ements. The perimeter should be divided into
sections garrisoned by complete units under definite commanders. Lines
of defence must also be established in the interior, and lateral
communications opened up through the trees, with easily distinguished
marks to direct troops issuing to counter-attacks, and time will be
saved by making several tracks rather than one wide road. The second
line of defence should contain an all-round defensive position from
which all avenues of approach can be swept by machine and Lewis guns,
and this position should also provide facilities for sorties to
counter-attack. If the wood is too far from the Outpost Zone of the
defence to serve as a factor in the scheme steps must be taken to
neutralise the advantages offered to an attacking force in a concealed
avenue of approach, either by the use of gas, or by bringing such a
fire on the exits from the wood that a debouching enemy may suffer
heavy loss or annihilation. In most cases, an attacking force will be
harassed, and a show of opposition will be made, in such a wood by
_fighting patrols_, and obstacles can be placed in the near edge, with
entanglements outside, so planned as to induce the attacking force to
collect in lanes enfiladed by machine guns.

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THE ATTACK ON VILLAGES.--There are three phases in the attack on a
village as in the attack on a wood. In the fight for the outer edge,
the front will probably be harassed by a fire attack, while one or both
flanks are assaulted by all four sections of the platoon, under cover
of fire from machine guns and Lewis guns.

The second phase may require reorganisation before the attack on the
village itself, during which, reconnaissance, co-operation, and
dispatch of information, are of the highest importance. All captured
points must be immediately consolidated and the attack must be
prosecuted with the utmost vigour. Troops must be trained to enter
buildings from the rear, and to advance along the right edge of roads,
close to the walls and buildings there, to make hostile fire difficult
without undue exposure. Light mortars and rifle bombs, which can be
fired into windows partially barricaded, or to fall behind street
barricades, are an important adjunct to the rifle and bayonet, and
machine guns and Lewis guns will have many opportunities in assisting
or repelling a counter-attack and of keeping down the enemy's fire from
a commanding position at the end of a street. _The T