When looking for the right strategy to deploy in battle, a military general is bound to have a raft of options. Maneuver warfare is a strategy that has seen action in battle many times. Examples can be drawn from the battles fought by the French under Napoleon and the battles of modern times. As a military tactic, its primary aim is to render the ability of the enemy to make decisions useless. It largely takes a shock and awe approach.
It is no secret that warfare is primarily based on movement and kill rate. Each side attempts to occupy more territory and kill more enemies with each wave of its attack. Throughout its deployment in conflicts, it had proven most effective when adopted by scattered units that are properly trained. Small units have always been effective when adopting the technique due to the fact that they have a lesser risk of attrition that full standing armies. Small units attacking from various directions also hold the all important element of surprise.
In most battles, success is usually gauged by the number of enemy equipment destroyed, territory occupied and combatants killed. Attrition battles portray a general lack of creativity from both opposing groups. A shock and awe attack, on the other hand, often causes the party being attacked to panic and make a retreat. This way, the attacking force gets sufficient latitude to reoccupy seized ground and attain its primary objectives.
One of the greatest generals to ever deploy the aforementioned strategy to great effect was Napoleon. In fact, he managed to defeat armies that were larger than his using it. His approach involved the use of quick cavalry charges against enemy combatants, shocking them and disabling their movement in the process.
A good example is the France and Austria conflict in Northern Italy, a battle in which Austria had a larger army. The French, commanded by Napoleon, overwhelmed the Austrians by launching rapid attacks against their units, thereby giving them very little reaction time. After his victory, several other generals copied him in their battles.
In the 1850s, technological advancement brought about the mechanization of movement, thereby making maneuver attacks more complicated. Armies that could not pull off quick maneuvers finally had the ability to do so. Additional plans were fused with maneuvering so as to counter the unintended effects of the development. Attacking parties now relied on the quick encirclement of their adversaries and the obliteration of their strong points.
The Germans also attained a lot of success in their early campaign in WW2 due to the strategy. The war saw a heavy deployment of tanks. General Erwin Rommel, the then commander of the panzer units, relied on rapid tank attacks against the allies. The strategy came to be christened the Blitzkrieg or Lightning Attack.
Maneuvering also has its limitations. For instance, it is not effective without prior intelligence on enemy formations. This became apparent in the Lebanon War in 2006. By the end of the war, the Israelis had not met their objective of decimating the Hezbollah command.
It is no secret that warfare is primarily based on movement and kill rate. Each side attempts to occupy more territory and kill more enemies with each wave of its attack. Throughout its deployment in conflicts, it had proven most effective when adopted by scattered units that are properly trained. Small units have always been effective when adopting the technique due to the fact that they have a lesser risk of attrition that full standing armies. Small units attacking from various directions also hold the all important element of surprise.
In most battles, success is usually gauged by the number of enemy equipment destroyed, territory occupied and combatants killed. Attrition battles portray a general lack of creativity from both opposing groups. A shock and awe attack, on the other hand, often causes the party being attacked to panic and make a retreat. This way, the attacking force gets sufficient latitude to reoccupy seized ground and attain its primary objectives.
One of the greatest generals to ever deploy the aforementioned strategy to great effect was Napoleon. In fact, he managed to defeat armies that were larger than his using it. His approach involved the use of quick cavalry charges against enemy combatants, shocking them and disabling their movement in the process.
A good example is the France and Austria conflict in Northern Italy, a battle in which Austria had a larger army. The French, commanded by Napoleon, overwhelmed the Austrians by launching rapid attacks against their units, thereby giving them very little reaction time. After his victory, several other generals copied him in their battles.
In the 1850s, technological advancement brought about the mechanization of movement, thereby making maneuver attacks more complicated. Armies that could not pull off quick maneuvers finally had the ability to do so. Additional plans were fused with maneuvering so as to counter the unintended effects of the development. Attacking parties now relied on the quick encirclement of their adversaries and the obliteration of their strong points.
The Germans also attained a lot of success in their early campaign in WW2 due to the strategy. The war saw a heavy deployment of tanks. General Erwin Rommel, the then commander of the panzer units, relied on rapid tank attacks against the allies. The strategy came to be christened the Blitzkrieg or Lightning Attack.
Maneuvering also has its limitations. For instance, it is not effective without prior intelligence on enemy formations. This became apparent in the Lebanon War in 2006. By the end of the war, the Israelis had not met their objective of decimating the Hezbollah command.
About the Author:
If you are looking for information about maneuver warfare, come to our web pages today. More details are available at http://www.genwars-fmfm1.com/about now.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire