DEFENCE OF A COAST FORTRESS. 
31 
Owing to the great speed of torpedo boats there is no time for 
inquiry. The artillery must ruthlessly sink everything they see of the 
nature of a torpedo boat, unless previously warned that it is friendly. 
Therefore these guns must have rapid and good communication with a 
Section Commander. The warning must not be delayed. 
Some good shelter for men working these guns must be provided. 
They must always be on the alert. An active attacker will endeavour 
by constant night alarms to wear out the garrison. After many false 
attacks a real torpedo attack will be pressed home. Therefore it is of 
vital importance to keep the men fresh and ready. 
So rapid has to be the action of these guns that I believe their 
Group Commanders must be given a free hand. 
Booms and obstructions calculated to delay torpedo attacks are good, 
and these should probably be laid out nightly by somebody connected 
with the quick-firing and case gun defence, or misunderstandings will 
ensue. 
All quick-firing guns for fortress defence should use cordite. 
(6).—Rifles. 
The defence against landing raids, whether intended to be pushed Defence 
home to the guns or merely as a diversion, is by far the best when b^iand™ 3 
entrusted to infantry. But in most of our sea fortresses regular in¬ 
fantry will be conspicuous by their absence, and the gunners will have 
to depend for their existence largely on irregular levies. I hold 
personally that garrison gunners should be taught to shoot accurately 
with small-arms up to, say, 200 yards. They could then stand a chance 
of repelling a close assault on their batteries, but much more than this 
is wanted. 
Infantry outposts should observe all the immediate coast line of a 
fortress, and each outpost should be in telegraphic communication 
with the Section Commander, who must have a sufficient reserve to 
repel attack and the means, such as a tramway, of despatching it 
rapidly to any outpost threatened. Nevertheless, in fogs landing 
parties may slip through and up to the batteries, though probably not 
in great numbers. 
By keeping a reserve well in hand a Section Commander will pre¬ 
vent his infantry becoming wearied and careless from repeated alarms. 
Good and intelligent as volunteer troops may be and are, they are 
never as amenable to discipline as regular troops, and would break 
down sooner under the stress of false attack. Panics are the bane of 
irregular troops. 
It is most essential that when landing attack is in progress gunners 
should not be diverted from their guns. This is just the time when 
they may be called on to use them, and they must have confidence in 
their covering force. 
(7).—More or Less Permanent Defences. 
As protection against landing attack these would be erected from 
time to time, as occasion required, as an assistance to the infantry of 
the fortress, but I think it a mistake to put up expensive fortifications 
