Read Ebook: Some Principles of Frontier Mountain Warfare by Bird W D Wilkinson Dent

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Ebook has 145 lines and 14224 words, and 3 pages

The advanced guard will require a proportion of technical troops for road making and repair, and for this purpose two companies of pioneers, or the bulk of a company of sappers and miners may be allotted.

Cavalry are not, it is considered, in place with an advanced guard moving in an enclosed and intricate country, nor, since the main body will be close behind, need any special medical details be included.

Whether artillery should be allotted is a more open question. In favour of placing guns with the advanced guard, it can be argued that they may be of assistance in clearing the hills to be occupied by picquets or vanguard; against their inclusion it may be urged that artillery ammunition will necessarily be scarce, owing to the difficulty of carriage, and should only be employed when an advantageous opportunity for inflicting loss occurs, but that advanced guard commanders are prone to make too much use of their guns.

On the whole, when the advanced guard is not far from the main body, it would seem that the inclusion of guns in the former is unnecessary.

The organisation and order of march of the main body may be as under.

It is clear that the numbers available for action will be those left over after suitable deduction has been made for baggage and rear guards. These, therefore, must first be allotted.

Light duty men, officers' servants, cooks, etc., should suffice to secure the regimental transport, and for policing the drivers, but the supply column, hospitals, and reserve ammunition, require special escorts, and perhaps one company each may be adequate for the two first mentioned, and one or two companies for the ammunition.

The strength and composition of the rear guard is the next item, and this is regulated by its function of supervision of the retirement of the picquets.

Such being the case, it appears that, in no circumstances, should a large force be detailed as a rear-guard. There is not space in a narrow valley for a strong rear-guard to manoeuvre, so that it will merely afford the enemy a good target, without corresponding advantage; besides, the rear-guard can, if necessary, be continually reinforced by incoming picquets.

A rear-guard, then, should rarely include more than four companies of infantry, and in the circumstances under consideration, may be weaker.

Though cavalry may be useful for the delivery of a counter-attack, the horses afford an easy mark, whilst its presence with the rear-guard may cause the enemy to keep to the hills instead of descending into the valley, where they will be more vulnerable. Cavalry, it seems, should, therefore, not be added to the rear-guard infantry.

Mountain guns may be of assistance to picquets in distress, or in the delivery of a counter-attack, but they should, both for their own security, and to prevent waste of ammunition, be kept well back. In the present case the rear-guard is not likely to be harassed, so no artillery need be included.

A rear-guard does not require technical troops, but some hospital riding mules, etc., may be allotted for rapid transference of wounded.

The total deductions from the fighting force of the column will therefore be:--

In all about one and a half battalions, one company sappers and miners. There remain three and a half battalions, one mountain battery, one squadron, and the administrative services, at disposal.

The order of march of the main body can now be dealt with.

Perhaps half a battalion may move in front, then the mountain battery, which should not require a special escort, next the three battalions.

After these may follow the reserve ammunition, the hospitals, the 2nd line transport with B. echelon 1st line transport of all troops, except the advanced and rear-guards, and then the supply column.

At the tail of the main body may move the B. echelon of the advanced and rear-guards, so as to be readily available in case any troops belonging to either are obliged to bivouac outside camp; and finally, since they are unlikely to be able to undertake effective pursuit, may come the cavalry, so as to be at hand in case they are required to assist the rear-guard to counter-attack, by charging any tribesmen who have ventured into the valley.

Though B. echelon 1st line transport of the advanced and rear-guards is placed at the end of the column, it is considered that all troops should be so equipped that they can be independent of camp and transport for at least two, and better still, for three days. It is a lesser evil to carry an extra, but in some degree decreasing load, even if it prejudices mobility, than to starve, or run undue risk of sickness from cold and damp.

The next case to be considered will be when the enemy is not in great force, and is more likely to harass than to seriously resist the advance of the column.

In such circumstances, the main objects will be to complete, as rapidly as may be, the proposed march, whilst inflicting on the enemy, should he give the opportunity, the greatest possible loss.

Since the distance is to be quickly traversed, and because a road picquet takes some time, even as much as an hour, to secure and establish itself on a hill, it follows that, unless risk is to be run of the march of the main body being delayed, the advanced guard must precede the main body by at least one hour, and may even move off in the twilight which precedes dawn.

This settled, the composition of the advanced guard may be dealt with.

If it is proposed to make a ten mile march, then, calculating from the data previously mentioned, about one battalion will be sufficient to picquet the roadway. To this force some four companies may be added, so as to leave a good margin for securing the camp site, and for unexpected contingencies.

