Platoon (Problem XI)

Decision-Forcing Case

This is the eleventh 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 decide to move your platoon off of the spur by advancing into the low ground to the east. As you know that German field batteries have the spur under observation, and suspect that there may be German infantry in the area, you decide to make use of a row of haystacks that runs down the slope. In particular, you tell your men that they are to run down the slope as individuals, sprinting from one haystack to another.

The row of haystacks, as seen from the east (Credit: Infantry School Mailing List)

You are the first to make the trip, and do so without drawing fire. The men who follow also manage to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

At the bottom of the slope, you count each man as he arrives. When the movement stops, forty-one of the fifty-three members of your platoon are with you. Twelve men, all of whom are recently recalled reservists, are missing.

What do you do?

The series concludes with Platoon (Conclusion), which will provide the historical solution to this problem.

Platoon (Conclusion)