Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • S&T 028 - Lost Battles PDF

    Uploaded by

    José Ignacio Ibáñez Lacasta
    181 views65 pages

    Original Title

    S&T 028 - Lost Battles.pdf

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    181 views65 pages

    S&T 028 - Lost Battles PDF

    Uploaded by

    José Ignacio Ibáñez Lacasta

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 65
    j bs \ a og e pe or r ND GBRMANWE Ai EAST, 1991-1945 AN rr nea ac ‘ . rational-Level Combat in the East ae oN LR a as 5 plus ST is 2 No.28 1971 THE MAGAZINE OF CONFLICT SIMULATION Editor Jes F. Dunn ‘art Director & Co-Editor Record A Managing Editor Albert A, No! ‘Aweociate Editors John Young, Stephen 8, Patrick Contributing Editors: Sis Sackson, Rodney C. Walker, Dave Willams. Lous Zocei,Jamos Flanagan, John Flanagan, Georg Pili, Martin Carigion, Editorial ‘Staff: Robort-chamoer Dovid aby. Administrative Staff citer (Manaper| Stott Artist Mai Original Editor and Founder Christopher A. Wooner STRATEGY & TACTICS Mosazine is copyright ©1971 by ; = ra “ha aa ¥ of Justinian, was re Sinicted to the Balkans and Asia Minor, aswell ‘3 the Near East prior 10 the ie of Islam. The reign of erative resulted in major, sweeping fetorms ofthe Roman military system, and the revision became ""couiied™ such that it was ‘Seantilly unchanged during the following six fenturies: While lock of change, on the face of {er igh aor advised, wer ofthe similar failure of Roman enemise 10 adapt to the oman tactics, the need. was not present ‘Moreover, when wel led, the Romans genera: Fy won and one lesson they learned was not to tamoer with 3 good thing. Even when ied, the sabiity of tactics and Wwaining ensured that the Roman troops would generally have ‘at necessary modicum of taining to give the feige ‘against all but the most able of sheit fnemies Heraeus abolished the provincial fvatem in fovor of the thematic system, = riltary oriented administrative division, and {he theme became the mejor riitary unit ‘commended by 2 strateges igeneall. During ‘his period the Roman army always nomberec ween 120,000 and. 180,000 men, half horse, halt foot and, as his been sid, 2 Sanding army. In sddtion. at key frantier points, there were smallar districts, called CClamas, which maintained garrisons in a high state of feodinass. The eataphract wae the Roman mairetay. He wes 9 Neavy ewayman ‘waaring a conical helmet, topped witha ute of Forsehair in his unit's colors, bad coin mai auberk, stool shoes, graaes and gauntets, He ‘arried @ small round shield, sapped to is frm, thereby leaving both hands fee. Some Times the orts also had reastpates. The stapircrs vapors wer 8 composts bow 1 dager and sometimes an ose. The infontty ‘vas divided into ight and haw. The heavy Infantry, oF seutatl, wore drossod asthe eats phracts nd suinped similar, except that ‘hoy did not have 8 bow, The light infantry ‘han evonly balanced, would be in tree main Tins, eaeh ine Naving seutat inthe canter LANGUAGE AS. A FUNCTION OF POWER The origin of the languages we speak today comes, at one can imagine, rom the Dark Ager ~ at least the roots are there The point to note is that this process was rot an easy one and it bears «direct Feletionehip. to the srumle for power twhioh occurred throughout Europe in the Dark Ages (0 cours, the Roman Empire was overrun by tribes of Germans but it all 100 easy {0 think that tha minute they settled nto the former Roman lands, they formed homogeneous proto-nations. While they wore 10 be the nations of the future, the History of the ‘Darke Ages, in many specs, the sorting out of these tribes into the proto nations. “The tribes, as we know them, ware rae tively few In ‘number. Our knowledge, however, is flawed, having bran based 09 the Roman literature Teft behind. Natur ally, the Romans were both ethnacentric nd) “xesophobie hey. thought they ‘raked on water and anyone wo di Spank Latin was a retin. Thus, if they inet a fellow wo sounded like he spoke Frankish, he war Fronk, Maybe, 1 be horitabl, he wae 8 Solan (ving by the {eal of 2 Riparian {living by the Rhine! ‘but thats as far as things went. The tuth of the metter is more complex. The Immediate onalogy between the Romans andthe Germans is thot between the Europeans and. the Amarin Indians tverybody who could understand the same language was grouped into the seme nationllribel_ designation. it made for Convenient record keeping but war simply In point of fact, among the Sallan Franks there. wore intradribal groupings. They may have spoken roughly. the same la fquage, but they more than likely spoke Iojor dialects af the Tonguone. They cer fainly had their own leaders but, by the time they came on the seane of rocorded history, it iz apparent that they hod earned! to pul together and elect one man to be their king. AS a result, from the Roman’ viewpoint, the Sallan Franks, boeing Ted by ne man, were all one. From the Salian Frankish viewpoint, it was 2 community effort of a number of tribes! tlans pulling together for 8 common cause. Each small tbe or dan didn't think of itself at being the Same a the felons next to them, but they were all beter than the Fiori tr. Since we faney ourselves to speak English, fan examination of England provides 3 nice Closed civle, devoid of outside influences prior to. 1068, within which tho whole System can be sen to work First, thore were the Anglet, Saxons ond utes who, as amang the Franks, wore ‘ivisibio into smaller groups among the Separate nations, The Angles and Saxons ‘nd utes didn't get topethar in Germany fn deci toa go to Briain st one, but ‘they oid come from roughly the same aed win the area of modern Hamburg, Lubeck and Senioswig Motrin. The story Is that orginally the locas invited the first ‘of the Germans over to help out in some local problem — perhaps 'a myth but certainly 9 common practice atthe time. ‘Anyhow, for whatever the reason, the principal migration was 40 Britain by the ‘Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Obviously, some ‘iferancer must have existed among these fries, as not all of them left home. The Shtes ‘cis remain, in Bart, in Jutland: the Saxons left in Germany moved into mod frm Saxony. Part ofthis can only be ‘eribed to internal differences among the Supposedly homogencous tribes where o ‘roup of clans wanted to leave and the ‘thers gin ‘As they came over, the Germans saved where they lended ori the choicest lanes “Thus, the dutes, who apparently came round 450, soiled in Kent, the ofeo ‘lorest to the continent. The Saxons came hoxt, betwoon 477 and 496, The Angles ‘di not come until around 547 and they had to take the rougher lands to the north, ‘round modern Northumbria and Merci, fince the Saxons had grabbed off the rest ft the south, up to Weles and Cornwall. ‘The subdivision of England into the major countries wat begun at this time ond Feflects the Tack of homogeneity among the invaders. The thvas grat Angle coun tries were Northumbria the land north of the Humber), Mercia (to the west and south) and East Anglia (keeping the name fof the founders, north of the Thames ‘The Jutor remained in Kent. The Saxons loft thee name all over the countryside — Wessex, Estox, Sussex, Midaesex (ll cor- ruptions of wore like West Soxonia, East ‘Sexonia, ete) Within this context there wae no cations! feeling of unity, The Angles, Saxons and drat cid not tmmediatly join hands to ‘bulld ‘modern England. Rather, having shiva off the former tants, they fll 10 ‘warring among themselves, first by earing ‘out the voriout countries. By about 600 IAD, these countries had narrowed down fo seven Kingdom, each of which hed ttablished some internal control and then fet about trying to subdue It neighbors. ‘This rivalry forced 9 