66 
Field fortification. 
can prepare and bring to site the posts and brushwood during the first 
two hours while the trench is being got out; and the whole party can 
complete the work during the remaining two hours. 
Fig. 2. 
Where sufficient materials are not easily procurable for covering the 
whole of the trench, small portions can be covered in at intervals, and 
the men crowded into them when necessary. See Fig. 3. 
Fig. 3. 
Conditions of ground, rock or marsh, may make it impossible to exca¬ 
vate to so great a depth as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or the uneven 
nature of the site may render it impossible for the soldier to see 
properly to his front unless he is raised higher above the ground than 
these trenches allow : it must be remembered that the soldier is apt to 
be uneasy unless he can see what his enemy is doing. This is what 
constitutes the moral effect of a flank attack : the fear caused by a 
danger that cannot be seen or appreciated. The importance of care¬ 
fully selecting the proper sites for shooting trenches has already been 
referred to, and I would add that only careful observation will teach 
how small an undulation or irregularity of ground, scarcely noticeable 
when standing, will screen from view when the eye is only 18 inches 
above the ground. In such cases breastworks must be constructed 
instead of shooting trenches. See fig. 4 for a simple type, covered 
Fig. 4. 
