If adjoining bodies of the outposts are able to deliver an attack simultaneously against both the front and flanks of the enemy, it will probably be successful, as troops are quite as sensitive to flank attacks at night as in the day. In defence, as in attack, it is imperative that a portion of the force should be held in reserve as long as possible. CHAPTER V. MISCELLANEOUS. _Training and Employment of Scouts._ The selection and training of Scouts for work in the dark cannot be too seriously undertaken, since the success or failure of a night operation depends in a great measure on their efficiency. They must be men of good constitution, active, able to bear great fatigue, and to sleep at any hour of the day or night; they must also have acute powers of vision and hearing, be able to make a rough map, to find their way by the compass and the stars, and be absolutely without “nerves.” They should be thoroughly well acquainted with the appearance of the moon in all its phases, and have a knowledge of the rate of its movement, so that they can at any time form an estimate of the time the moonlight will last. They must be capable of moving across country in line with considerable intervals between them, and of consistently maintaining the direction of their line of advance. Each scout should carry a luminous compass and a piece of card, covered with luminous paint, for use under a tracing of the map. If possible, they should be supplied with rubber soles to their boots or, at any rate, the heel pads, which are to be found in most shops. No scout can be considered efficient if he cannot pass through any ordinary outpost line at night whenever he pleases; if he is really well trained, nothing short of a continuous chain of sentries can keep him out. This power of traversing the lines at will affords great opportunities not only of obtaining information, but also of harassing the enemy’s outposts. Two or three small parties of well-trained men can keep a whole section of an outpost line in such a state of nervous tension that sleep will be impossible, and the resulting fatigue will greatly diminish the efficiency of the troops composing it during the next day. In night attacks selected men should be employed to surprise and disable the sentry groups on the line of advance. They should attack the groups from the rear, and the best weapon for them to use is an ordinary life preserver, well weighted and covered with rubber, or a small leather bag filled with sand and securely fastened to the end of a short stick. A blow on the side of the head from either of these makes very little noise, and, as the injury caused by them is not necessarily fatal, they can be used with less compunction against an unsuspecting man than more lethal weapons.