Different Kinds Of Attack
Categories: ATTACK AND DEFENSEMilitary Handbooks: The Plattsburg Manual Advanced Training
The most usual kinds of attack are:
Frontal Attack. This attack is delivered directly against the front of
the enemy. It offers little opportunity to bring more rifles against the
enemy than he can bring against you. Decisive results can only be
expected when your force is larger than your opponent's or when his is
unduly extended. It is a dangerous and costly method of attacking.
Enveloping
to hold his attention and, with the rest of your command, strike a flank
more or less obliquely. Since your line is now longer than his, and you
have more rifles in action your fire is converging while that of your
enemy is diverging. Never attempt the envelopment of both flanks unless
you greatly outnumber your enemy. Cooeperation between the frontal and
enveloping attack is essential to success. The fraction of the command
that envelops the enemy is generally larger than that part in his front.
A wide turning movement is not an enveloping movement. It is dangerous
because your troops are separated and can be defeated in detail. In an
enveloping movement your line will usually be continuous; it simply
overlaps and envelops the enemy. An enveloping attack will nearly always
result locally in a frontal attack, for it will meet the enemy's
reserve. Let us repeat: do not attempt a wide turning movement. Your
forces will be separated, they may not be able to assist each other, and
can be defeated in detail. The tendency of a beginner is to attempt a
wide turning movement. The error of dispersion is then committed.
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