As to the methods of holding the trench against an infantry attack, it will be evident that the men must take up their position on the firing step and fire as rapidly and as steadily as they can. Bombs should be kept and thrown only when the enemy has got well within range for them. Machine guns can do effective work of course and the artillery should be communicated with and they will open fire with shrapnel. Where ammunition permits, a barrage or curtain of fire should then be established behind the enemy's front line to prevent him bringing up reserves to take the place of those that have fallen, and also to weaken him for the time when a counter attack on him has to be made. Star shells, that illuminate the ground, will of course have been fired to give the machine gunners and the rifle marksmen a better chance to find their targets. Obedience, steadiness and tenacity are required of the men, and only training and experience will develop these excellent soldierly qualities. The poor type of soldier will either forget to use his weapon altogether or else fire wildly and uselessly. An infantry attack is not a pleasant experience, but soldiers must be taught to expect it, and that it will probably give them the opportunity of using the final and greatest weapon of the infantryman--the bayonet. CHAPTER XI THE ATTACK--OFFENCE Trenches can only be considered as devices for affording temporary protection during the time that preparations are being made for delivering an attack. No one wants to remain in trenches for ever. At the best it is a miserable kind of life, and from a military point of view, it gets nowhere. Nor is it capable of being maintained without great loss in men. So costly did it become to us, and so great was the monotony and the feeling of helplessness, that we welcomed the word when it came to us to deliver an attack. At least that would bring us action, and give a variety to life. During the first year of the war, attacks had almost always to be made without sufficient artillery preparation. Even at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, where we assembled over 480 guns on a little more than a mile of front--a greater collection than had ever been got together in history--we had not sufficient artillery preparation for the attack that was to be made. There were enough guns but not enough shells to fire from them. The result was that much of the enemy's wire was still intact when the infantry rushed over, and the advance was held up in certain important points where we could be enfiladed.