Instead of laying down rules to cover all cases, the German Drill Regulations leave the leader free to dispose of his troops according to the purpose of the combat and the nature of the ground. In this he is assisted by the initiative and independent action of his subordinate leaders. Normal formations for attack and defense are requisite however, in armies in which the tactical training of commanders and subordinate leaders is deficient and where it is feared that the latter will abuse the latitude allowed them. Where such normal formations are prescribed, it is assumed that hard and fast rules are requisite for training; that the average officer cannot be expected to estimate a situation correctly and arrive at proper decisions; and that the majority of them must be given definite rules for combat if they are to render any service at all. Drill regulations should facilitate quick mutual understanding between leader and organization and lay down general principles for ordinary situations, for combat tasks, and for formations, but should not, by their rules, direct the actions of a leader from the very beginning into definite grooves. If the regulations contain a normal procedure, there is danger that it will be employed where inappropriate, and that the mental alertness of the leaders will relax and fail in war at the very moment when its presence is most vitally necessary.[207] [207] “Leaders who have been trained only in the mechanical part of drill and who subsequently have to act independently, fare like the lame man deprived of his crutches, or the near-sighted man deprived of his spectacles.” VON SEIDLITZ. “Tactics will always vary according to the nature of the ground, therefore it is impossible to tell beforehand what might happen in each particular case.” (FREDERICK THE GREAT). Whether or not a particular normal procedure is appropriate does not depend upon the terrain but solely upon the tactical situation.[208] [208] It is only in cases where precisely identical situations may be presumed to exist that there can be any question of a normal procedure. The last stages of the infantry attack in fortress warfare present features of this nature and on that account a normal procedure has been formulated for it in almost all of the European armies.