column. Deep column should not be formed unless an immediate extension is not anticipated. During the development for action, preparations should be made providing for the necessary depth of the combat formation.
When the necessity for engaging can be foreseen, the concentration into an assembly formation should be avoided, since it generally entails a loss of time and energy, and the development for action chosen instead. (Par. 315 German I. D. R.). The latter has the additional advantage of affording a higher degree of readiness for action without letting the troops get out of hand. It should be practiced not only from route column but also from assembly formation.[1]
The development for action should begin as soon as there is danger of getting under effective artillery fire. The length of time required for going into action may be reduced by shortening the route column (by concentrating the troops into deep column); by forming several route columns abreast, unless column of sections has already been formed; by clearing the roads of troops; by marching across country; by indicating beforehand on which side of the infantry the artillery is to be brought up (pars. 315-323 German I. D. R.); and, finally, by directing the heads of the various elements upon their respective objectives. (Development for action).
In the Austrian regulations, the development for action is not so
clearly emphasized: "A concentration preceding the attack in rencontres
is permissible in only those exceptional cases when it becomes apparent,
during the preparatory stage of the action, that the enemy has a visible
start in deployment." When time is not pressing, the regulations prescribe
a concentration for action and, simultaneously therewith, such a grouping
of the principal units (if possible out of range of the effective fire of hostile
guns, and well concealed) that the attacking troops need move only
straight to the front. A more extended formation is taken up when the
zone of hostile artillery fire is reached. The march to the battlefield is
discussed in detail by the French regulations: In the first place, in order
to take advantage of cover and to keep the roads clear for artillery, it will
be necessary to leave the road and to advance across country. This will,
- ↑ See the defeat of the Russian Reserve Brigade under Orlov on September 2nd, 1904, at Liao Yang, in Angriffsverfahren der Japaner, by von Lüttwitz.
