Part 4

I recollect that before the attack of May 9, I fretted with impatience and went continually to find the artillery observer, as I saw an accursed rectangular loophole obstinately remain intact up to the end. When we started forward, fire burst out from this loophole, and two sections were wiped out.

To destroy these machine guns, there would be needed not only cannon placed at 1,500 metres, which have many other tasks, but cannon placed in the trench itself. The mountain 80 seems to realize the desired conditions of effectiveness and mobility. Hidden in the trench before the preparation, it unmasks itself during that operation; it takes under direct fire like a rifle all the machine-gun shelters successively, occupying itself with those alone and not leaving them until they are all completely out of action.

Destruction of Machine Guns that may be set up outside the Trenches.—On the 9th of May, the survivors of my company and of the adjoining company, about eighty men, arrived at 11 o’clock about 200 metres from the cemetery of Neuville-Saint-Vaast. The cemetery being unoccupied, the field of battle seemed void of Germans. In the distance, the batteries were fleeing. Two machine guns remained in the mill; this was the only resistance over an immense space, but it was sufficient. Impossible for my men to advance; we signal the fact with difficulty to the artillery, which from this time on is under open field conditions; it opens fire a long time afterwards and mistakes the objective. Then before the eyes of our furious men, abandoned by all because they were too far to the front, the cemetery fills up with Germans. Four hours afterwards, the 146th appears on the field and is mowed down by the machine guns; the next day the 229th succeeds it; new repetition with a slight and extremely costly advance.

With these machine guns revealing themselves thus without our being able to foresee their emplacement, and taking up positions to stop our progress in a region no longer familiar to us, we must have the means of suppressing them instantly. The field artillery is too far away; communication hardly exists after passing beyond the extremity of the telephone lines. The question is of the greatest importance and merits study. It would be absolutely necessary that the first waves of attack be followed, after the taking of the first lines of trenches, by light guns, the 37 for example, drawn by their cannoneers. These independent crews would be all eyes and ears to discover the machine guns and destroy them immediately. There are enough officers or noncommissioned officers of artillery to command them intelligently.

III. FORM OF ATTACK.

To create a complete gap, it is necessary:

(a) To take the first line of the hostile defense (zone of the first trenches and centers of resistance);

(b) To take the second line of defense;

(c) To prevent the enemy from reestablishing a barrier by the aid of reinforcements brought up in haste beyond the zone already fortified.

To overcome successively these difficulties, one must have:

(a) A first line of attack composed of several waves of assault with (as an element of preparation) a formidable artillery (field, heavy, and torpedo guns) minutely regulated.

(b) A second line of attack as strong as the first, except perhaps in front of the centers of resistance, sent straight to the front all in one piece exactly like the first line. The same precise and effective artillery preparation is not here present, but it is compensated for by groups of light guns and machine guns destined rapidly to destroy all resistance. Accompanying batteries (batteries d’accompagnement) start as soon as the first trenches are taken.

(c) A reserve without initial assignment, destined to reinforce any point and conquer any irreducible or hindering resistance. This reserve is entirely at the disposition of the superior commander, while the first and second lines are no longer in his hands after they are in their parallel of departure. On the 9th of May, this reserve was made up of the troops which should have normally composed the second line of attack, which did not exist. This explains the disastrous delay of its engagement, which was furthermore very hesitating, because it tried to maneuver before having broken through and waited for the mêlée to clear away in order to maneuver.

(d) Cavalry, auto-cannon, auto-machine guns, battalions of infantry on automobiles with pioneer crews to clear the roads.—Large units, ready to commence new combats, capable of being brought up within two or three hours.—Do not, after the hole has been pierced, depend any longer upon the regiments who made it.

RÔLE OF THE FIRST LINE.

Its Method of Action.

The first line is composed of two or three waves. The features of the assault vary according to the distance to be crossed in getting at the enemy.

Distance Less than 100 Metres.—The first wave, composed of entire companies in line, the men at half-pace interval, rushes to the assault without pause as soon as the artillery fire ceases. It should endeavor to reach the enemy before he can get out of his shelters. It does not generally have to fire, except perhaps at the last moment in order to cross the entanglement if the enemy opens fire (see second case).

Distance Greater than 100 Metres.—Attack by waves of companies, in which those in front are divided into two parts:

1. A line of skirmishers at 5 paces, formed either by one section deployed or by groups of skirmishers furnished by each section (calm and resolute men).

2. Fifty metres behind comes the line of attack, men in one rank, elbow to elbow or at one pace; the company and section commanders in front of the line; four metres behind the line of attack, the rank formed by the file closers.

In this case, one cannot count on surprising the enemy; he will open a more or less violent fire, especially during the crossing of the wire entanglement. It is very illusory to imagine that any company is stoical enough to allow itself to be fired on at point blank without replying when it distinctly sees the enemy; it will be necessary to open fire, and this will throw the assaulting line into disorder.

The thin line of skirmishers is intended to give this protection by fire in order that the line of attack may keep its elbow-to-elbow formation without firing until almost the last.

At Neuville-Saint-Vaast, I was obliged personally to act as a skirmisher, and I have since then strongly felt that something was lacking in our line of attack. We arrived at the first entanglement at 80 metres from the enemy without firing, but there on account of the violence of the adverse fire, our fusillade broke out. I myself recall that I marched straight ahead under the protection of my rifle. Every time a “flat cap” raised up and aimed at me, I threw the rifle to my shoulder rapidly; my shot came near enough to make him duck; I profited by this short respite to advance into the wire or dash ahead some 20 metres, always watching and firing whenever a “flat cap” reappeared. Thus, emptying the magazine on the march, I was able to mount the parapet of the German trench without having permitted the enemy to fire a single aimed shot at me. If the man who marches unprotected in the spaces swept by bullets scorns the danger, the one who is sheltered is inclined to exaggerate toward the side of protection, and the men who are in the trenches when the bullets pass cannot keep from instinctively ducking. It is a sensation which the attack should take advantage of.

The skirmishers should be calm and resolute men, and good shots (often old reserve soldiers, well seasoned and less susceptible of losing their nerve and intent upon preserving their own lives).

They should each march upon a particular point of the hostile trench and watch it closely. They open fire only when they get the order from the company commander marching between the two echelons.

This manner of making the assault strongly resembles that brought out by De Wet in “Three Years of War.” It is the individual assault where each soldier shows himself as a real fighter.

The March on the Line of Attack.—Each echelon starts out successively at a single bound and moves at a walk (even in cadence, if it were possible). It is curious to observe how much this pace conduces to cold resolution and fierce scorn of the adversary. At Neuville, all units instinctively started at a walk. Afterwards take the double time at slow cadence, in order to maintain the cohesion; make several rushes, if necessary, of 80 to 100 metres. They should not be multiplied, at the risk of breaking the élan.