Technical troops will, as before, be required, and as the advanced guard will be some way from the main body, a section of mountain artillery may be included. Neither cavalry, nor special medical units, seem necessary.

The composition of the advanced guard may, therefore, be:--one-and-a-half battalions infantry, one section mountain battery, the bulk of one company sappers and miners.

As already stated, before deciding on the order of march of the main column, the deductions to be made for escort and rear-guard duties must be fixed.

Light duty men, etc., should suffice to secure the regimental transport, three companies to safeguard the reserve ammunition, hospitals, and supply column, whilst the mountain battery hardly needs a special escort.

In respect of the rear-guard, in the case under consideration it is possible that the picquets may be harassed as they withdraw, the strength of the rear-guard may, therefore, amount to four companies of infantry, with machine guns, and one section mountain artillery, with some ambulance riding mules, etc., in addition.

The total deductions, for purposes of protection, from the fighting force of the column, therefore, amount to:--infantry, two battalions three companies; artillery, two sections; sappers and miners one company; and there remain, for disposal, infantry, two battalions five companies, artillery, one section, cavalry, one squadron, besides various administrative units.

No serious opposition being expected to the march of the column, the comfort of the troops may be considered in regulating the order of march.

As before, and for the same reasons, the cavalry, and the B. echelon 1st line transport of the advanced and rear-guards, and of the picquetting troops, may march at the tail of the main body.

It should hardly be necessary to place, in addition, a body of infantry at the end of the column, but, if desired, the remaining four companies of the battalion furnishing the rear-guard may move immediately in front of, or behind, the cavalry. The rest of the fighting force can march at the head of the main column, followed by the reserve ammunition, hospitals, B. echelon 1st line transport, with the 2nd line transport, and then the supply column.

In circumstances where little or no resistance is expected to the forward movement of a column, but serious opposition to the withdrawal of picquets, and to the march of the rear-guard, the following modification will be necessary in the order of march just dealt with.

The strength, composition, and time of march of the advanced guard need only be altered by the deduction of, say, one section of sappers and miners, and perhaps, too, the withdrawal of the mountain guns.

The escorts, etc., of the non-fighting portions of the main column may remain as before suggested, as may the strength and composition of the rear-guard.

The order of march of the main column will, however, require transposition somewhat as follows:

Since the principal opposition will take the form of pursuit by the enemy, the bulk of the fighting troops should move in rear of the main column, so as to be in position to undertake the offensive if required.

The units may, therefore, march as follows:

Two companies of infantry; the supply column; the B. echelon 1st line transport, with the 2nd line transport; the hospitals; the reserve ammunition; B. echelon 1st line transport of the advanced and rear-guards; the rest of the infantry, less four companies; the remainder of the artillery; one section of sappers and miners, the cavalry, and finally four companies.

FOOTNOTES:

ACTION OF THE ADVANCED & REAR-GUARDS, AND OF ROAD PICQUETS.

Speaking generally, the procedure followed by an advanced guard may be somewhat as follows:--

Both on account of considerations for its own security, and because hills will thus be more rapidly secured, it is desirable that the positions to be occupied by road picquets should, so far as it is practicable to do so from the valley, be decided some time before the main guard arrives opposite the various localities. It is also understood that considerable latitude is allowed to the picquet commander as to the position occupied, and that he is at liberty either to demand reinforcement, or to return redundant men to the advanced guard, as occasion may demand.

The advanced guard may move in the following order.

First a vanguard of one or more companies, preceding the remainder by about half a mile, and adapting its formation to the ground.

Then the mainguard, at the head of which should be the advanced guard commander, his staff officer, the battalion commander of the unit furnishing the leading company, and the company commander.

As the troops march up the valley, the advanced guard commander should decide what localities are to be held, and in what strength. He should issue his orders to the battalion or company commander, as the case may be, when the picquets should move direct to their positions. Meanwhile, the staff officer should make, in sections, a rough sketch of the positions occupied by the various picquets, which should be numbered consecutively as they move out, the sections of the sketch being sent, as completed, to the officer commanding the rear-guard.

In addition, to insure that no picquet is overlooked by the rear-guard, a double sentry, with a paper showing the number of its picquet, should be placed in the roadway beneath the height occupied, and it is the duty of the picquet commander to keep in touch with this sentry post.

In this manner the roadway should be picquetted, until the locality is reached where the column is to halt, when the advanced guard commander should take the usual measures for the security of the camp, for safe-guarding the water supply, etc.

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