This is from a manual published on October 24, 1906.
Observing the recent war (Russo-Japanese), they noticed everyone was digging trenches to fight.
The point of a trench is to fire while staying protected from enemy shots.
Trenches reduce casualties and allow an inferior force to defend against a superior one.
So, trenches help follow the principle of conserving manpower.
Trench digging is split into 'Light Field Fortification' and 'Heavy Field Fortification.'
Infantry usually does the former, while only engineers can do the latter.
During an attack, if you have to stop and defend (whether you want to or not), that's when you dig.
You dig then to boost your staying power.
Infantry often has to prep for defense while advancing; you gotta dig then too.
This is to stop enemy counterattacks and resume the advance later.
Decide how to dig based on the combat situation, stop time, gear on hand, terrain, fatigue, and enemy harassment.
Vanguards need to dig to hold onto key terrain they've seized.
It might just be connecting irregular terrain or building a systematic defense system, depending on how long the vanguard is isolated.
Once the advance to contact is over, you'll use the terrain for cover while moving, and there are plenty of chances to dig then.
Clear paths, make temporary crossings over ditches and streams, and improve the terrain to block enemy sight and fire as you move.
When the real fighting starts, you'll use terrain for cover, shooting, stopping, and moving, but natural cover usually won't hide you well or might even block your shots.
So, just start shoveling.
Start with individual foxholes, and if you're stuck for a while, connect them into a full trench line.
The trenches you dig now will be useful if you have to retreat later, so remember where they are.
Even when charging, use the terrain for movement and cover. If there are obstacles in the way, get engineer support to clear them if possible.
Once the charge and pursuit are done, it's time to defend, so dig in.
When defending, build a trench network, not just a single trench.
Incorporate villages, woods, and farms into the network.
Especially if the flanks are open, build strong trenches there.
Don't just dig; set up obstacles like fences or barbed wire.
Make sure you can cover the obstacles with fire so the enemy can't clear them.
The basic tactic for defending with a trench network is 'retreat then counter-attack.'
So, build shelters for counter-attack units in the rear and fallback positions to make retreating easy.
If there's a spot near the network that needs holding, send a detachment.
Those spots are usually villages, farms, or woods, so building trenches and defending will be easy.
Of course, make sure those guys have a guaranteed way to retreat.
When prepping for a defensive battle, do things in this order:
Clear the line of sight and measure distances.
Set up cover.
Fix up communication trenches.
Finish up with obstacles on movement routes.
Every individual should follow these principles:
Use everything available—gear, dirt, sand, wood, stones—to hide your body.
Modify natural terrain features as little as possible to save labor.
Stick as close to the cover as possible while fighting.
Shooting posture depends on cover height, but for comfort and minimal exposure, the best are sitting diagonally or with one knee on a step.
Refer to the following diagrams.
Basically details on using wood bundles, digging, piling stones/dirt for parapets, specific heights/intervals in cm, shooting stances, where to put gear/rifles, and 2-man teams (1 digs, 1 shoots).
When turning road cuts or ditches into trenches, make them tiered immediately.
Water-filled ditches, canals, and streams are great natural obstacles; build trenches behind them.
If there's a fence, dig behind it and pile dirt against it to make a good parapet.
When building in the woods, leave the outer edge untouched so the enemy can't see inside.
But you need a line of sight, so do some pruning.
You need communication trenches in the rear, so clear out the brush and shrubs.
The materials you get from that are great for camouflaging the parapets.
If you can't dig deep because of roots, just pile the dirt higher.
It's impossible to cover a whole forest with shooting positions, so use obstacles to funnel the enemy into your kill zones.
When using felled trees as obstacles, huge ones take too long to cut down, so they're not great.
Don't fully sever the trunk so the tree can't be dragged away, point the branches toward the enemy, and if there's time, wrap them in wire so they can't squeeze through.
When digging behind a wall, if it's low, build a shooting step like this.
If the wall is high, build an improvised platform like this.
If you lack materials, shave down the top of the wall or punch out loopholes.
Iron fences are usually low, so when digging behind them, do it like this.
When setting up a strongpoint, consider the commander's layout, dispersion, and each unit's role.
In this case, infantry does light fortification and engineers do heavy fortification.
Heavy fortification involves stuff needing expert knowledge, like demolition.
If you're short on supplies, get them from the engineer depot.
Infantry doesn't hand over command to engineers, but infantry officers should take direction and guidance from engineer officers.
Consider these before starting work:
1. Determine detailed work plans. 2. Distribute tools. 3. Move units to assigned spots.
Step 1 is done by the commander responsible for the defense after scouting personally.
The engineer commander should tag along for the scout.
If time is tight, bring runners so you can scout and start work simultaneously.
As soon as the layout is fixed, officers in each sector need to figure out what's needed.
Decide on the trench shape and floor structure, and make sure the enemy doesn't see you moving to work.
Make sure soldiers get used to shoveling through training.
They should be able to do light fortification in any situation they might face during prep or actual combat.
Trenches must allow clear observation of the front, be easy to move out of, provide the best possible protection from projectiles, be comfortable for shooting, and be suitable for resting.
Teach soldiers the value and use of trenches, plus how to modify and maintain them.
Train in various terrains.
Teach them that you need at least 80cm of dirt to stop a bullet.
Teach them that you need a tree at least as thick as a human torso to stop a bullet.
There's data on bullet penetration for different materials, so go read that.
