From the book Infantry, consists of such a variety of elements that a high grade intelligence is required in its handling. The leadership of no other arm needs more skill and care. Its chief element is men; and to lead them and control them in offensive combat is not a science concerned mainly with mechanical precision and accurate data. It is instead an art, which deals not only with how the infantrymen • res his weapons, but how he uses their • re in conjunction with the ground on which he • ghts, It has been said wisely that the tactics of infantry is based “on nature and human nature not on mechanics or geometrical perfection”. The infantry attack is accordingly founded upon a • ghting spirit. It requires a stout aggressiveness as well as full measure of skill in suing • re, ground, and movement. The spirit of the offensive—a full determination to advance at every opportunity—must be inculcated in every individual. For it is this that heartens infantry to bear heavy losses and yet close grips with an enemy. . . .

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