constant changeover in who was on top. tn 597, Kent was the dominant kingdom: in 616, Northumbis ‘ook the lead: by 717, Mercia dominate. “This site had two effects. Fist, between Northumbria and’ Motela, it meant that ‘those speaking the dialect of the Angles ‘dominated. Mt must be remembered that these three major ‘vibes were, trom the Start, mutually comprehensible, thou peaking different languoges to sorme o fent, The difference was. probebly_ less than between Danish and Swedish or Seats tnd nah (Celtic versions), Though greater {han that between England and the United States, To some extent, thi it itelgent guessing since nothing was written in the Nernaculor at this tim I any event, if the ‘King of Northumbria or Meela wa calling ‘the tune, it become necessary to compre hend that version of the tongue. The Influence of this tendency is obvious i tended to. breed a uniform tongue since ‘people in Kent or Wessex who wanted 10 fet aheod during the period the Angles ‘dominated, had to be fluent enough inthe tect spoken by the Angles to get along. Sines the lforance wasn't too. reat, thore was probably some back and forth tapping. going on anyhow, tending. £9 found off the differences between’ the Tongues, The second effect of this particu lar dominance was thatthe people on the Continent called the King of Kent ROX ‘Anglorum and the stea, 08 2 whoo, came to'be callad Angleland with the people being) Engle or Anglecynn (Anglekin) ‘anks 16 deep, and light infantry to either side Of the seutat. The eataphraets would be on the flanks, in ranks 810 horsemen deep, as il an forming a ereen to the front and flanks. The thts line gneraly ves composed ‘of eataphraets, 100, When the infancy oioment ‘wae small, the eataphracte would consttut wont frst two rank, lensing the infantry ‘or the third. Tha peseal tactic was defensive offensive let the enemy advance, fall back ‘godvally, then hit the enemy ‘on the flanks ‘with the sereaning force while the seutat Pinned nis main forse to the front, Due to the ‘ataphvact cowerage of the flanks, the stat ould count on not having anything {0 fear xcept to their front and they generally held Sannst cavalry, contrary to the normal prac tice of infantry during. the period. Perhaps ‘nly. the Romers "considered year-round ‘campagning. This was due to their skilful analysis of the weak points of their enemies, Including © willingness to make special exer tions 10 take advantage of those weaknosos, ‘They favored attacking Arabs and Persians in cold ainy weather when Dovatrings would be slack (thus undereuting the theory that the Romans, too, vere tied t0 their bows a the sole rmone of fighting) They would attack the ‘omadie Scythe in the late winter whe lack ot forage weakened thelr horse: and would. go into the mountains when the snow was on the Slave enemies. The Western European armiss ware recognized 10 lack discipline ang it ns Aiscovered that. once they though they had ‘he enemy in fight, they would bresk ranks ‘pure. The tactic of flgnad fight wae sn (vious result. Emperors such as Mauri, with his Strategikon, Leo. VI with his Taetia, nd Nicaphorus Phocas wrote monusis fr training hich included suggestions on how t0 fight ‘ach potential enemy. The lack of ‘change ‘uring the period ade Leo's advice in 800 ‘quite valid In. 1100. Mention should also be Irede of Roman naval skill Oftn allowod to decay, when the Emperors chose 10 devote ffor to it the navy, with its Greek Fite, {ould generally wrest control ofthe 38 from ‘one vas pretending to tht power, They id 20 from the Vandals and lator from tho ‘arate. Furter, 28 mentioned earlier, the navy eveloped the’ technique of landing” horses Fight from the ship, an ancient version ofthe sr. The Arabs were a light cavalry sfmy par excellence, Unarmored, they earied only By mid-Eighth Century, Offa, of Morea, hd established effective control over the ‘hole of England but the process wos not complete, By. the start of the Ninth Century, Wessex, 8 Saxon Kingdom, had vwrenened power from the Angles and the ‘Angles day had tun is course. The 100. mejor tierary works which survive from the pesiod ~Gode's Eclsiartcal History Of the English People and Coedrvon's poetry — afe both in the dialect of the Angles Thereafter, the dialect was that of the Saxons, particularly. Wessox, which ‘contributed the great body of the survv ing tterature of tha period, such as Boo ‘wall, hich is inthe Ween dale, “Tis shift from the Angles to the Saxons served more and more to Blur the differ: fences betwoon the two such that there {ood reason to believe that wil Tenquape citfered, the pronounciation was similar s0 that @ common languege hed ‘nuinaly developed in Enland, ln the years just prior t0 the Norman Invasion he eaptl hd etfctvey sitted from Westex t0 the London ares, though ‘under the control of the royel house from Wessex, as wells the influenen of the Godwines, Earls of Wessex. As 9 conte: ‘quence, by the time the Normans invaded, the influence of the Kentish elocts was boing fet n fact, the wheal was more oF less ‘coming full’ cele since Kent ns settled By the Jutes ana the Jutes were the first Gorman invadrs. By the time of the [Norman invasion, England mas one coun: try in 8 true snse.From London the King, elected by the Witan oF parisment, went forth on expeditions opninst” the Wish (those foreigners, again) or the Scots la Celtic people related tothe Welsh in the same manner the Angles and Saxons were related tothe Franks) and mode wie ‘of troop from Northumbria of Mercia, (evar though the King wat, in effect, of ‘Saxon descent Now England, being isolated, wat able 10 ‘develop those tans ina very nat, som ‘orderly fashion. Nonetheless, the same trends’ also occurred on the continent, notably among the Franks. A base rule of ‘progrertion can be drawn rom this Fist, there is the relative unanimity of vere tbs as they storm into the new tortor. ‘They all are united apsins the foreigners Lunt the land. belongs. to the invaders. ‘Once that change is accomplished, the invaders stabiize and begin to fragment pain into thir wibal/clannish subdivisions the creations of the small provinces or eountries or duchies. all evidence this trend, Following fragmentation comes the ratural instinct to try 10 overrun your Feighbor ‘and. get his wealth into your {olfers. This phase usually bapan within 3 ‘hundred years ofthe invation by 8 particu lar tribe. The next hundred years, more or Joss, results in the creation of lrger proio-states. These can generally be sid to encompass the particule tbe in its most (general sense, that i, all of tho Salion Franks or all of the Saxons, under one influence, Once that is done, the poing is slower os the proto-states ve wath each ‘ther to determine whieh will control the ‘other. All during thie period the language 's changing as the dominant power influ: fnees all of the subordinates In Gaul it ‘eent the shift of influence (rom the ae ‘round. modern. Lyons and. the Rhone Valley (the old Roman cultural eontar in Gaull north to the Paris area, where the Salian Franke had set up. This wor, in the end, because th Burgundians, who held the none Valley, lot out inthe struggle “The sruspe among the protostates can be decisive, a6 it was in England and France, for inconclusive, at it turned out in Ger ‘any and aly” The results that whereas England and France have strong reson dalects, they basically speak the sarme Tongue white Germany and Italy, remain ing fragmented, slloned certain ‘dialect, such as the, Swabian German, 10 survive because the protostaes "crystalized round one of these smal, ibal grouping {tho Suvi, in that cata) and did not ‘undergo the leveling process wich occur ted eliwore “The foregoing is a discussion of what happened. The why of i ll is aso 9 part, fof the problom but that is a facet of hhumen nature. Its no more dificult to Understand then the old pase "The King’s English." The tongue. the King spoke wos, obviously, spoken by the court {and anyone whe hoped 10 hold pesition {f power under the King. Moreover, once Latin became passe, whieh was eiroady ‘occurring by the late Ninth Century, when the famous Strassburg Oath was sworn in the vernacular, the French king swearing In German and the German king in French (or what would become Franch), thing: Such 2s laws started to be written in the vernacular understood by the king. The language of government has strong intl ‘ence on the language of the people since the government must be in many paces and have an abilty to be understood i all places whereas the average person need ot 96 out of his wlage his entire lifetime, “The point to be made is thet modern fanguapes didnot spring full blown from the invasions. 