Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
The Attack in Trench Warfare
Impressions and Reflections of a Company Commander
INTRODUCTION.
It is probable that no book on any military topic publishedsince the outbreak of the present war has excited an interest andcomment in European military circles equal to that produced bythe publication of Captain Laffargue’s Etude sur l’attaque dans lapériode actuelle de la guerre. It is, in fact, the first publicationfrom the pen of a military man dealing with the general anddetailed aspects of the tactics of the attack in trench warfare thathas come to our attention.
The methods of training of infantry units for this class ofwarfare and the degree of careful preparation necessary for theattainment of any measure of success are among the mostimportant features of Captain Laffargue’s study. The comparisonwhich he makes between the conduct in battle oftwo regiments of very different quality, brings out very clearlythe difference between real infantry and the cannon-foddervariety which is too often considered adequate for war purposes.
The fact that this study was so highly thought of by GeneralJoffre that he caused it to be published to the French Army beforeit was given out for general publication, speaks for its excellencemore eloquently than any commendation which could otherwisebe bestowed upon it.
I.
Character of the Present Attack.
The attack at the present period has become one of siegewarfare. We must accept it as it is, study it, tax our witsto find special means to prepare effectively for it and toorient the instruction of troops entirely with this in view.
The attack on all points of our front consists in breaking throughseveral lines of defense upon a depth of about three kilometresand in preventing the