Tactical employment of large military
units
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The General directions for the tactical
employment of large military units (Общи
упътвания
за
тактическото
употребление
на големите
войскови единици) were
published with Army Order No. 63/19 February 1905, to provide a support to
the reforms introduced into the Bulgarian Army in 1903. They were the first
attempt to outline the strategic direction of the army and were written
according with the main principles of the Besides the
explanatory texts and the plates related with them, it comprised five main
sections : 1.
terminology of the principal strategic concepts –
operative bases, intermediate bases, line of the operations, theatre of the
military operations (theatre of war), area of the operations, lines of
communications, area of assembly (area of the strategic deployment),
strategic advance guard, strategic front, marching front, strategic
objective; 2.
orientation; 3.
march and manoeuvres; 4.
dispositions for the rest and the defensive cordon; 5.
combat. According with
the Temporary state for the field
direction of the army and the organization of the rear
(Временно
положение
за полевото
управление
на армията и
устройството
на тила), translated from the Russian at
that time, the existing infantry divisions should expand into corps and their
brigades into divisions. In wartime an army corps would be composed of 2
infantry divisions, 2 squadrons of cavalry, one battalion of pioneers (3½
companies), 6 field hospitals with 45,355 men in all; each infantry division
of 4 infantry regiments with 4 battalions each, one artillery regiment with 9
field batteries (54 guns), the divisional supply train, the infantry park
company, the artillery park half company, the field hospital and the
divisional ambulances with 21,725 men. In addition the Army would include an
independent cavalry division and the mountain and fortress artillery units. The principles
laid down by the General directions
were based on the existence of 9 Army Corps and an independent cavalry
division. The distribution of such a force during the various phases of the
military operations was fully described in the text and explained by a great
numbers of plates. Actually these directives had not great influence upon the
operational employment of the Bulgarian Army since the corps organization
remained only on paper and was never really implemented. As for the
employment of the artillery the General
Directions assigned great importance to the artillery duel that was the
initial phase of the combat: infantry started to advance only when the
hostile artillery had been destroyed or suppressed. This rule was a legacy of
the old European artillery regulations, adopted when the artillery was
usually placed into the open; with the new quick firing guns deployed in
covered positions the artillery duel could not get good effects. The Instructions for the employment of the
field quick-firing artillery in combat, published the same year,
corrected this point, stating that duels between concealed artillery
batteries were almost useless, and that guns were better employed supporting
friendly infantry. Command. With the expression
“direction of the troops” the text meant the entire action of the commander
and of the general staff for the accomplishment of the task assigned to the
troops. Its basic principle was the “will of one man”, the commander, to
reach the full agreement in the action of every member of the chain of
command in order to achieve the common objective. The subordinates had only
to obey to the order taken previously without any discrepancy. Nevertheless
they should be also enterprising, especially when it was not easy for the
high commander to give orders, or when he fixed only the general objective
and the means to achieve it, while the ways were left to the initiative of the
subordinates (“delegated direction”). Lastly it was demanded a strict
observance of the directions established in the regulations. The duties of the commander were the following : – during the preliminary
phase of the combat, he examined the information received and decide whether
the fight should be accepted; – during the
preparatory phase, he elaborated the plan of the action, choosing the point
and the direction for the attack and setting the distribution of the troops,
and issued orders and directives; – when he
thought that the preparation had been fully developed, he gave the signal for
the decisive attack. The task of collect the data required to evaluate
accurately the situation was assigned to the chief of the staff. The
information were collected from the general command, the reconnaissance, the
military formations, the observatory posts, the local residents, the
prisoners, the deserters, the foreign press etc. General rules. The Army was regarded as
the strategic force and was charged to fulfil the main tasks of the war that
could be closed after one or two general battles or operations. Its aim was
to inflict the most decisive defeat to the enemy. The offensive started from
distant starting point, the troops being deployed during the approaching
march, and the military operations began without having occupied the starting
positions. The strategic deployment of the Army should be carried out under
the cover of troops placed near the border, called advance guard or covering
units. A key role during the march and the reconnaissance was assigned to the
cavalry. The military
operation included the following phases : – the
approaching march; – the
preliminary actions of the independent cavalry division and of the advance
guards; – the deployment
of the troops; – the fight with
the main body of the Army. The basic methods to defeat the enemy were the
frontal attack, the encirclement and the flank attack. At first the frontal
attack should be avoided since it caused heavy losses and, even if it was
successful, its effect was not decisive. Nevertheless an attempt to envelop
both the flanks of the defender could be made only having a great moral and
numerical superiority on the enemy. The battle consisted of four distinct phases : – the
preliminary phase, composed of the initial contact and the actions of the
advance guards; – the artillery
duel, aimed to annihilate the hostile artillery; – the
preparation of the attack, where infantry massed and occupy the preparatory
positions; – the decisive
attack and, if it was successful, the pursuit of the enemy. The march. In broken mountainous
country inhabited by a sympathetic population, like When it was
marching in a single column from one to three day march from the enemy, an
army corps should be deployed as follows. The first line transport
(военна обоз)
followed immediately behind the unit to which it belonged; the regimental
supply train was joined to the corps baggage train, forming the first portion
of the corps transport
(административна обоз),
whereas the second portion was subdivided into 3 echelons : – 1st
echelon : 2 half companies of the divisional infantry ammunition column, 2
half companies of the divisional artillery ammunition column, the first