1 was. winnowing proces the Survival of the fiter. The ean which dominated the tribe had its dialect, mo fied to some extent by influence of other clans, ar the dominant language of the tribe. The same applies tothe language of the tebe which dominates the county. ‘The ond rosult Is probably © language incomprehensible to the people who mode Up that orignal clan, but the fact maine ‘that itis their tongue, greatly infivenced ‘by thew neighbors, which dominates. The examotes ore likevave true for cuitural signs of other natures — lows, customs, tte. Nowhere ie i ar readily apparent 8 ‘rth language: the Tenguoge spoken is funetion of who has the power ‘THE STRASBURG OATH ust by vey of ilustration, the fllowing isa pattoge from the Strasburg Oath the ‘earliest example of @ Romance language, followed bythe French for the same passage: Pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et ‘nostro commun salvament, dat di in ‘vant, in quant Deus sovir et podir me ‘dunat, si telvari eo cist meon trade Kano... ‘Pour Vamour de Dieu st pour le peuple Chretien et notre salut commun,» partir ‘aujourd'hui, en tant gue Dieu me don ‘ners savoir et povvor, fe secoural ce mien ‘ore Chaves 15 ‘sword and lance, plus religious fervor. Yet, they. monoged to overwhelm many of thet foes. Tho cost, in terms of manpower, was ‘Womendous and they eventually came to adopt tome of the Roman tactic of defense. offense They would engoge in skirmishing, harrying ‘the enemy until some became rash ‘enough to try to sone, after wnich they would pick the enemy 10 pisces, exploitieg each Role ast Was ‘mode, Nonetheless, they could not withstand 3 hoawy cavalry charge” and. in head:toead fighting the” Arabs were often beaten by rstiy inferior Crusader forces interior, what iin tr of ez), “The Arabs ako had infantry, hough of indi ferent quality, snd a pood quality of archers Since their mounted archers were also gocd ‘the ski of the foot archers Tollowed sith Sem logic. AS time pasted, the Arabs began to Ssdopt much of the Homan armor but never rmenaged to achieve the degree of armor the Romans used. In wusance, the Arab success ‘Sepended on high moulity and moses which {ould overwmeim the enemy “The Moslem, about the time of the Crusades, tad their own element whieh, a9 far as foyehologeal impact i concarnad, compares ‘with the Viking berserk though thew Mosier ‘were not warriors, per se. This was the sact Sled atinites (erally, Followers of Esotanc Doctrine) or tama and better Keown to the world ae Asmasing, Tho word “asain” fctully a corruption of their principal exter. al source of stimultion — hashish, whieh they. are said to" have consumed in great famaunts. Under the influence of hachieh anc {he concypt of had, or holy way. plus whatever other psychologial.teasons. the Batintes sould murder important laadars Of the Crasading army, hence the modern meas ‘ng given 0 the word assassin, Howover the Batiniter soon rowed tobe less dscriminating thon wes esresble and began ling off Moslem leaders 100. The end reault was that tether sie liked ther much afd bath had to Constantly tar sudden attacks in unexpected places on their leadors” the. asamine Wore known £9 have done thelr workin ehurchos a ‘well as dak alleys. It Is not hard to a0 that brotited as to reputation out of the asain The Turks used heavy cavalry horse archers Similar 10, but not equal tO, the cata pacts, The main aitference betwoen the Sala and Osman (Ottomant systems war the Seveloprrent of the janasary” system. The (Ormonlt Turks, partielary under "Sultan DOrenan and his elgor orothor, Aladdin, took ‘xivantage of the old rule thatthe Sultan wo THE QUALITY OF LIFE Lite im any pariod is 9 question of com parison, In some periods, not only isthe {ip between rich and poor great, but the ch are extrsordinariy ich and the POOF froin erinding poverty” Such was probably ‘tho cate in the world of ancient Egypt oF In some ‘countries on the eve of the Napoleonic period. In others, the overall level thigh, auch 9 nome present ay ‘nations (always, thers are. individual ‘xeeptions). But the Dark Ages was period where nobody was particulary well ‘fF ond the fellow at the bottom af the ‘Over the years alter the colase of oman administration, the general quality of life ‘etoriorateg. This was, fist of all, due 10 the breskedown of central government. The Imyried. functions which ae not_ only performed by a contal government. but must be porformed by the eer gover ‘mont were takan for granted. In eect, there wat an absence of public works — bridges, romds ond the rest wore rarsly built because tho loca fords did't have the resaurese or the inclination, Post an ther means of communication ap: peared on 8 national scale Elicit tx tolection, aways 9 hora ight t0 achieve Under the Romans, became pore extor tion, with most of it going to the loca ford’ and Mile tothe nominal entra Bovernment. Common dafonse cid’ xis. Armies were made up of loca bane, tach raed by its lord. Trade as 8 whole ‘eclined, not only due t0 the lock of Brotection for the trade router, but also ‘due to the decline of the use of money fd the eisappearonce ofthe trading clas. In some respects that is # vilous cele: the trade router decine 29 the merenants tack other sources of income and end ub hot having to use money” but, rather, teding in kind, £0 there i no practical meant left for the fow traders to being {foods and avoid dragging mare goods re {nied in exchange over the countryside unless ‘more goods were what” they ‘ctually tought Money. didn't actully ‘isappias, st was centralized among the nobles. Ta some extent, coinage wat the medium of exchange among the lords 2: goods were for the peasantry. There ws {ome use of coins even atthe lowest level ‘but It as for easier 10 relate the amount (of work needed t0 raise a cow to that ‘nated to rate carrots than either of them to gold orslver bits. Tha sporadic minting (of money didnt help matters either. To some extent the peasantry were traps fed into. thei situation — they were {tually the previous owners of the land ‘who had. been dupioced by the co: ‘querer. For example, the Romans did ‘wipe out the Celts in Gaul” and then ‘epopulste it with Romans nor did the Franke eliminate all of the Romans, Each Set up thoi own governmant on top of the preexisting base. The former tenants be: fame the lower class which could (or ould “not, depending on who wat in power) work thelr may back up the ladder 5o the condition of those we eal sets wat to some x tont pre-determined by the fact thot their ancestors were of diferent people than the present rulers of had in Fact been slaves tothe present rulers, Further, the peasontry wes foreed, by the nature of economics, 0 seek the protec: tion ‘of the wealthier land onnere who ould afford to raise an army. That wat ually the death kell of