=17. Short Bursts of Fire.=--(i) The effect of surprise by a sudden burst of accurate fire from an unexpected quarter is very great. Short bursts of rapid fire, followed by pauses, favour observation of results, and give time for the adjustment of sights. They also facilitate the control of fire in critical situations. (ii) The duration of such bursts must be strictly controlled, and limited to the requirements of the occasion, for if rapid-fire is continued for any length of time, it excites and exhausts the troops, and leads to waste of ammunition. In order to insure control and facilitate the passing of orders, the number of rounds to be fired may be named, as, for instance, _ten rounds fire, or rapid fire_. =18. Surprise.=--A sudden effective fire is known to have a particularly demoralizing effect on the enemy; it is often advantageous, therefore, to seek for surprise effects of this sort by temporarily withholding fire. =19. Unsteady Firing.=--Wild, unsteady fire causes little or no loss, and tends to encourage the enemy by inducing a belief in his mind that his opponent is shaken. It is therefore worse than useless against good troops. _If firing tends to become wild, it should be stopped, and only resumed under strict control and detailed orders._ Section =45=.--Description and Recognition of Targets. =1. Importance of Good Description.=--(i) Owing to the difficulty of discerning service targets beyond close range with the naked eye, collective fire cannot be effective unless the objective is described by the fire-unit commander in such a way that every individual of his unit can immediately recognize the target or point of aim indicated, and unless men are also trained to recognize targets and to bring fire to bear upon them immediately they are indicated. These three conditions--good indication of targets, immediate recognition of targets, and instant opening of accurate fire--are essential if full effect is to be obtained from fire, especially when directed at fleeting targets, such as troops in movement. (ii) Bad description of targets or delay in opening fire due to this or other causes will lead to loss of fire effect, which may prove disastrous in critical phases of action. For example, bad description at the best will result in recognition of the target by some instead of all the men in an unit, as well as in delay in opening fire, which in the case of fleeting targets will render fire partly or wholly ineffective. Bad description may result in part or the whole of an unit mistaking another aiming-point near it for the target described, with total loss of fire effect due to firing at the wrong target. It may result in part or the whole of an unit becoming confused and not firing at all. It is clear, therefore, that good description and quick recognition of targets is essential for fire effect at longer ranges, and that these duties form a vitally important part of the training of fire-unit commanders and men.