Quote:
Originally Posted by Webstral
If the intended target of the bayonet actually gets the message "I'm going to come over there and kill you, blah, blah," then the bayonet user has seriously misused the bayonet. The bayonet is for use in darkness or under conditions of very restricted lines of sight, like a trench or fighting position. Even then, the user should be following up a grenade attack. The best use of the bayonet isn't fighting. The best use of the bayonet is finishing off folks who have been stunned by the use of another weapon or who can't see the bayonet user coming.
|
I sort of disagree with the last sentence.
History seems full of examples in which one side in combat will give up a position rather than face a determined and aggressive enemy up close. It doesn't have to be with bayonets fixed, as you say, it could be grenades or just the sight of the enemy coming and coming closer. So, IMO, if the enemy gets the message that "I'm coming over there to kill you" and they aren't motivated enough to stay around, then the bayonet has done its job, whether or not it's fixed. It's the willingness to close to bayonet range (or, in reverse, the willingness to stand at that range in the face of an attack) that sometimes wins battles.
Best source for this: Paddy Griffith's "Forward into battle"