persona tee ‘om ‘since, 98 8 condition of providing this protection, the lord would sully lmmpow suficent conditions thatthe peas. ant had little nope of rising bow hie ‘The agglutination of the peasantry into small groups under tho 209s of a particular Tord led vo isolated vilgos, each inary seltsutficient. Thay grey enough food 10 oop themselves going but that wae all Famine wos a regular vest. There wes 96 ‘organised. trade. to permit one area 10 become “beesdbaaker” in exchange for another providing the dairy. Each village fed to be all things to 1 people. The result os that people planted thei crops in the spring, tending both their own small plots and thir portion land responsiblity) ff the lord's farm lands, did their best 10 ‘encourage. repraduetion among the. a: ‘mols, and sa back vo wateh nate tke te ourve. In somo respects, they can there fore be said t0 have had a great deal sare time. This is tue in that there fe hathing to do to help gisin grow when Yyou don't have sny more fertilizer than The cows put on in the spring and Wigs tion ie unheard of. Aside from planting tnd narvesting, the peosant's day wos not fil that busy, but because of the sma le wathin ‘which he lved, he could Tikawise not seek a tour of income from ‘any more exotic occupation. fallow who frat good with gold or sver might get 10 ‘work for the fore bur he wouldnt get ich 353 joer ‘And what shout the lords themisves? Instead of wattle and doub hut, they lives in wooden and. Tater stone fortress, ‘ually without windows. Luxucies con: fisted of the ability to Rave more food and that was about all, Medial care, more feomforable surroundings and the rest of the troppingt of cmication which difter the rien from the poor today. waren’ aiabe. ‘To sum vp the quality of fife in the Dare Ages ir difficult in a short space, Sutfies to'say thet the peasants lived @ hone: ‘mouth existence ith litle more than tho ‘other on ther back that thoy could call their own, while the nobles, forall thet wealth had nothiog to buy with itand so Tied Title better than’ ther soca in feriors. Life for all classes was brutal ard short The mort effective medicine 35 of the witch doctor variety, although a some: ‘what lager although nary qualitatively Superion ‘diet for the nobles geve them an ‘ge heslthwise, The dolation of comm ies diel have a benetiil effect in restrict. ing the spread of infectious dunates (sch 35 plague, which did get out ot hand when ofmunications improved in the 14th and 46th centuries, ‘This was. the infamout Black Death). But for most of the Dark ‘Ages smalier sale versions of he Black Death, caused by ony number of diseases, wore common, /dd to this 9 vory Mh Infant mortality rate and the strociout Tving conditions, and the average lifespan (of 30-40 years is quite understandable So is tho rather low level ofthe Quality of Ure. WHAT TO DO ‘TIL THE HARVEST COMES “There iran idea that because the people of ‘the times had litle moce to do then rn found hunting, except during the Rares Season or the planting time, their lord theretore acted on the old maxim that ile hands are the vil's plaything and sent ‘them off to wer on a regular bass, ‘To the extent that this 8 true, itis sil eceptive. There was 8 commonness about ‘the war whichis not $0 widespread inthe period singe the Dark Ages. For one, itis fan economic factor. The loeal lord had ‘wo ways of remarding loyal subjects (uauelly his fsithtul vassals) money and land. Both wore subject to depletion and then, once given away, the ford. would have'no way To pay his subordinates. The Simply way to rel the coffers and reper ‘sh the lands available (to stratgieally to @ potential upstart) is to grab the oodies trom your neighbor several leogurs tay. This wes on annual event, usually following spring traning. and. consuming the period up tothe harvest, at which time the ‘people on whose land the war had boon” fought "commenced their annvol vainterong fast due to the destruction of {hoi rope and the “winners” went ack home to figure out how to harvest wh as avaable using the smaller amount of Surviving manpower (wars, then as now, ‘ually resulting in someone not geting ham in one piece). The muriver of wots ike this were dificult to count even then, sings it was taken for granted that this wae ‘he natural order of things ‘Then thore were the other types of wars, first among which were the ones devoted te repelling genuine Invaders, such as the Franks agiinst the Arab, the Franks paint the Magyars, everyone apsint the Vikings, and soon. This was a detonsve type of thing and dopendad for frequency fon the action of the invaders, The Vikingt Mikes come visiting annually; the rast usually shot their Bolt aftr a couple of Secades of constant presute. These wore Bag Wors becouse invaders usually come looking for wath, rather than beinaing t with them, and basdes, when vou a fighting the Vikings, you don't have time toraid your avighbor' Keen Migway perwoen fal the larger-scale ware fof the kind that we would consider to Iiliar. This would involve the king of the ‘hole country. mobilizing. an army. and going forth against the particuler enemy. Clovis did this aainst the Visigoth (and everyone non-Salian Frank in sight); Off fof England di this againet such peoples 35 ‘the Welsh; Charlemagne fought this type fof war ageinst the Lombares, Here the purpose of the war wat more Clauee- Wwiteian — it wos fought Tor polities, rather than ‘economic, purposes. It wat done less frequently ‘but usually more ‘ohemently, snes the King normelly has 3 ‘ali ohm) reason for the wer ich extended beyond the enhancement of is wealth. OF this type ef war there was bout the same frequoney as was found in ‘more recant times, such asthe Eightaerth Century Having determinad that war during the Dark “Ages as rom three major cause, ‘the second arpect if recognise that 10 the peasant with pitchfork, 2 wor to rpel Vikings ended up being fought in about the same way 96» war 10 beat Magyars oF to r0b one's neighbor ~ he stuck every body that came at him. 1 ofoet, wor, of fone type oF another, ae 3 regular ever In the same way 95 planting, harvesting and Starving. The diferencs was thatthe ite Wars id little damage and could be ‘stained on an anal Bais whevest the larger wars genvinely. taxed the people such that there. ere few expeditions ‘against the Saxons, and when the Vikings Fatded regulary, the economy, marginal" the ‘bose yeors, sank out of sight. In fence, this proves an odd point — war, to some extent, selfregulating. People con fonly tight with 8 given level of intensty {ora specific poriod of time. The greater the intensity, the shorter the period. A tnd the like, could be carried on, a has been indicated, on an annual bate, The ‘more serious sul? could not be sustained for any length of time because the crops feoded to be planted and harvested and 3 field can be burned olf enough so tht people get red of planting it and move Sui, thre is good reason to believe that if the peasants were not packed off 10 wer Yearly, the vest of the stuf would have Gone on anyhow and, further, ke it oF fot, this the stl from wehich eventually ‘omas character suchas Clovis or Charles ‘Morte or Alfred the Great ~ a fllow who oops leading his peopl into wars against neighbors and is never really beste, the by finding himelt one day the rut of ploce called "Francia or "Anaelond. Fig. 6 EUROPE, 1529 “Thi was the year the Turks were defeated at Vienna and. marks the igh tide of ‘Turkish expansion, It is # good vantoge point trom whieh to Took back t0 390 where the trends begun in the Dark Agee Ted led. The Renaissance was in ull bloom, England and. France were wll foundia; Spain had come under one con: ol end was esaBihing isa a the frst ‘major colonial power: