The officer commanding the machine guns of the Division should remain with the G.O.C., and must be perfectly acquainted with his plans and intentions. As a rule fire will not be opened in the first instance except by his order. Officers commanding batteries must be where they can best direct their fire and at the same time be in signalling communication with their Chief. Ranges will be taken from the “position of observation,” but should the guns have to gallop to a fresh position and fire at once, the opportunity for using combined sights by the battery if the range be unknown and the time limited should not be neglected. Rising ground is very important at this stage, for it enables fire to be maintained until just before the collision. Should the ground permit of the machine-gun batteries approaching the enemy unseen, and enable them to reserve their fire from a concealed position until the closed bodies of the enemy’s squadrons come within effective range, the result should be so decisive as to render the attack of the Division successful, even against greatly superior numbers. The machine guns should render the envelopment of a flank by a superior force impossible, and their great mobility will enable them to meet easily any movement of this kind. They should avoid the enemy’s artillery, which alone can put them out of action, but they must boldly engage it within effective ranges should it open fire on the cavalry. The defeat of the independent cavalry alone will be of little value, and it will be necessary to ensure their complete destruction to enable the exact situation of the enemy’s forces to be discovered. A close and relentless pursuit is therefore imperative, and it must be remembered that machine guns with cavalry are far more effective in the pursuit than cavalry alone, because they move with the same speed; but whereas cavalry can only use the sword or lance against others similarly armed and capable of defending themselves, and both men and horses are equally subject to exhaustion, the machine guns on overtaking the enemy are able to shoot down men and horses without any more effort than is needed to set up the guns and work the elevating and traversing gear. The exhaustion of men and horses has no effect upon the accuracy or intensity of the fire, while the result is further to scatter and disperse bodies that may still retain any cohesion. IN THE PURSUIT