Las Vegas optic., 1914-09-18

IAN advance TO close quarters win,
lc viewer. convince the enemy that all
his firing does not prevent his oppon-
snt from coming to grips with him, and
then danger presents itself to him in
a threatening aspect II, then, a de-
termined rush is made from the last
position, without any intermediate
halt, the enemy already shaken will.
as a general rule, consider himself |
defeated and give way.
THE ever irresistible strength of a
bayonet charge lies in the conviction
forced upon the adversary that a body
of men, which possesses the energy
to force its way through a deadly
shower of projectiles, will, if neces-
sary, certainly display the requisite
energy to finish him off with cold
steel IL the awaits its approach. The
sbuddering fear of death drives him
to fight"
It must not be considered that bay
onet charge is made over long distanc-
es because armies open an engage
ment at that range. Troops move for
ward by short rushes in alternate
units, each resting unit protecting the
advancing one with rifle fire. When
the advancing line has reached a
point from 40 to 400 yards in front Of
| the defense position (what Won der
Goltz calls the last position), bayonets
are fixed and the final rush is made.
Artillery and machine gun fire may be
directed on the defense even until the
attackers are within few yards Of
their object
Even military men came TO the be.
LIEF that the bayonet was obsolete
shortly after the Spanish-American
war. 1t was of small Importance in
that struggle. But the Russo-Japanese
battles taught them their error. II
took "cold steel" to win the fields of
Manchuria, and as long as men retain
their present human qualities, cold
steel" always will be necessary.
In consequence of the necessity of
employing the bayonet to reap the
full effect of previous fire action, con,
siderable attention is now paid in all
armies to making the soldiers profi
cient in its use.
Certain prescribed drills are taught
him to accustom him to the use of
the bayonet Those are augmented by
bayonet fencing and instruction in
what parts of the body man may
be placed hors de combat the quickest
way by bayonet thrust
To the lay mind the use OF tho bay
onet may seem savagery, and the
course of instruction as to its en-
ployment somewhat brutal; but m the
ultimate it is no more barbarous than
any other form of killing. It only
emphasizes the personal equation.
Bayoet tactics are all executed with
the position of guard" as a base.
From that stand the soldier is ready
to defend or attack, whichever may
be necessary. Broadly speaking, he
hns throa oraac of dafa,so H., 49,.
tel and high-from the knee to the
belt, belt to the neck, and the head.
From each of these same areas an
attack may be given toward any of
the three areas of an opponent, al
though an attack from high usually
is delivered to high" and so on.
In the thrust a soldier is taught to
twist his rifle when it is slung for
ward. Without the twist a successful
thrust might cause the bayonet to
stick in bone. Then, before the
bayonet could be withdrawn, the en-
envy might deliver counter thrust,
or finish off his opponent with a pis-
tol shot or other means. "The twist
as drill sergeant once remarked to
a recruit, "busts his blamed bone, and
let's your sticker come back for an
other poke"
AS only the point of bayonet is
sharp, its use is mostly in the thrust.
Some soldiers, however, keep an edge
back an inch from the point on either
side of the blade With that edge an
Irritating wound can often be deliver
ed on the recovery from an unsuc-
cessful thrust.
BY the same method, when thrust
at the belt is parried, out and down
an effort can be made to cut the ten.
dons back of the knee OF heel as the
rifle is brought back to guard"