Austria wes rising to its position ‘of dominance inthe. Holy Floman Empire, the New World had been discovered and Ila, the scourge of Chet nity throughout the Dark Ages, wassiowiy Feceding trom Europe. ” 18 ‘entitled 10 one out of every five prisoners as his slave, They changed this to mean that they ‘ould take chen, ofthe age of eight. Those ‘were wained solely under the Sultan's super: ‘sion and oved loyalty ony to him. Primar Ty. this meant Christians as the Osment Turks ‘xoanded deeper and docpar into. Roman lands. The loyalty of the jansaros was 190n3 ‘with the. only known revolt being that leo by George Catriona, an Albanian, known to the Mosler os Iskandor Boy (the Turkish version ‘of Alexander the Great and to the Albanians fm Skandortog, Aside from the fniaaries, ‘here wore the regular infantry. tacking the lite, stock affect of tho janissaris 2: infaniry ‘The regular infantry was augmented by az 42 feo corps of marceraris an iregaars, The aalry was also of several types. The main body were the sapahis or knights. Then came the slidara ‘or vassal horseman, thon the lutea or metesrary cavalry, and finally the aongers,"the Turkish equivalent of the oman fosderati system. & curious problam of ‘the Turkish cavalry was the relative ease with ‘hich the Turks could be unsnated from their horses, apparently function ofthe sade and stirrups which put the rider's knees high up tinder him and prevented him from getting» 00d ari. The Mongols are often representa in the West {s'rabble in arms This ledue tothe fact that the western observers nether understood che Mongol system not why it was successful, The ‘Mongols organized on the decinal system: ten men constituted a troop; tan troops 9 squed fon: ten squadrons 2 banner: won banners 3 ouman, Above the touman wos the amor phous "horde," a designation given by the Turks to 8 Mongot army. The Mongols were cavalrymen, Somownat less than halt wore Eaalry of the haawy variety, and the remainder Tight cavalry. The heavy cavalry rolied on a lance ang had eather or mal jackets by way of armor. Both light are heavy cavalry. hod amque-ype helmets but the light cavalry Was Unarmored, wielding the deadly composite bow which was almost ss lage 2 the English Jong bow, They all wore shirts of raw silk. This was due to the curious discovery that ortons facely plored the silk and therefore, ator the bare, surgeons would lift the sik from th wound, arrow and al, Some of the problem of ood was saved by riding mares whieh in turn {urns nat only wansportation but milk In combat the Mongols depioved on a wide front ‘and their most common tactic was to envelop the enemy. It should not be overlooked thet ‘art of the Mongol gonius lay inthe fact that they really didnt have 8 standard tactic. they ‘would adapt to the needs of the situation whieh made hard to formulate a. detense ‘oninse ‘them. Obviously thls roqures bow 3 Shilled leader anda trained army and during the period of the Mongol incursions they ad bot In adition, the Mongols were axperrs at Fayehological wartare: they would put a town fo the sword for the deliberate purpoxe of teerorizing the enemy sway. Once resistance Hopped, however, the Mongols instituted father pacific and benetilel administration ‘over the conquered peopies. Essentially, in the West, the Dark Ages was sory. of Inaectua, inconclusive bates lex ‘opt for the canuatss). Only tho East kept the St of warfare alive, The Crusades proved tobe the catalyst which brought East and West togetner, The Latin West, wth 1 rather tigorous system of Noror, found it could not Understand the curious Eastern customs that hold thet, short of a signed treaty, bribery Guplicty ‘nd treachery were lust ab valid 8 ‘way twin a war ab any other and, if they cost 0" man, porhaps. better. This certainly Contnuted fo te divisions which ware finally fo split the christian wort, but the lessons learned on the Crusader wore taken West and the revival of warfare as slence andr ot {or whatever "benefits that has given succeed ing generations, was begun BIBLIOGRAPHY ‘As might be anticipated, materia onthe Dark ‘Ages are hard to find. the West, tracy vas confined to the clergy and, most often, to the ‘monestories. Only ithe East nthe oman Empire and Arab world, was there much secular writing done, Moreover, wht military Sccounts as ere done, particularly. in the ‘West, wore eter one line comments hat 3 tyeat battle took place somewhere, oF are frat propaganda efforts depicting Mendy forces as amare handful and enemy forces 3h ‘numerous 2s the grains of sand on the beach ‘Asa rosult, much of the information we have ‘deduced from other sources, A great amount ‘of the information availabe on the Noe ia 1086 ie "akon directly from tha Bayoux Tapes ty ‘Among the ancient sources are Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ‘Bede, This book is the main source of Informs tien “about the early “AngloSaxon rule in England but is more concerned with Pistory ‘of the Church than the people, as might Be expected, ‘king Horas Sage, Snoeri Stusluson. Hacald Hardrads was 9 Viking "knight errant” who ought vith the Varangians in Russie, the Fooman Varangian Guard in Canetantineple a Sicily and at Stanford Bridge in 1066. This sm is more a personal history than a military Fistory but there is some Information 20 be leaned fram it ‘The Atexiad, Ania Comnena. Anns Comnens ‘must rank a one of the major female wtors {Of premodern times. This her account ofthe tise, reign ond death of her father, Alexus CComnenus, the oman Emperor whose cal or ‘sistance aginst the Turks led to tho First CCrusode. Her distortions, which everyone of ‘the pefiod scemed to ade in writing, lay in fmision. No one has ever bean able to accuse her of adding false information — sho just leowes out information which Joes not aid her articular slant nile not a commendsble troit for history, 1 does allow one to ely on what she said i" one autres that there might be more to the story. This is 8 9000 account of ‘ho crusades, the Normans and the Romans and i nat alfald to go Into somo batty casos, ‘Arab Historians of the Crusades, Francesco Gabriel, Uni. of Cal. Press, 1960. The othor ‘0 of the ‘Crusodas le quite enlightening. ‘These historians, wile not particularly less interested in glorification of their cause than the Crusaders historians. tend slightly more toward. Impartiality. The Crusades are nor mally presented 10 us as a great venture of Europea civilization, This Book views it an lunwarramed ivaion of Moser tangs It is not one author's Mistory, a5 no such works ‘existed, but Ht sa collection of writings whieh ‘combine t0 cover the Crusades. Tactics ae not set forth, numbers are scanty, but the value Tiss Im the ehavocter analyses from the other fide our heroa ae thelr villains. ‘The Encyclopedia of Military History, Emest Dupuy & Trevor N. Dupuy, Harbar & Row, 1970. To cover the history of warfare from 9600 8C to the present iss al order and rquies & great deal of lom but the Dupuys hve managed to take the eorlor going in 200 year jumps and precede each with meaty, Concise commentates on the major leaders of the period ang major miltary tends, including tactical dovelopmons As. a consequence, it DDeeomes a nacessry starting point for research into 2 period av 1 manages to give 3 good “Teoing for the period and its robes, 'A military History of the Westom World, VOL. 1. LF. Fuller, Funk & Wopnalls, 1984. Fullor ‘nly cowrs four battles from the period — ‘Tours, Hosting, Mansikert ang Hotin but in 0 doing he gies a background cormmentary ‘on the events leading up to the battle nd tho factors which affected the outcome, including tactics As such, itis another esontis! Book, sities litations, ‘The Other Invasion, John Julian Norwich Harper & Fv, 1967. This