72

70

So much for changes of formation.

As regards changes of direction, we all know they are more easi-
ly made by a single column than by any wider front.

Changes of direction are of two kinds, the (direction of) front
may be changes and the body move directly to the new front, which
is more or less a wheel; or the front being kept the same, the
different ships may move together in the new direction which is an
oblique. If you wish, for example, to move toward a point 45o from
the perpendicular to your right flank, you may form a new line,
or you may oblique.

The change of direction of a single column is the simplest and
easiest manoeuvre in tactics; as you increase the front, the diffi-
culty inccreases, and when you reach a long line, the manoeuvre is
perhaps the most difficult for either a battalion or a fleet to
make.

As regards a change of direction by an oblique movement, if it
be not too long continued we may assume that it can be made with-
out difficulty.

In order to decide whether a change of front by a wheel is ne-
cessary or safe when two fleets are rapidly nearing each other in
line, we will have to consider as briefly as may be, what kinds of
attack aiming at concentration can be made, and how such attacks
can be met. In other words what kind of changes of formation will
take place, and how extensive they will be. (The discussion aims