(_y_) Platoons should be in rear of positions you plan to have them occupy and on natural lines of advance.
The action taken by Major X and the orders actually issued by him.
(Note.—The Machine Gun Company is organized and equipped in accordance with Table of Organization 29-W. See Appendix I.)
The members of the class are assembled at _s_, the point where Major X receives the messages from his assault companies.
_The Director_: “Before taking up the problem for solution, I wish to make a few remarks upon the employment of a machine gun company with an assault battalion.”
_The Director_: “The following, in general terms, are the principal tasks of the machine guns on the offensive:
“(1) To cover the deployment of the infantry and its advance to the first firing position.
“(2) To support the attack of the infantry.
“(3) To support the infantry in continuing the attack or taking up the pursuit after the enemy’s main position has been captured.
“(4) To assist in the consolidation of the position whenever the limit of the advance is reached or the infantry is brought to a standstill.
“During the combat the function of the machine guns is to assist constantly the advance of the infantry by fire power. The use of machine guns only at decisive points in the fight is not sufficient. They must be so used as to exert a continuous influence from the beginning to the end of the fight. They can act by fire alone and cannot be used as assault troops.
“Every assaulting infantry battalion habitually retains and employs its machine gun company. The machine gun company almost invariably acts under the direct orders of the battalion commander. Only in very exceptional cases will the company act under the orders of the regimental machine gun officer after H hour, although he frequently will prescribe tasks for it during the barrage prior to H hour.
“The following are suitable tasks for a machine gun company of an assault battalion:
“(4) To assist in consolidating the captured ground.
“_Orders._—The orders of Major X for the use of the machine guns should be clear and concise and should assign definite tasks to them. The orders, prior to attack, should assign the machine guns a definite place in the formation and should give them the mission of supporting the infantry by fire. The control of the machine guns should be exercised, as far as possible, through the commanding officer of the machine gun company. Platoons should be assigned to support rifle companies, but should not be placed under the command of rifle company commanders without there are exceptional reasons for so ordering.
