In the dark the bullet is a fool unless fired at close quarters. No practicable amount of shooting, even at only a hundred yards distance, will dislodge determined men posted under cover, and a serious attack must be made with the bayonet or by shooting within the distance at which a man may be distinguished—ten yards or so. F.S.R., 138 (2), lays down for the British Army that the bayonet only is to be used in night attacks, and we may assume that any civilized army we may have to meet will pursue similar tactics. Aerial reconnaissance may nowadays allow an enemy to locate the position held by the main body of his opponent, in spite of its being covered by outposts, but such reconnaissance does not admit of any hope of a successful night attack being made on that main body by eluding or passing through the outposts, because the surface of the ground cannot be sufficiently searched from above to discover the small obstacles which must be avoided or known if the advance of a large body of men is to be carried out at night. So we may take it that now, as formerly, any large attack will fall first on the outposts, supposing, as we must, that these are placed so as to hold or watch all possible lines of advance. In addition to this, outposts must expect isolated attacks made against one or two points held by them which the enemy desires to gain possession of. The duties of outposts by night are, then, to hold and defend the outpost line in sufficient strength to prevent any large body of the enemy breaking through, or getting a footing in some tactically important position on the line, and also to prevent the enemy’s scouts from getting through and making observations, and, lastly, but of most importance, to get news of the enemy both as a means of forestalling any attack, and for the use of the force commander in framing his plans. Bringing the matter down to the level of a piquet of an outpost company, it seems to resolve itself into night patrolling and night defence of a position. As before pointed out, enclosed country allows of piquets closing the lines of advance by which large bodies can only hope to move undiscovered, while intervening ground can be searched by patrols. On the other hand, open country leaves the front vulnerable everywhere, and calls for a greater number of piquets and closer patrolling than are needed by day. Of course, elementary instruction in these duties must be carried out by daylight to allow of supervision; so now assemble your platoon of non-commissioned officers and give out that you are going to practise night work. Choose some place for your night piquet, realistic as may be, a bridge, a cutting, or anything else that constitutes a defile or otherwise blocks a likely line of advance from the enemy’s direction. Also choose, and point out to the platoon, positions where the adjoining piquets on the right and left would be. Give out the following instructions to the non-commissioned officers:—