The Basis of Future Operations
little depth, a new system was devised, which, by distribution in depth and the adoption of a loose formation, enabled a more active defence to be maintained. It was of course intended that the position should remain in our hands at the end of the battle, but the infantryman need no longer say to himself: " Here I must stand or fall/' but had, on the contrary, the right, within certain limits, to retire in any direction before strong enemy fire. Any part of the line that was lost was to be recovered by counterattack. The group, on the importance of which many intelligent officers had insisted before the war, now became officially the tactical unit of the infantry. The position of the N.C.O. as group leader thus became much more important. Tactics became more and more individualized. Having regard to the ever more scanty training of our officers, N.C.O.'s and men, and the consequent falling-off in discipline, it was a risky business, of the success of which many eminent soldiers were sceptical, to make even greater demands on the subordinate leaders and the individual soldier.
The controversy raged furiously in my Staff; I myself had to intervene to advocate the new tactics. The new pamphlet embodied all the lessons we had learnt in the Somme battles, both as to the employment of artillery and aircraft and as to the * co-operation of the various arms. It became a standard textbook for the whole army, and for the armies of our allies, so far as conditions with them permitted. Without this last limitation the booklet was dangerous, for it made demands on the men which could only be fulfilled by troops which, if no longer trained to perfection, were at any rate animated by a spirit of self-sacrifice and true discipline.
This " Defensive Battle" booklet was completed by the " Manual for the Training of Infantry in War," which was drawn up by the Army Headquarters of General Fritz von Below. This document demonstrates that eminent general's thorough grasp of the character of our infantry. My Staff compiled a large number of other manuals on special arms and field fortifica tions. The training manual for the artillery was not completed in the course of the winter, but its main points were contained in '* The Defensive Battle/' It had become clear in the course of
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