s probably the bes! account going of the Norman activities in aly {and Silly whieh took place around the same time. that: William wae defeating Harold. at Hastings 1 has the additional merit of being 906 reading. ‘The Crusades, 200 Oldenbourg, Random House, 1066, This book snot as goad an hard ‘act a 11s on gonera fetngs forthe period. ‘There is, however, 3 good dest of descriptive rmoverial. It wa, probably ‘intended to be 2 ‘adobe history but its sheer Size defeats that ‘The End ofthe Ancient World, Fecdinand Lot Harper & Row. 1961. The period aftr the nd fof the Empire in the Wost, particularly with fegprd to the successor stats set-up by the Barbarians. very ard ta gets handle on Ths ‘book goesalong way to doing that. History. of the Later Roman Empire, 1.8. Bury, Dover Publications. This is very old (Wurn'of the cantury) work onthe period from ‘round 40) AD to the death of Justinian but it remains definitive an Is thorough weatment Df the barbarian states inofar at they relate to the Roman Empire, History of the Byzantine Empire, AA Variiev, University of Wisconsin Press, 1952 This deals with the Romen Empire trom Justinian on and, because of is scope, i nt a ‘xnauntve a: Bury’s work. Again, Vasey doos cover the bordering slates because of their Falationship to the empire and for that reoson 166 principle sourea of Information on these bordering states (auch asthe Bulgar, Slavs and arab. Byzantium, The imperil Contures, Homily siankine, Fandom Mouse, 1060. The. book ‘overs the paiod when the Roman Empire fevived in the. Ite 600’, through Moraikert ‘and its fatal decline in the fate 1100'S. It Is tighaly writen history but a must for anyone -ebich wos a satistoctory compromise between the ill, machine Dpatol and light machine gun, 1 wae only {sued towrds the end ofthe war and not fon 2 large scale unt! late 1944. Tn Night ‘machine guns the Germans hod a deiive ge. The LMG's deliver the majrity of the infantry’ firepower and the German [LG was not only superior in quality But ‘usually sed in 8 superior manner alo. This fctor alone gove the Garman inf try 9 deciive edge. In infantry anticank Mteapont the Germans. ao stained @ \ocisve edge in late 1943 with the into ‘duction of the single shot “Panterfaust 80" and their verion of the "bazooka rocket launcher (Raketen Panzer Busch ‘G3). The Rusians continued 10 use 30 anti-tank rifle (PATD 41) throughout the War. Tt wes never able 10 stop German ‘AFV like a true antitank weapon, but ‘ould dable AV by hitting 8 vital part ftuch at the tracks oF running gear). The ‘ther main staple of the infantry was the grenade. This was basically the same in oth armies, coming in sightly diferent variation, Most were hand grenades; 2 tow ‘ite grenades were used atso. As these weapons were useful only for close range Fighting their overall impact wos minimal Most casualties were intlcted by atlery ‘ype wopons. Pistols are not even con ‘dered hore, athough thoy were more ‘Useful than bayonets, but not by much. WEAPONS ABBREVIATIONS Weapon=Tyee of waspon (followed by ‘er signation). Caliber-Given tn mill ‘meters. Range-Given in meters). ROF= ‘Rate of Fire the “ractea!” rate of fire. Usually in tho number of rounds por ‘minuta(on. WghePeighe fin pounds) of {he waapon, fully longed. WelrndWeight {in pounds} of one round of ammunition In the case of small arms rlles, ee) the ‘neigh fe given for 100 round of amu tion. Unit of Fie-The amount of ammu Intion carried for each weapon of that ‘ype, caleuating up as high ws the division evel tor Russian weapons) and army level IGarman). This Herentiation betwoen ‘useion and German units of fire is neces. ‘ary. The Garman supply systom was able { provide not only more ammunition but ‘ats0 got where needed fast rom highor Gcholons Ieuch "as army fever” supply dumps). Evan at the divisional level the German units of fre ware at much a 5O% ‘igher than’ Russian towels. The actual “Units of Fire” wore only about 40% of the Units of Fire given. Each weapon would have. on paper, at any given time, ‘about two and # half unite of fre. For ‘major offensive or defensive. operations Some ‘weapons tparticuery "atiliory) ‘would have five, ten oF more units offre ‘Most of these would be fired off in the intial "phases of the action. The “stan dard” 21 units of re wore what wos Carried’ with units and these wore what ‘would be available once the battle became ‘uid and mobile On the chert, for anit-tonk guns, penetre: tion i given for the diferent ringee inlestea. 23 “The ather major funetion of the stats army. sion, regiment, corps and front) was 10 Coordinate all of thos. atre. and. services, Otherwise the artery might land on your fonn troops, while the motorized frees. got fuga watfic jam, wile. the infantry fpened hae nthe wrong part ofthe anemy front All of this added up to rather cumer Some operations on the part of the Rurans But they were masive, and took a while to Prepare, In the meantime frontline units were Instructed o hols out To the last man, vehich they often dd, once in awhile after they ran fut of bullets because all ammunition was being hoard fer the "ag afensive." RECONNAISSANCE & COMMUNICATIONS. German and Russian concepts of reconnss: ‘Shee ittered “considerably. BotN regarded Feconnsisance atthe act of obtaining informs tion on the enemy. But each German division had an orgonie reconneisance battalion whoat ‘hnetion was to net only obtain Information fon the enomy, but also 10 act upon it if possible, reconnaissance in force (something {hat looks lke an attack to the enemy but ‘only a probs for information) was 2 common tack for Gorman recon unite, For the Fussons Jt was 2 major production, All Rusion units tlso had recon units attached. But these units were small and not neurly as well armed and tranod a0 their German “counterparts” The tnd result wae that German recon units were {aster in btaining information, more effective {in, a8 they often” aia, exploiting valuable {nformation) and gonoraiy more. efficiont. nether aspect of feconaisanee where the Germans excelled was in a reconnaissance. Of cours, once they had lost ar superiority this "was no fonger the eats, but even then the Fussane wore not ar wel off as the Germans. Communications are the nerves of an army. While good reconnaissance Is needed before you ca really do anything, the quality of the Communications can adversely affect your 00d reconnaissance (and everything else) no otter how good it is. The Rusions were Always shart of radio Cauipment, 3b wall 3s {ualfes radio operators and repairmen. The Germans were considerably. beter equipped with radios, although they also suffered severe ‘hortages toward the end of the wor But just Comparing the authorized number of radios it German and. Russian units we can see how fniical an effect this would have on tacts By 1043 the Russian rife division was “autho fined” 56 radios, the Guards ile dvision 71 The motorged units were much ‘better oft with ‘the tonk corps authorized 470 and the ‘mechanized corps 825, Artillery disions were futhorized 291 while the rife corps (usualy of {thre sivisions) was alloted 300 radio sets. The Gorman inantryaivsion was authorized about 400" radio sts during the war wile the frmored divisions usally had some. 500 sets (OF course, a the war went on, the infantry Sivisions often found themselves with les than ‘3 hunarad svorking ets. The motorized units ‘wore usually kept up to strength. The numbers fe not at tad they 100k for the Russians Fer ‘one. thing, the Russians "pooied” their rahos just lke they pooled every other item of Spcaist eauipmant, At the resimental tvel all the radios belonged to the signal company, ‘They’ were alloted to the rifle battalions 3s ode. At the rifle corps level there was also 3 large