hostile attack, or that the enemy has been deprived of the initiative and has been thrown on the defensive. This is the moment in which the commander regains the initiative and in which, by means of an attack order, he can dispose of the troops of the main body as he sees fit. The "rencontre" differs from the "deliberately planned attack," in that, in the latter, the concentration for action can proceed smoothly as desired by the commander, while in a rencontre the opponent, for the time being, dictates the course of action. Therefore the commander should make efforts to free himself from this restraint, i.e., he should endeavor to launch his troops in a manner not influenced by the dispositions of the enemy.
The degree of control which a commander retains over the course of the combat depends upon the promptness with which he gains a general idea of the situation. For this, if for no other reason, he should be as near the head of the column as possible while on the march. The troops sent first into action, supported by the artillery, must put every available man into the fight, in order to repulse attacks made by the enemy and to enable the commander to launch the main body as an entity. In any case, the battalions of the main body should not be successively thrown into the fight as soon as they arrive, for the purpose of overcoming a temporary crisis, or for relieving the advance guard from a dilemma. The machine gun batteries, whose employment was particularly important during the preparatory stage of the fight, should be withdrawn as early as possible so as to be available as a reserve in the hands of the commander.
In bringing the main body into action, deployments by the flank should be avoided. The deployment should be initiated by subordinate units (in an infantry division, by regiments) moving out of the route column and toward the objective points determined by the purpose of the combat.[1]
- ↑ General von Schlichting holds a different view in his work Taktische und strategische Grundsätze, I, p. 106. "In a rencontre, the piece on the board of the battlefield can be moved only when the next one is clear of the march column and ready for action. Further action is then not only permissible but imperative."
