The Plattsburg Manual Part 30

Napoleon's success as a military leader was due to his knowledge of men and how to handle them, common sense, and in a lesser degree to what he learned from books. Upon such a basis the young managers of industrial concerns would be most valuable material from which to select and train successful military leaders. They know men, and it is necessary to possess a world of common sense to acquire any such knowledge. Many of those elements that make success in a military man are exactly the same as those that make a man successful anywhere. A president of a university, a lawyer or banker or merchant or engineer, has exactly the same kind of daily problems to solve, and requires much the same talents as those possessed by a military leader.

Since success in battle is the thing at which we are driving in all military training, it is common sense to prepare a machine that will do the business. Every officer and noncommissioned officer has got to know how to play the game. A good private makes a good corporal, a good corporal makes a good sergeant, a good sergeant makes a good lieutenant--a good colonel makes a good brigadier general--all exactly as in civil life.

Prussia has had her greatest military success when she devoted her energies to manuvers and to the solution of tactical problems. Her defeats and humiliations have come when she has neglected this work. And there's nothing mysterious about the way Prussia or Napoleon or anybody else has solved their military problems. No occult forces are involved, any more than there is in building a ca.n.a.l or hunting tigers. The real general is, in a sense, a postgraduate hunter, or an advanced, all-American quarterback.

One phase of the military work is significant and should cause reflection. The punishment for errors in war is very severe. A leader who makes mistakes may not only pay for them with his own blood but others too may suffer with him. In war we must obey our leaders whether they are right or wrong. How great, do you suppose, are those hordes that have been sacrificed on history's battlefields to the G.o.ddess of ignorance?

Napoleon says in one of his maxims, "Read and reread the campaigns of Alexander, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turrenne, Eugene, and Frederick; take them for your model; that is the only way of becoming a great captain, to obtain the secrets of the art of war." To read more intelligently such history we should know something about solving problems in minor tactics. We must know how to solve such problems if we are to master our duties as officers.

Whether, as general or corporal, you are solving a problem on a map or on the ground, your methods will be, in principle, the same. In the former case your soldiers understand thoroughly all orders and do exactly as directed. In the latter case your soldiers are human. They get tired and sick. They go in the wrong directions and get lost sometimes. One forgets, another is late, and the third misinterprets an order, etc.

Here is the common-sense way in which an all-American quarterback performs his duties. He studies carefully the opposing team (enemy) by reports beforehand and on the field of the contest, to determine his weak and strong points. The latter he wishes to avoid in directing his attack. He considers his position on the field, the wind and weather, if raining, etc., and then his different plays to hit the weaker parts of the opposing line with the advantages and disadvantages of each. To his well-trained mind all this is done in a flash, but the logic and causes and effects of action are none the less present. This quarterback has a.n.a.lyzed the conditions of his problems, he has figured out what he is up against; that is to say, he has estimated the situation.

He is now ready for a decision. He determines where he is going to strike and with what kind of a play he will do it.

He gives a signal, 44--11--17--5. That is to say, he issues his orders.

That is exactly the way a military man, whether he be a corporal or a general, goes about handling a problem, whether on paper or on the ground. When he goes into battle he finds the only difference is that the problem is complicated by bullets and excitement.

Don't think that you are going to learn to solve problems from books alone, any more than you can learn to play tennis or build bridges on paper. You have got to get out into the country and work with actual troops. But first study map problems. Come to a decision slowly until you have had considerable practice, then write out your order with no guides or references. Then check yourself up. Common sense and simple plans are the safest guides.

To frame a suitable field order you must make an estimate of the situation, culminating in a decision upon a definite plan of action. You must then actually draft or word the orders which will carry your decision into effect.

THE LOGICAL WAY TO ESTIMATE THE SITUATION

1st. Consider exactly what you are to do, i.e., your mission as set forth in the orders or instructions under which you are acting or as deduced by you from your knowledge of the situation.

2d. Consider all available information of the enemy. What is his strength? How is he situated? What is he going to do? etc.

3d. Consider all conditions affecting your own troops. What advantages in numbers and position have you over the enemy? What is their morale?

etc.

4th. Consider the terrain in so far as it affects the situation.