section of both divisional supply columns and both divisional ambulances; – 2nd
echelon : the remaining 2 half companies of the divisional infantry and artillery
ammunition columns, the second sections of both divisional supply columns and
both divisional field hospitals; – 3rd
echelon : the 3rd and 4th section of both divisional supply columns. When within
one day’s march from the enemy the breadth of front occupied was calculated
at The attack. The attack was the most
decisive way to obtain a victory and should be preferred to the defence that
was regarded as a temporary kind of combat. It was the most cautious way to
get ready and should be adopted only waiting to take the offensive with the
best chances to obtain a decisive victory. At first the
advance guards of both armies, mainly composed by cavalry, came into contact,
strongly supported by their artillery. They should seize and held critical
strongpoint until relieved by the infantry. In order to make more effective
the reconnaissance, the head of the various advancing columns might support
their cavalry not only with some batteries, but also with part of their
infantry. Furthermore they might advance up the first line, in order to watch
the combat personally. While the
troops of the main force was deploying and manoeuvring to approach the enemy
positions, the artillery quickly went ahead, joining its forces with the
artillery of the advance guard, and started the artillery duel with the
enemy. Its aim was to destroy or at least to weaken the fire of the defender
and facilitate the running out and the attack of the infantry. During this phase
of the combat the artillery played the main role and the infantry should give
up the best positions and the best approaches. The initial artillery position
should be 3- The success of
the duel relied on the skill of the head of the artillery, who should seek to
concentrate the greatest number of guns against the fire of the defender,
taking advantage of every accident of the ground to occupy the positions
covertly and rapidly, and to adjust the fire as quickly as possible. The
concentration of the fire should not result from massing a great number of
guns in a single place, but from a correct distribution of the tasks assigned
to all the batteries deployed on battlefront and from a clever direction of
the fire. The power of fire reached the peak only when the attacker moved its
guns to the advanced artillery position, 2-2½ km away from the enemy. When the
artillery of the defender was sufficiently weakened, infantry, always under
the cover of the artillery fire, resumed its advance, adopting a thin
formation and taking advantage of the grounds features. In this phase of the
combat, infantry took again priority over artillery, which should adjust its
fire on the advance of the troops trying to make it easier. When the defender
moved its fire against the advancing troops, the artillery of the attacker
should seek to sweep away all the units that might hamper the advance with
their fire. If it was not able to do it from its present positions, it should
follow the troops, even coming into the range of infantry fire, if necessary. The
preparation of the decisive attack began when infantry came within the
effective zone of rifle fire, at 1000-1200 paces from the enemy. All the
batteries kept in reserve until then went into action and the whole artillery
directed an overwhelming fire at the point chosen for the attack, seeking to
destroy the hostile batteries which were still firing and the infantry units
that might impede the attack. Often the artillery of the defender, being
weaker, stopped its fire during the duel, to save it up for repelling the
decisive attack. The artillery of the attacker should be always ready to
redirect its fire against the artillery of the defender, as soon as it opened
fire again. When the
proper preparation had been made, the heads of the main units suddenly
launched the assault, seeking to carry it as much as possible without
interruption and simultaneously up the last firing line. During this phase of
the combat the artillery of the attacker keep up a strong fire at the points
chosen for the attack, ceasing its fire only to avoid to injury its own
troops. In this case, the fire was moved to the enemy units deployed near or
behind the point of attack. Once the point of attack had been captured, part
of infantry and artillery stopped and strengthened its position, pressing the
enemy only with its fire. During the pursuit the main role was assigned to
the cavalry and only secondarily to the most fresh infantry units and the
lightest and most moving artillery. The defence. The defensive position
had to fulfil specific requisites : – to block the
most probable directions of advance of the enemy; – to assure a
good field of view and a good field of fire; – to have no obstacle
that might hinder the advance of the reserve; – to have such
ground features that made possible to arrange a hard defence and to hide from
the enemy the rear and the concentration of the reserve; – to have an
extension conformed with the troops on hand; – to cover the
flanks; – to facilitate
the direction of the combat and the mutual support. The line on
which the artillery was to fight the decisive action formed the framework of
every defensive position, therefore in deploying the troops, the best places
should be always assigned to the artillery and infantry should line up in
concert with artillery. As far as possible the troops should be placed in
covered positions to protect better themselves from the hostile fire and come
into action suddenly. In order to assure an effective defence both infantry
and artillery should be largely supplied with ammunition from the very
beginning of the combat. Since the
attacker was obliged to bring his forces into action gradually, at first the artillery
of the defender fired at the various units of the enemy as they occupied
their positions. This did not mean that it had to shoot as soon as a target
appeared on the battlefield, since the attacker usually tried to entice the
defender to open fire in order to locate the hostile positions. Therefore it
was advisable that the defender kept its artillery concealed until he
discerned a target worthy of his attention, like unlimbering artillery and
thick columns of infantry or cavalry. Afterwards the
artillery of the defender should act in order to support constantly its
infantry, directing its fire against hostile batteries, whose fire had become
most annoying. If the hostile artillery was very much stronger numerically
and could annihilate the artillery of the defender, it was advisable that the
defender ceased fire temporarily, concealing his artillery, and reopened fire
later to repeal the decisive attack of the enemy. When the hostile troops
were so close that they prevented their artillery from firing, all the
batteries of the defender should come into action and fire to the very end,
taking no care of losing their guns. During the decisive attack all the
batteries should leave the secondary targets and concentrate their fire upon
the assaulting infantry. |