tial.

THE OUTPOST COMPANY.--The Outpost Company is the Outpost infantry unit,
the company commander providing Piquets, Supports, and Detached Posts
as required. Upon receiving his orders the commander will move his
command, with due precautions against {135} surprise, to the allotted
ground where the men will be halted under cover. Before proceeding to
the part of the line assigned to him the commander of the Outpost
company will detail a force to precede his advance and cover his
operations, and the force so pushed forward will not be withdrawn until
his Piquets have entrenched themselves. By the map he can decide the
number of Piquets he will require, in accordance with the number of
roads to be watched, the facilities for resistance, and the
requirements for patrolling. The extent of frontage allotted to an
Outpost company depends upon the number of avenues of approach (roads
and tracks, and open, unfenced country) to be watched, and under
ordinary circumstances a frontage up to 1,500 or 2,000 yards may be
allotted to a company with 4 platoons at fighting strength. Each
Piquet should consist of a complete unit and should be posted on a good
defensive position. The Support (or Supports, if more than one is
detailed for the company frontage) should also be composed of a
complete unit, and should generally be posted 400 to 800 yards in rear
of the Piquets, with good lines of approach to each. _Detached Posts_
may be required, to watch an extreme flank, or to occupy a position in
front of the Sentry line, where the enemy might otherwise collect
unseen for the attack or initiate steps for hostile reconnaissance. A
further use is to deal with traffic through the line, where a main road
has no Piquet upon it. The Outpost company commander must inform his
Piquet commander, and his immediate superior, of his position, as all
reports received by the Piquets require to be sent to him, and his
superior commander will need to keep in communication with him at all
times. The first duty of a Piquet commander (who is almost invariably
a Platoon commander) is to consolidate his position by entrenchment and
by all available means, and to prepare a range card, so that the enemy
may not approach without heavy loss; and if the Piquet has a Support
ordered to reinforce it in case {136} of attack, the entrenchments must
be constructed to accommodate the supporting troops (including the
Sentry Groups thrown out, if these have bee