Manual of Military Training by James A. Moss (best value ebook reader .TXT) 📕

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.

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