Once theory is done, get every soldier proficient through practice.
After teaching them how to improve cover, make them move to the next spot and repeat the process.
The way to move to the next cover is in the 'Individual Combat' chapter of the Infantry Tactics Manual, so read that.
Instructors should check if soldiers made smart cover and are using it right; if not, fix their mistakes.
In the next training, teach how to modify cover that blocks sight but not bullets.
This includes fences, stone piles, small fallen trees, low banks/ditches, harvested crops, tall crops, and bushes.
Instructors should teach that shoveling needs to start from a prone or crouched position.
Next, teach how to make cover in terrain with absolutely no natural cover.
In this terrain, 2-man teams are best: one shoots while the other digs, repeating from a prone position.
There's no single 'best' way, so just remember to minimize exposure and build a reliable shield in the shortest time.
Finally, practice advancing or retreating while fighting the enemy.
The instructor gives orders to move to a nearby spot, soldiers move according to the manual, improve the cover there or build it from scratch, and then fire at targets. Repeat.
To make it interesting, you can use blanks or live ammo.
The final stage is good to do alongside individual combat training, so check the Infantry Tactics Manual.
Unit cohesion doesn't conflict with the creative initiative of the individual needed for digging.
NCOs and engineers must be proficient with explosives.
Long explanation on handling explosives safely (skipping).
Tools are split into 'Portable' and 'Depot' (original text says 'parc').
Portable tools are a constant means of reducing infantry vulnerability in all stages of combat.
Per company: 112 shovels, 32 pickaxes, 12 hatchets, 4 axes, 16 sickles, 4 cutters, 1 saw.
Depot tools allow for larger-scale fortifications like building bunkers or strongpoints.
When planning a trench layout, follow the terrain.
Each section of the trench should be perpendicular to the direction of fire.
Trenches dug for flanking fire must be thoroughly camouflaged so they don't get wrecked by enemy artillery.
The following illustrations explain how trenches evolve in light field fortification.
Start shoveling from a prone position and aim for a trench that looks like this.
Then you can move to the next stage by throwing dirt from A to B.
After that, make a foxhole.
In stage 1 of foxhole making, it reaches a height where you can shoot standing.
In stage 2, the parapet becomes great at blocking bullets and shrapnel.
In stage 3, you secure enough space for a soldier to rest.
The finished product looks like this.
You can adjust the height to fit your own size.
Next, make a space where you can rest your arms.
You can stick closer to the wall and shoot more stably.
If you have time, carve armrests along the whole trench line.
And trenches are better the less the enemy can see them, so camouflage them.
For this, the parapet shouldn't look out of place with the surroundings.
Cover the outer slope of the parapet irregularly with grass or branches.
This also helps hide your head.
Work crew composition depends on soil and tools.
Usually, 4-5 people make a team with 3-4 shovels and 1 pickaxe.
Working space is +75cm per person.
If the soil is soft, use 3-man or 6-man teams.
In the latter, 2 people share one tool and take turns (2 shovels, 1 pickaxe).
If the soil is hard, use 2-man or 4-man teams.
In the latter, 2 people share one tool and take turns (1 shovel, 1 pickaxe).
Total trench length is workers x 75cm.
The time it takes is the same whether you give 1 tool per person or 1 per 2 people.
Don't just dig blindly; mark the lines and turning points first.
Assign sectors from one end of the trench, and workers should start by making a groove to mark the front and side boundaries.
Start by making the parapet, and if necessary, start from a prone position.
As the parapet gets higher and you go deeper into the ground, you can slowly stand up while working.
Final camouflage is pointless if the enemy sees you doing it, so do it from inside the trench with just a few people.
There's a measuring stick for the dimensions you need to follow, but if you don't have one, use these:
Palm width = 10cm
Shovel blade width = 15cm
Shovel blade height = 20cm
Rifle butt to bolt = 40cm
Standard pickaxe blade = 50cm
Rifle butt to rear sight = 60cm
Standard pickaxe handle = 80cm
Total rifle length = 130cm
You don't have to follow the dimensions exactly; just do what fits the situation.
But definitely stick to the parapet thickness.
And don't make the parapet too high if you don't want to get hit by artillery.
To minimize damage if a shell lands in the trench, don't dig long straight sections.
A simple covered shelter made with planks like this can block shrapnel.
If you have to work at night, make the markers before sunset.
Otherwise, you'll make serious mistakes in direction.
Double the spacing so nobody gets hit by someone else's tools.
Working at night means you want a defensive surprise, so don't get caught.
Structure and safety of the 1886 explosives used by the French army at the time, blah blah blah.
Use for clearing paths, removing obstacles, destroying railroads and telegraph poles.
If you don't have time to axe or saw through a tree 30cm+ thick, blow it up with this.
To get through barbed wire, attach a 3-row charge to a stick, shove it in, and blow it.
Follow this for blowing up railroads.
If you don't have explosives, just smash it with tools.
Next is how to cross rivers, including using thick ice as a raft.
Final part is how to make improvised latrines.
Side note: The Infantry Tactics Manual mentioned here was made in 1905 after the French observed the Second Boer War.
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참고로 여기서 언급되는 보병전술교범은 프랑스군이 2차 보어전쟁 관찰하고 1905년에 만든 거임
"Military history buffs are geeking out over France's 'forgotten' era of tactical genius while survivors of the Korean army recall the trauma of digging in rocky soil."
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