2. Local counter-attacks are delivered on the initiative of the officers in charge of sections of the defensive line. They should seldom be carried far in advance of the entrenchments; and directly the enemy’s firing-line falls back, the troops should be reformed as rapidly as possible. 4. Local counter-attacks should also be delivered when the enemy advances to the assault. Bayonets will be fixed when his line arrives within a few hundred yards of the position, every available man brought up into the firing-line, and the charge met with rapid fire, and if that fails to stop him, with a counter-charge. In this counter-charge, which should be practised at all manœuvres, the men will cheer, bugles be sounded, and pipes played. =168.= _Decisive Counter-attack._ 1. The decisive counter-attack will be delivered by the general reserve, it will usually be directed against the enemy’s flanks, and in such a manner as to threaten his line of retreat, although opportunities for breaking the centre may sometimes occur. The counter-attack should come, if possible, in the form of a surprise, and should be carried through with the utmost vigour and resolution; all ranks should understand that they must press forward until the last reserve has been thrown in. 2. To judge the right time for the decisive counter-attack is as difficult as it is important. The most favourable moment is when the enemy has expended his reserves in endeavouring to storm the entrenchments. If, however, the defending force is carefully concealed, or if the enemy is led to believe that the front is much longer than it really is, he may commit mistakes such as exposing a portion of his force without hope of support from the remainder, extending his front so far that the greater part of his force is in the firing-line, exposing his flanks, or posting his reserves in the wrong place; and these mistakes, all of which are favourable to the counter-attack, may occur at any period of the engagement--. It is important, therefore, that the course of the action should be closely watched, that the staff should make arrangements for incessant patrolling, constant observation, and the rapid transmission of reports, and that the general reserve should be prepared for immediate action throughout the fight. 3. When launched to the attack the firing-line, as a rule, should be thicker than at the commencement of an ordinary attack, and it is unnecessary that it should be preceded, though it must always be flanked, by scouts. A portion of the force should be echeloned in rear, in order to deal with the enemy’s reserves. 4. The formation in which the general reserve will carry out the counter-attack cannot be laid down; but care should be taken that the troops composing it are formed up in such a manner as to be able to advance and come into action in any direction with the least possible delay.