Manual of Military Training Part 121

3. Announce the position of the "At three o'clock."

target with respect to the reference point.

4. Announce the range. "Range 1000."

5. Announce the objective. "A hostile patrol of four men."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 53]

PROCEDURE:

1. All men look to their right front (or along the two o'clock line).

2. The reference point (stone house) is found in the indicated direction.

3. A clock face (vertical) is imagined centered on the reference point, and the men look along the line leading from the clock center through three o'clock, and

4. 1000 yards from the firing point.

5. Find the hostile patrol.

=1447a. Finger System.= (Used with indistinct or invisible targets and to define sectors.)

(By one "Finger" we mean the amount of frontage that one finger, held vertically, will cover, the arm being extended horizontally to its full length. In the average case this amount of frontage covered is about 1/20 of the range. For instance, at a range of 1000 yards, one "Finger" will cover fifty yards of the sector The same result will be obtained by using the rear-sight leaf in the position of aiming.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 54]

SYSTEM EXAMPLE

1. Announce direction to "To our right front, at 1000 yards."

reference point as in the vertical clock face system.

2. Announce reference point. "A stone house with two chimneys."

3. Announce angular distance and "Four o'clock, three fingers."

direction from the reference point to the target.

4. Announce range. "Range 1000."

5. Announce objective. "A skirmish line alongside of the fence, length about two fingers, right at the dark bush."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 55]

PROCEDURE:

The reference point is found as explained, and the vertical o'clock line upon which the target will be found. The soldiers who do not see the target will extend the aim to its _full extent_ palm of the hand upward, finger held vertically with one side of the hand "against" the reference point. The target will be found on the four o'clock line, and touching the third finger, at 1000 yards distance, its right flank at the bush and its left flank about 100 yards farther to the right.

The following case will ill.u.s.trate more concretely the use of the "Finger" system:

There is a red house about 3/4 mile to our front, and to the right of this house and a hundred yards or so to its rear, there is a line of trenches that can be seen with the aid of field gla.s.ses, but the trenches are difficult to locate with the unaided eye. There is no prominent landmark in the direction of this line of trenches, or on either flank, except the red house mentioned. The company commander locates the flanks of the line of trenches through his field gla.s.ses; he then extends his arm forward horizontally its full length, palm up, raises the fingers of his hand and, sighting on the line of trenches, finds that the trench line has a length of four "finger widths," and that the flank of the line nearest the red house is three "finger widths" from it. He decides to divide the line into two sections of two "fingers" each, and a.s.sign one section to each of his two platoons. He then calls his platoon leaders (and range finders, if necessary), and says, for instance: "Center of objective, five to the right of that red house, First Platoon, two fingers; Second Platoon, two fingers." The two platoon leaders then estimate the range and give the company commander their estimates independently. The company commander also estimates the range, and taking the average, then announces the range, say 1300 yards, after which the platoon leaders return to their platoons, and give, for instance, these instructions: "The target is a line of trenches four 'fingers' long, and about 1300 yards away; the center of the target is five 'fingers' to the right of that red house, at about 10 o'clock. We are to fire at the two fingers on the right of the center and the Second Platoon will look after the two fingers on the left of the center." (The leader of the Second Platoon gives similar instructions.)

Every man in the platoon figures out the platoon objective and endeavors to fix it with respect to some features of the ground so that he will be able to pick it up promptly after his platoon starts to advance. After fixing well in his mind the platoon objective, he figures out what part of it belongs to his squad, and then selects that portion of the squad objective corresponding to his position in the squad. If during the advance, his particular portion of the target should become hidden from view, he will fire on the nearest portion of the trench line, returning to his own part as soon as it becomes visible.

=1447b. Communication.= After the company has been committed to the fire fight, verbal commands cannot be heard, and it is well nigh impossible even to secure attention to signals. It is, therefore, most important that we should train and practice the company as much as possible during time of peace in the rapid and accurate transmission of orders and signals along the firing line.

Matter upon which a commander would need to communicate with his subordinates, in addition to tactical orders, would generally be confined to:

(a) Changes of elevation and deflection.

(b) Changes in the apportionment of the target among the subdivisions.

(c) Changes within the limits of the sector, or objective.

(d) Changes in the rate of fire.

(e) And rarely change of target from one within to one without the limits of the objective or sector.

=1448. Procedure.= The following is given merely as a concrete example of the procedure that might be followed in certain ring exercises--it will not, of course, apply to all cases; it is merely given as a concrete ill.u.s.tration of what might actually be done under certain conditions.

_Company Commander._ On receiving his instructions from the officer in charge of the exercise, the company commander returns to his company, keeping track of the changing aspect of his target as he does so.

Arriving at the center of his company, he is met by his platoon leaders, and range finders, who have a.s.sembled in his absence. The company commander says:

"The target is a line of skirmishers, visible in part. It may be seen between us and that long line of green bushes which begins one finger to the right of that red water tower at 11 o'clock and it extends well beyond the bushes both to the right and to the left."

(At this point the range finders begin their estimation and the captain pauses until the senior range finder, or other designated person automatically announces the average estimate of the range, saying for example, "range 1100.")

The captain then resumes, saying:

"The sector a.s.signed to this company is three fingers long and extends from that group one finger to the right of the water tower, to a point four fingers to the right of the tower. Each platoon will cover the entire company sector. Range ten-fifty and eleven-fifty. Fire at will at my signal. Posts."

_Platoon Leaders._ The platoon leaders then hasten to the center of their platoons and "put into execution the commands and directions of the captain, having first taken such precautions to insure a correct sight-setting and clear description of the aiming point as the situation permits or requires" (Par. 251 I. D. R.), by saying:

_Target:_ The target is a line of skirmishers about 1100 yards to our front, only parts of which are visible.

_Reference point:_ That long line of bushes about 1300 yards to our left front. The company sector is three fingers long and lies between us and that reference point, extending one-half finger beyond each end of the bushes.

_Aiming point:_ The bottom of the line of bushes.

_Range:_ 1050 and 1150.

As soon as the range is announced each front rank man sets his sight at 1050 and each rear rank man at 1150. Squad leaders a.s.sure themselves that sights are set and that the men of their squads understand the aiming point and sector and then raise their hand as a signal that all are ready. Similarly, the platoon leaders raise their hands to show that all of the squads are ready, and when the captain sees that all of his platoons are ready, he signals to begin firing.

At the captain's signal, each platoon leader commands: "_Fire at Will._"

Firing then begins at a rate of about 3 shots per minute (Par. 14, I.

D. R.).

=1449. Points To Be Borne in Mind.= Bear in mind the following points in the solution of field firing problems:

1. Combine sights should, as a rule, be used where the estimated range is 1000 yards or more, the two ranges being 50 yards on each side of the estimated range, the even numbers firing at one range, the odd numbers at the other.