concentration of radios in the corps signal battalion. Again, these radios were for sllotment ta units on an. "ae needed” basi Further, the Rusians did not have as extensive an arllry setup at the divisional vel as the ‘Germans, Many of the German rodios were ppuraly for atilory uso. The Fusions usally {01 most of their arillry support from non Svsionel arilery unis which had thelr own {odios, Thus, overall, each Russian rile dv. ‘don had more ike 100-150 radios valabe to IR This cut the German edge on radio aqui ‘ment from 8:1 10 3-1. Stil, the Germans hod 3 onsidorable advantage in always heving tele Units equipped with radio, while Rusion unite fat the company, and often bottalion, level ‘would only be "sO sauipped during ajar ‘operations, ‘The tactical results of these two conflicting policies sould be obvious. The Germans were trained. and accustomed. to using radio com Tunications, They had their radios with thor at all times, The Russians were nat only Unused to radio communication, But aid not ‘oven have the radios with the using units at al times, In ‘combat Ruston’ unite would, be immobilized. at ctitcal moments because of communications flu, Orders that could be communicated quite rapily down the hain ot feommand by radio by the Gorman, moved ith much lass rapiity and certainty fa similar There was, however one bright spot ll hi. \When conditions became stati, end Doth sides hhad a chance to dig in, mach of the German teivantage in radio equipment wes eliminated a the Fusians were able to lay wire. for Telephone communications. Radio was best teed in mobile warfare. Wher the Pussians ‘were involved ia 9 "set pisce” battle they Feliod heavily on telephones, with which they were more abundantly. eaulpped and. mare Protident in theuse of MOVEMENTS Obviously, the “simple” at of moving combat units close enough to each other to fight I 3 Imajor operation and a vital part of tacts. [Although the German unite generally had mar Wehicles and took up mare Youd space, the Fussians had the hordes time coating trafic. Overall the Russians simply has more Units, mast of which wore non-motorized. The Siferenee in “mobility” between motorized fond non-motorized units is greater than it ppesrs, parcularly when You Nave to move bby read, For example, one road connects the towns of Hlyich and Oparev. The roads 60 Km tong. A rifle division non-motorized) would take 1.25 days to go trom tvich to Ogare: it Would take hoary two days before all of the ‘visions units wore clear of the road, In thet time no other units could use the rood. During tat Same two day period, thre tank corps ould uae the same rod, even though these {hee units took Up over eight times the road sp2ce of the one rifle division, Such were the vantages of motorization Part of the oftensferred:o German “train- ing” was a highly developed skill at moving large units along congested road nets, Part of ‘his was tho avalablity of highly tained sat offers, for planning Yoad mows on 3 (age le wes ersntaly a ste function, But there ‘was also the sill of small unit leaders nthe ‘rivers in knowing what to dong what Motto do" uring 2 road march. tina Geren vantage. was their relative abundance of {odio eauioment. It was ually difficult to use twlephono eficently during the Targest and most eritcal road moves. For the Russians, {oad movements Pad to be exceedingly simple (rif they wore complex because of the scale ‘of the apeation, they needed far more time to ‘prepare for the operation than did the Ger mans. The Ruston solution was to fight roe Dattos ina rather rigid, lockstop fashion, Fer {his reason the Germans haa many opportuni ties Hrequently missed) to destroy large Pus sian forces at ile Toss to themaelves. The Fusion foress massing for an offensive fttod ttomaalves Into a massive jigsam puezle for which there was only one quick way cut in the direction of the enemy. If the Germans Ware abie to launch a “spalling attack" trom nother drcetion they could easly throw the ‘rust of Soviet forces Into a sata of confusion tot uwolly proved fatal, But the Russions ‘usually prevented this Irom happening, party ‘because the German loved down asthe War went on and partly because their mass attacks ‘became s0 mative towards the end of the war that the Shor size of the eoncentrated Soviet {orcs lineluding thousands of pieces of arti Jory) intimidated the Gormans, Once the at Jory had pulverized tho German lines (which tha Germans often avoided by pulling back at the last rinate) nd the rile divisions had ‘opened 9 hole in the ine, the. motorized ‘exploitation forces went on, straight on. This policy of having the mobile forse advance The following chart shows the road space (in kilometers) various German and Rusian units took vp GERMAN Infantry Battalion Artillery Battalion ‘Antitank Battalion Division Services Infantry Division “Tank Battalion Mot. Infantry Bataion Mot. Artillery Battalion ‘Armored Division Mot ttantry Division ‘S$ Armored Division RUSSIAN 48 Rife Rogiment 23 Artilery Battalion 20 Enpincor Battalion 1.5 Antitank Battalion 50 Division Services 21.0‘ Division 106 Tank Brigede 120 Motorized Rifle Srigede 7.0 Artillery Brigade (x 750 Tank Corps 112.0 Mechanized Corps 280 Artillery Brigade tralght forward cost the Rlusiane many lost ‘opportunities to destioy dsorganized German Units, It aso slowed the Germans to cripple ‘mony Russian mobile units with flank and rt ‘ttaks, But, in the end, twas 10 the lussan's ‘Sdvantage, for It prevented wafic jams among The Soviet forces. By maximizing the advance ef Sovet units the Gorman line was wsualy ompltely elsruptad, The taetle eventually brovaht the Russians 10 Bevin, Whatever Its shortoomings, i worked, For both Russian and German the techniaue ‘of moving large units w3s the sare. Moximur prior planing was used 10 ineure that the {argent number of units got through the ava able road pet in the least amount of time. Special alfie control uoope are stationed slong. the routes used. Marches. afe often Superised fromthe av, each column being ‘marked with numbered panels for easy Wart Fieation. For long moves (more than 9 fev ‘ays march] division ond ‘higher nits are ‘moved ty fail, whieh a subject unto sett OFFENSIVE DOCTRINE ‘There wore basic differences, and silat, in German ard Russian olfesive doctrine, The Flussians hed two types of “otensiva”” the infontty ane the tank offensive. The infantry ftfensive. wat conductes. by infantry rein forced with tanks and artillery. tagrances no foster than aman could walk, had limited objectives dow behind the [rent and was Usualyondcted on a wide front. The tank Dfenive used mobile "orcas for both break rrough and exploitation. The objectives of 2 tank offensive wate much farther behind the front ane. the motorized exploitation units bevaneod at for Sn fast as posible. The tank Gffensive took place on a very narrow front ‘The basic unit forthe infantry offensive was the reinforcad rile division” for the tank ltfenaive it ua th reinforced tank coro German offensive docwine was similar 10 the Fussion idea of 2 “tank offensive” But the GGormans uses infantry and motile units in 3 shioid Unforeryh and. sword. motile units) fashion. Almas always, mobile units fo the stack. As with due Russian fank offensive, the German attack would take place on a natrow front, This ea of eancenration would be the shwerpunkt I posible, the Getmens avoided Snultng fortified area fathough in the past ‘hey hod shown thomeaves or exports is ‘sort of attack, perhaps they alone appreciated how difficult. i was). The Germans always ought 10 turn the battle into.a fd, mole {et10n, were tele superior taining and load ‘rsp could best manifest tse OTHER OFFENSIVE ACTIONS: Tho mooring engagement often occured during a bask