosen the instructor will turn the soldier
around rapidly two or three times and then have him continue to
advance in the same direction as before. No prominent landmarks should
be visible from the starting point.
=1097. Moving in the Dark.= Form four or five men in line with about
one pace interval, the instructor being on one of the flanks. Place
some clearly visible mark, such as a lantern, for the instructor to
march on. Impress upon the men the importance of lifting their feet up
high and bringing them to the ground quietly and firmly, and of
keeping in touch with the guide and conforming to his movements
without sound or signal. The pace should be slow and frequent halts
should be made to test the promptness of the men in halting and
advancing together. As the line advances, each man will in turn take
his place on the flank and act as guide. The light on which the men
are marching should be hidden from view at intervals, in order to test
the ability of the men to maintain the original direction. Later on,
the number of men in a line may be increased considerably. The rougher
the ground, the darker the night and the longer the line, the slower
must the pace be and the more frequent the halts. After passing an
obstacle men instinctively line up parallel to it, and consequently if
the obstacle does not lie at right angles to the line of advance, the
direction will be lost; so, be sure to guard against this.
=1098. Night Fencing.= Practice the men in charging in the dark
against a white cloth or the dummy figure of a man. In the beginning
have the figure in a fixed place, but later have the soldier charge
seeking the figure, and not knowing just exactly where it is
beforehand.
=1099. Night Entrenching.= It is frequently necessary in time of war
to dig trenches at night in front of the enemy, and while this work is
easy in the moonlight, it is very difficult in the dark. Bear in mind
the following points:
1. The tendency is to make the trench too narrow; hence, guard against
this.
2. Be careful not to throw the earth too far or too near.
3. Do not strike your neighbor's tools in working.
4. Do not use the pick unless necessary, because it makes considerable
noise.
5. Do not scrape the tools together in order to get off the dirt; use
a chip of wood or the toe of the shoe.
6. Make as little noise as possible in digging and handling your
tools.
7. If discovered by the enemy's searchlights, do not become excited or
confused; simply lie down.
8. If attacked by the enemy, do not get rattled and throw your tools
away--put them in some fixed place where they can be found again.
=1100. Equipment.= At first the men should be taken out without arms,
but later on they should be trained to work in full equipment. Teach
every man what parts of his equipment are likely to make a noise under
special circumstances, such as lying down, rising, crossing obstacles,
etc., and instruct him how to guard against it. Bayonets should always
be fixed, but in order to avoid accidents the scabbard should be left
on them.
From the beginning of the training continually impress upon the men
that it is absolutely criminal to fire without orders during a night
operation and that the bayonet is the only weapon he can use with
advantage to himself and safety to his comrades.
=1101. Night Firing.= As a rule men fire too high in the dark. They
must, therefore, be cautioned not to raise the rifle above the
horizontal, or incline the upper part of the body to the rear. When
the firing is stopped be sure to turn on the safety-lock. Experience
during the Russo-Japanese War taught the Japanese the kneeling
position is the most suitable for horizontal firing. The following
method, to be conducted in daytime, may be employed in training the
soldier to hold his rifle parallel to the ground while firing in the
dark:--Have each soldier, kneeling, close his eyes and bring his rifle
to the position of aim, barrel parallel to the ground. With the rifle
in this position, let him open his eyes and examine it. Then have this
done by squad, by command. When they become proficient in this
movement, have them close their eyes and while the eyes are closed,
put up a target and have them practice horizontal firing, opening
their eyes each time after pulling the trigger and then examining the
position of the piece.
COLLECTIVE TRAINING
At first practice squads, then the platoons and later the company in
simple movements, such as squads right and left, right and left
oblique, etc., gradually leading up to more complicated ones in close
and extended order, such as right and left front into line, advancing
in platoon and squad columns, charging the enemy, etc. As far as
possible the movements should be executed by simple prearranged
signals from the unit commanders. The signals, which must not be
visible to the enemy, may be made with a white handkerchief or a white
flag, if the night be not too dark; with an electric flashlight, a
dark lantern or luminous disk. The light of the flashlight or lantern
must be screened, so it cannot be seen by the enemy. The following
signals are suggested:
To advance: Raise vertically the lantern or other object with which
the signal is made.
To halt: Lower and raise the object several times.
To lie down: Bring the object down near the ground.
To form squad columns: Move the object several times to the right and
left.
