accuracy of fire depend upon several considerations: (a)
Of primary importance is the number of rifles employed. Let us imagine a
battle-line one mile long. It is obvious that we cannot have one man
firing behind another. We don't want to destroy our own men. They must,
therefore, be placed side by side. Each man must have sufficient room to
operate his rifle. Experience tells us that we must not have more than
one man per yard. We thus see that our battle-line of a mile can only
have about eighteen hundred rifles. (b) The rate of fire affects its
volume; an excessive rate reduces its accuracy. If you were hunting
tigers, you can easily imagine where one well-aimed and well-timed shot
could be of more use to you and more harm to the tiger than half a dozen
shots fired too rapidly. (c) If the target is large, is clear (can be
easily seen), and is but a short distance from you, your fire, for
reasons that do not require explanations, can be more rapid. Greater
density increases the effect. Suppose a hundred deer were grazing on a
hill; you would be more likely to kill some deer than if only a half
dozen were there. (d) The position of the target influences the effect
of fire. Suppose that ten men were lined up in a row against a wall and
that it is your business to kill the lot with a rifle. If you are in
front of them, ten shots at least will be required. But it is possible
for you to take a position in prolongation of the line (on its flank)
and kill the entire number with one bullet. (This also illustrates the
extreme vulnerability of flanks.)

What are the important steps that must be taken if you are going to get
this fire superiority? 1st, Fire Direction. 2d, Fire Control. 3d, Fire
Discipline.

FIRE DIRECTION

A company that cannot start firing or stop firing, that cannot fire
faster or slower, that cannot distribute equally its fire over an
opposing target, that cannot switch its fire from one place to another
and make bull's-eyes, would be as unsuccessful in battle to-day as
Harvard's football team would be, without practice, in its final game
with Yale. The team work in no department of athletics is as necessary
or vital as that of a military force, the teamwork of a military
machine. The first is a sport, a limited time being involved. The second
is a question of life and death to the nation.

It requires a nice and cool judgment, under actual conditions of war, to
point out and distribute properly the