5. COMBAT ORDERS.[1]
Modern fire effect does not permit a commander to direct the course of an action by despatching adjutants from time to time. This must be borne in mind when issuing a combat order. Such an order can only regulate the launching of the troops into action and prescribe a task as a guide for their subsequent conduct. Since leaders change during the course of the combat, the order must ensure coöperation of the component parts of the force by thoroughly explaining the purpose of the fight. The troops have a right to know what the commander expects of them; it is not sufficient to order them to occupy a certain point—they must be told whether or not they are to defend it. An order which directs troops "to oppose" the enemy, conveys an extremely vague meaning; it should specify instead whether they are "to attack" the enemy, or whether they are "to defend" a position. The subordinate leader's pertinent question, as to the purpose of the combat, forces the commander to indicate clearly whether he intends to attack, or to stand on the defensive; whether he will fight a delaying action, or avoid a decision by withdrawing. Even the lowest grades must be informed of this decision of the commander. The troops will perform anything that is demanded of them in definite terms. On the other hand, the commander must demand that no subordinate "hide" behind an order and that, on the contrary, he act on his own initiative when an order is not received or the situation changes.
Clearly defined sections of the battlefield (par. 475 German I. D. R.) and definite combat tasks, each complete in itself (par. 293 German I. D. R.), are assigned to the tactical units to be employed in the first line (battalions in case of a regiment; regiments, as a rule, in case of a division). In attack, the order indicates the front upon which each one of the larger units is to deploy and what portion of the hostile posi-*
- ↑ v. Kiesling, Gefechtebefehle, Berlin, 1907.