To form platoon columns: Describe several circles.
As skirmishers: Move the object front to rear several times.
=1102. Night Marches.= In acting as an advance guard to a column, the
company would send out a point a few yards ahead, which would be
followed by the rest of the company. Three or four scouts should be
sent out a hundred yards or so ahead of the point. They should advance
at a quick pace, keeping in the shadow on the side of the road, being
constantly on the alert, using their ears even more than their eyes.
They will halt to listen at crossroads and suspicious places, and move
on again when they hear the company approaching. Should the enemy be
discovered, one of the scouts will return to warn the advance
guard--the others will conceal themselves and watch. Under no
circumstances must the scouts ever fire, unless it be for the purpose
of warning the company and there is no other way of doing so. The
diagram on the opposite page is suggested as a good formation for a
company acting as advance guard at night. A company marching alone
would move in the same formation as when acting as advance guard,
except that it would protect its rear with a few scouts. Of course,
the nature of the country and proximity and activity of the enemy,
will determine the best formation to be used, but whatever the
formation may be, always remember to cover well your front, rear and
flanks, with scouts, whose distance away will vary with the light and
nature of the country. _Don't forget that protection in rear is very
important._
[Illustration: Fig. 2]
The men must be warned against firing, smoking, talking, striking
matches, making noise, etc. They should also be informed of the object
in view, direction of the enemy, etc.
In night marches the rests should not exceed five minutes; otherwise,
many men will fall asleep.
OUTPOSTS
Careful training in outpost duty at night is very harassing, but, in
view of its importance, should not be neglected. This instruction
should be given with the greatest thoroughness, strictness and
attention to detail.
=1103. Sentries Challenging.= In challenging sentries must be careful
to avoid any noise that would disclose their position. In fact,
challenging by voice should be reduced to a minimum by arranging a
system of signals by which the officers of the day, patrols, etc., can
be recognized. The following signals, any one of which may be decided
upon, which would be made first by the sentry and then answered by the
approaching party, are suggested: Clap the hands together twice;
strike the ground twice with the butt of the rifle; strike the butt of
the rifle twice with the hand; whistle softly twice. The replying
signal would be the same as the sentry's signal, except that in case
of the use of the butt of the rifle, an officer would reply by
striking twice on his revolver holster. After repeating the signal
once, if it is not answered, the sentry will challenge with the voice,
but no louder than is necessary. In case of a patrol only one man will
advance to be recognized after the signal has been answered. The
sentry must always allow persons to approach fairly near before
challenging.
=1104. Sentries Firing.= Anyone who has been through a campaign knows
how nervous green sentries are, and how quick they are about firing.
During the beginning of the Philippine Campaign the author heard of
several cases where sentries fired on fire-flies several hundred
yards away. Never fire unless it be absolutely necessary to give an
alarm, or unless you can clearly distinguish the enemy and are fairly
certain of hitting him. In the French Army in Algeria, there is a rule
that any sentry who fires at night must produce a corpse, or be able
to show by blood marks that he hit the person fired at. If he can do
neither, he is punished for giving a false alarm.
=1105. Marking of Route from Outguards to Supports.= The route from
the support to the outguards, and from pickets to their sentries,
should, if necessary, be clearly marked with scraps of paper, green
sticks with the bark peeled off, or in any other suitable way.
=1106. Readiness for Action.= The supports should always be ready for
action. The men must sleep with their rifles beside them and in such
places that they will be able to fall in promptly in case of attack.
Some men have a way of sleeping with their blankets over their heads.
This should not be allowed--the ears must always be uncovered. The
commander, or the second in command, with several men, should remain
awake. When the commander lies down he should do so near the sentry,
which is always posted over the support.
GENERAL
=1107. Connections.= It is of the greatest importance that proper
connection be maintained between the different parts of a command
engaged in night operations. It is astonishing with what facility
units go astray and how difficult it is for them to find their way
back where they belong.
=1108. Preparation.= It matters not what the nature of the night
operation may be, the most careful preparation is necessary. Success
often depends upon the care and thoroughness with which the plans are
made.
All possible eventualities should be thought of and provided for as
far as praticable. The first thing to do is to get as much information
as possible about the ground to be covered and the position of the
enemy, and care must be taken to see that the information is accurate.
Reconnaissance must be made by night as well as by day; for, ground
looks very different at night from what it does during the day.