Night attack formation refers to the arrangement of
soldiers
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
in advancing in attack at night. With the advances in arms that led to
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
, daytime attacks across open ground toward defensive positions became prohibitive and often futile. Night attacks may have the advantage of maintaining an element of surprise and reducing the ability of defenders to target their fire, but pose difficulties for the attacking forces. Necessities of maintaining contact from advancing groups with groups to the side and rear, maintaining protection versus the possibility of counter-attacks, maintaining order so that sufficiently many troops are in position to obtain a sustainable breach in defenses, and so on, are all more difficult at night. It may be necessary to detail more soldiers to
scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
and
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
roles.
See also
*
Close order formation
A close order formation is a military tactical formation in which soldiers are close together and regularly arranged for the tactical concentration of force. It was used by heavy infantry in ancient warfare, as the basis for shield wall and phal ...
External links
*http://www.russojapanesewar.com/lesser-3.html
*"Notes upon Company and Battalion Tactics and the Employment of Artillery in Battle", 1907, by A. Degtarev, translated from Russian by anon., edited by Jeffrey Leser (see esp. its section 6, "Infantry in the Attack by Night").
Assault tactics
Tactical formations
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