There are many circumstances under which a man has to pick out his own target, as, for instance, when the enemy is attacking, and here everything depends upon his individual marksmanship. There are, however, many other occasions in which if 10 per cent. of the effect depends upon whether the men are first-class marksmen or only ordinary decent shots, 90 per cent. will depend upon whether the officer gives fire orders properly adapted to the situation. The above problem is an illustration of this principle. You should notice that in my solution I carefully arranged that the party comprised of Nos. 2 and 3 Platoons should not commence ranging until Nos. 1 and 2 Platoons had finished. Were they to fire simultaneously, confusion in the splashes made by the bullets would be the result. Don’t forget to hand over your range card to your relief. Your affectionate father, “X. Y. Z.” LETTER VI [Illustration] _January 7, 1918._ PROBLEM 5_a_ MY DEAR DICK,-- I will set you another problem. The force to which you belong has made a night march. Your platoon now forms part of a new outpost line. You halted in a ditch at line marked _D_, with a thin hedge on the enemy’s side of it, which gives you good cover from view. Your idea was to use this place as the headquarters of your picket, and as soon as it was thoroughly light to throw groups out in front. Your platoon consists of forty men and a Lewis gun. Soon after dawn and when your men are still in the trench at _D_, you see what you take to be a strong platoon of the enemy advancing straight towards you from the north; a couple of groups of men are fifty yards in front, and the remainder of the platoon is advancing in fours along a country road, which passes close to your position. You see the platoon when it is at _A_ about 1,000 yards off. What action will you take? _Action considered Correct._ There seems to be every chance of your being able to ambuscade this party, and you should let it advance until the groups which the main body has in front of it are within fifty yards of your picquet. You should tell off a few men on the flanks to deal with these groups, and turn the fire of the whole of the rest of your platoon on to the main body. You must be careful to see that all your men lie down, that no one but yourself has his head above ground level, and you must camouflage yourself. The suspense in such a situation as this makes great demands on the men’s discipline, and they are apt to look up and be seen by the enemy, thus destroying all hope of surprise. PROBLEM 5_b_ The situation is exactly the same as in Problem 5_a_, except that instead of a platoon advancing towards you, there is a whole company marching in fours, with four groups 100 yards in front of it. What action would you take? _Action considered Correct._