Platoon (Problem III)

Decision-Forcing Case

This is the third post in a series. If you have not done so already, you will probably want to start at the beginning, with the post called Platoon (Background.)

You order your platoon to make use of the road, following in trace of the other platoons.

As you proceed along the road, the ground rises gently.  In front of you, you see that the road runs through a pair of hills.  As the platoon in front of you enters the canyon formed by the two hills, you see six artillery shells explode in the air above you.  A split second afterwards, you hear hundreds of bullets fall on the ground around you.

You look up and see six clouds of dark grey smoke. 

When combined with the things that you hear, you realize that a German artillery battery is firing upon you.  (You know that a German artillery battery consists of six artillery pieces.  Thus, the six shrapnel shells represent a single volley.) 

What now, Lieutenant Laffargue?

Please feel free to use the comment section to describe your solution to this problem. In doing this, please take care to avoid any information that would spoil the problem for your fellow readers.

The next step in this exercise is the presentation of the historical solution, which can be found at the start of Platoon (Problem IV). If you wish to reap full benefit from this decision-forcing case, please refrain from reading the historical solution until you have come to a decision.