5th. Consider the various plans of action open to you and decide upon the one that will best enable you to accomplish your mission (carry out your task); that is to say, come to a decision.

It is now necessary to express that decision in the form of an order as the quarterback did in giving the signal, 44--11--17--5.

To enable the will of the commander to be quickly understood, and to secure prompt cooperation among his subordinates, field orders are required to follow a general form.

Under the stress and strain of an engagement there are many causes of excitement. Unless we have trained ourselves to act along certain lines in issuing orders, we may forget some important considerations. We have known people of superb intelligence to do poorly before a large audience simply from lack of training and experience.

CORRECT PROCEDURE IN GIVING THE MAIN PART OF A FIELD ORDER

1st. Give the information of the enemy and of our own supporting troops (i.e., those who may come to our a.s.sistance in case of need) to your subordinates that will give them a clear understanding of the problem and enable them intelligently to cooperate with you.

2d. Now state what you are going to do. That is to say, give your plan.

3d. Next, how you are going to put that plan into effect. That is, the a.s.signment of duties to each subordinate.

4th. Give instructions for the ammunition trains, stations for the slightly wounded, etc.

5th. State where you can be found or where messages may be sent.

SOME GENERAL HINTS

Clear and decisive orders are the logical result of definite and sure decisions. To guage[B] a man's caliber read his orders.

You must not be hazy and indefinite in your order. You must be clear and definite. Be careful about your phrasing and expressions. An order should be like a cablegram: convey every idea but contain no unnecessary words.

Don't break up the squads or platoons or the companies. Keep the tactical units together as much as possible.

It is marvelous how many mistakes can occur on the battlefield. Attempt a complicated plan and its failure is reasonably a.s.sured. Have your plan simple. The enveloping attack is the best. That is to say, have your line longer than the enemy's so that you can attack one of his flanks.

He knows this quite as well as you and he will endeavor to perform the same operation upon you. The leader, all else being equal, who has the wit to out-manoeuver the other will win the engagement.

As a rule, an affirmative form of expression is used. Such an order as: "The supply train will not accompany the division," is defective, because the gist of the order depends upon the single word "not."

Write your order so it can be read. Don't go about it as though you were a doctor writing a prescription. Things will go wrong if you do. You will find some of your troops moving in the wrong direction when you need them badly.

Be brief. Short sentences are good. They are clear. Conjectures, expectations, and reasons for measures adopted are weak. They do not inspire confidence. They should be avoided.

Accept the entire responsibility of your command. If things go wrong, it's your fault. Correct them. A large number of military men make it their particular business to find faults in others, with scarcely a thought for their own. Don't join this club. Reverse the matter.

Avoid such expressions as "attempt to capture," "try to hold," "as far as possible," "as well as you can," etc. Tell a man what he is to do.

Don't divide any responsibility with any one.

Officers and men of all ranks and grades are given a certain independence in the execution of the tasks to which they are a.s.signed and are expected to show initiative in meeting the different situations as they arise. Every individual, from the highest commander to the lowest private, must always remember that inaction and neglect of opportunities will warrant severe censure. Do something that will help carry out the plans of your commander. The j.a.panese regulations caution their commanders to avoid inaction and hesitation.

If you were hunting tigers and permitted a wounded one to move to your rear and spring upon you, unaware of its presence, you would probably pay a heavy price for not being on the alert. For a military leader to be caught unawares is unpardonable.

Napoleon said in another of his maxims: "if the enemy's army were to appear on my front, or on my right or left, what would I do?" If the question is difficult for the commander to answer, his troops are not only poorly placed but are poorly led.

Don't let your force be divided up into detachments and roam all over the country. This is a very common error with beginners. Avoid dispersion. Keep your troops together.

You cannot fire on the battlefield with the same accuracy as you do on the target range. Fear dilates the pupil of the eye. Men cannot shoot well when they are under great excitement. Don't count on killing too many of the enemy with a carload of ammunition.

Never forget that Fire Superiority is the thing that wins battles. If you let the other fellow get it and keep it, he's going to win, not you.

Don't trespa.s.s upon the province of a subordinate. He will handle his job if you will handle yours.