through by mobile forces, as the defenders ‘mabile reserves moved yp to halt the attacker's ‘exploitation Doctrine ‘here. was. somevinat Sinlor One exception wes the Rusign ins “ance on puting atilory into action as son 3 posible during a mooting engagomont. Ths ‘Was odd, in view af the fact that Russian tmobile units vere rather weak in artiiry. TRIS palcy is more understandable wen you tea Ee that the German. docirine for meeting ‘engagements sete the use of initiative By Small unit commanders as well as prior lan fing for powible meting engagements atong the route of advance, In effect, the Fusions ‘lopied deliberate defensive attitude with egos to. mecting engogoments. The pursuit doctrine ditfrs even less. AtNouh the Ger mans ad 2 tendancy. to blast. ther way {hough rearguatls with heavily. armas or ‘mofed detachmants, the Russians sessed the bypassing of rearguard Putsimply, Russian offensive doctrine was to bludgeon the enemy ta deaty wath massive, ‘wide front attacks This was what the Russian Sry was best suited for. The Gorman doctrine ‘mobile bate This was wnat the German Army seas est site for DEFENSIVE DOCTRINE “There i considerable dfforence botweon Gor. rman and Pussion defersive doctrine Greater Fecibiity anc superior mobility slowed the Germone t0 use the mable” etense more freauonty. The Rusa usualy relied on the position” dafense, Later in the war there came to be litle practical difference inthe ‘tensive doctrine OF bath sides, The Russians became mare mobile, the Germans less 20, The basic Rutan defense consisted of procticlly ail non-motorized “units being placed in the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) with mobile Unite held back for counterattacks, The Rus: Sans organized in depth wath ether mutually Supparting strongpoines (eantalizd store) fr Bolated anes {decentralized detonee). Whi both sides stressed counterattacks, tho. Ger ‘mans were more adopt at pulling them off. tn tition, the Gorman infantry was more ca able of delivering counteattonts OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS. During offensive operations Soviet infantry nite are feel reinforced with armored Units, usally 9” brigade of tanks plus 2 ‘ogimant of soltpropeliod guns. In addition ‘hore were at least two brigades of artilry and twee or four engineer bataions. Al hs was the ranimum reinforcement for aie ison attacking @ heavy fortified Garman position. German positions became more heavily fort. fied os the wat progressed. The Germans rarely teinforced ‘ther attacking intanty.divsions with more chan an assault gun battlion and a {eos extra battalions of arilery, Extra engineer battalions would alto be used winen rede, fn ovale In thuory, both Russion sd German attacks were supposed 10 be carefully planned ond fevecuted operations caried. out with closo cooperation between ‘me infanuy, artery, Germans were ae to attain sueh eoorainatian throughout the war Far tne most part. Rus flan infantry attacks were clumey affair, Most ff Rusts’ competent manpower want into the technics branches artilry, engines ‘rmorl. For thi reason the artilry, engineer fan ormor support of infantry atacks vas ‘ually of a/muen higher ealber than mat af the infantry ital, but not yet quite up to Gorman standards, Artery fra was usually ‘massive, but not very efficient Enginger work 9s goed, particularly n clearing minefiees ‘Armor support was also good. although eart of {his could be attributed to the excellence of ‘the Soviet armored vehieles. ‘A typical attack would be “announced” by ontkerable Rusign patil activity an the Veooks preceding. Aout ree days before the attack ‘bagan, the mosses of Fustian atlory ‘would move up tothe front and bes eet thon on Heir targets. Far important ottensives the Russians would moss 38 many ae two 70 four aiilery brigades per kilometer of front. ‘Tho atack would open with a one to thes hour bombardment, followed by long range Firing into the eoemy rear as. the infantry ‘vanced. I he Germans were in foriflation ‘many of thom would often survive evan this Sort of bomourdment — thus the importance Sf hoving armor goin with the infantry Moreever. tha ‘German defenses were often in et dopin: usually sx to eight kilometers. €y the tine the Rusia attack had gone tough the Garman defense line it was aut of range of itsartery. Again, the nee Tor armor wath the The Germans placed antitank and ont personne! minetalds throughout thar dense Position, a5 well as around their artery Positions thus the. noed for “engines throughout she attack Overal, tanks with *Me Infantry were the Key to a succesful attack ne German machinegin. with good fields of tire (Qo which the. Cortans paid portilar attntion) and sufficient ommuniion, could Fold up Ruston infantry on one kilometer of ‘ont. Normally the Gormans would Rave 32 1 68 mochingguns par bilometer of front ‘Without tanks oF selfpropellad. guns, one of those machineguns surviving the bomberdment ‘ould stall the entire advance, On the other hand, the Germans would normally have hao ‘nly 3 to B ont tank guns por kilometer of ‘ont (plus 9 to 18 bazookas! Although one fnirtank gun would. normally account for three or more tanks before Beleg put avt of fetion (Gazookas might account for one ‘piece, they wore much harde to entrench to ‘itnstand 9 bombardment, ae ere meh se ffactive aainst infantry. ony’ tactical “lessons hg to be tarred the hard vay, particularly by the Germans. who foded and dopanded on superior vaning ‘more than the Russians, Thus there developed certain "Eastern" school of German tactics Here are some of the “lesions” ofthe "East 1. — 11 was not necessary to cover the entire {actor allocatad to an attacking unit. The Fssians were not apt to bother open German tanks. 2 — fusian antitank defenses could not be Deeachad by tank alone. Infantry had to do mont of th work with tanks supporting, Frontage alloted to German and Russian unit when attacking ar a follows (i kilometers): Germans Infantry Battalion 0.4.1 Infantry Regiment — 0.82 Infantry Division 45 Armored Division 1.83 Russian 0 Rifle Battalion 1S Rifle Regiment 25 Rifle Division 34.8 Tank Comps ‘Again, the German machine gin wos ‘superior. The Gorman heavy MG was ‘nothing more than an MG 42 with » heavier mount. The Bussons used 2 vari ‘ty of “heavy” machine guns. Many ofthe “other” models were older nes lft over from earier conticts. The DS wos sup. posed to be “standard.” The Russian ‘medium mortar was marginally superior in ‘quality t0 the German It had the added ‘avanage (because ofits caliber) of being fable to use enemy ammunition while the Germans could not do the same. Early in the war the Gormans had also used 3 light ‘mortar but soon dropped it because of the Superiority of ‘all of their other heavy ‘waapons. The Russians retained heirs They needed all the help they could get, even though the ight mortar threw a Drojectile barely twice as heavy a6 2 hand (remade. The heavy mortar nas 2 Russian Innovation ‘which the Germans literally copied. The Rusions aso used If as a0 aller piece, having orgonized mortar “divisions” consisting of (908 mortar) ‘brigades. For the Germans it was just ‘another heavy weapon, slthough it re laced, from time to time, the light and Ihawvy infantry guns. The infantry guns wore a Gorman specialty, a holdover from Word War when German infantry units ‘would often outrun their regular artillery. The infantry guns were particularly good for destroying heavily fortified positions. Each regiment usually had sx light and ‘wo hesvy infantry guns. The Russian HEAVY INFANTRY WEAPONS ve cam xin nas vimsrduin ict Yai eA ERC feminism Sian ain Bem Lisi = nen es le) ili, aioe le RRs, iy vimoimt.om ___fensn. stm _iaip)_nomne. I6iRl oem oo i om ee x enon gal

    You might also like