military tactics
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Military tactics (Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army) are the collective name for methods for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics.
Up until the nineteenth century, many military tactics were confined to battlefield concerns, such as how to best maneuver units during combat in open terrain. In current military thought, tactics are the lowest level of planning, involving small units ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred men. Units are organized into formations, comprising a higher level of planning known as the operational use of forces. The third tier of military planning is strategic, which is concerned with the overall means and plan for achieving a long-term outcome. Operational art is thus an intermediate level in which the aim is to convert the strategy (highest level) into tactics (lowest level of planning).
Specialized tactics exist for many situations, ranging from securing a room or individual building, to large-scale operations such as establishing air superiority over a region. Today, military tactics are employed at all levels of command, from individual and group up to entire armed forces. Indeed, the units used in warfare have always been a reflection of current military tactics, and their size and composition have varied accordingly. In British terminology, military tactics involving naval forces are often called naval tactics (cf. usage of military).
The United States Army Field Manual 3-0 offers the following definition of "tactics:" "Tactics – (Department Of Defense) 1. The employment of units in combat. 2. The ordered arrangement and maneuver of units in relation to each other and/or to the enemy in order to use their full potentialities. (Army) The employment of units in combat. It includes the ordered arrangement and maneuver of units in relation to each other, the terrain, and the enemy in order to translate potential combat power into victorious battles and engagements. (FM 3-0)."
Within the scope of war, the US military generally defines three levels of war; 1. the strategic which includes both the National level and the Combatant Command (theater) level; 2. the operational level, which extends from the level of a joint task force including the combined forces of naval and air power with amphibious and ground operation to the maneuver brigade echelon; and 3. the tactical echelon that extends from the maneuver brigade to the lowest fighting elements including individual soldiers.
Common military tactics include frontal assaults, attempts to flank the enemy, keeping troops in reserve and the use of ambushes. Often deception in the form of military camouflage or misdirection using decoys, are used to confuse the enemy. Another major military tactic is trench warfare. This was mainly employed in World War I in the Battle of Gallipoli and the western front. Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, because in order to attack an enemy entrenchment soldiers had to run through an exposed "no man's land" under heavy fire from an entrenched enemy.
Encirclement
In both cases, encirclement is a good idea. When fighting, an encircled army is being hit from many angles at once, making it difficult to fight back effectively. Also, encirclement cuts off supplies. Therefore, encirclement is one of the most central tactics used in warfare. But encirclement is not always the most beneficial course of action. Flanking is a form of partial encirclement.
Frontal attacks
Second to encirclement comes the tactic of frontal attacks concentrated on a weaker part of the opponent's army Human wave attack was one such tactic. With this tactic, encirclement is not necessary, since the attackers can destroy the opponent with one powerful blow, and then regroup and go on to overwhelm other parts of the enemy's army (also known as "defeat in detail"). Surprise and concealing the attacking army's location, movements, and intentions are critical for success with this kind of tactic, since it depends on the defending army to have spread out thinly, not knowing where to expect the attack, while the attackers concentrate their forces in one location and destroy all in their way.
In order to make the opponent spread their forces out thinly, the attackers using this tactic need to keep the defender ignorant of their exact whereabouts, intentions, and where they will attack next. This can be very difficult to do since the opponent will often be able to see where the attacking army is amassing its forces, and they will respond by amassing their forces opposite to that build-up, thereby countering the attackers' build-up. Thus, this tactic is normally only employed when the attacking army is much stronger than the one defending, so even if the defender amasses their forces opposite the offensive army, they still cannot face up to the attacker.
Hit and run tactics
If one side (usually the defender in familiar territory) is much weaker than their opponent, they may break their army up into small groups, so that there is no way the army can be destroyed in one blow. They can then send the groups at the attacker from different directions, where and when they are not expected, to cause damage and then quickly flee before the attacker has a chance to respond effectively. These techniques are also part of guerrilla tactics and asymmetric warfare.
To respond to these kinds of tactics, the larger army has to send out parties of soldiers to find out where the enemy's groups are hiding, and then destroy them one by one. This can be very difficult if the guerrillas are located in jungles, forests, mountains, cities or other broken terrain and they have no permanent bases to defend. Throughout history, there are many examples of large and powerful armies which have been weakened or defeated by small mobile guerrilla forces.
Suppressive fire
Applying heavy firepower to a defensive position both reduces the mobility of a defending force and its ability to return fire. While the defending force is in this state, the attacking force can move its' assault elements forward under this covering fire to close with the enemy. This can be done by moving to either side of the enemy position ("flanking") or moving directly forward and then setting up a position to provide suppressive fire for the units previously providing suppressive fire to move forward in their turn ("bounding"). These tactics became more necessary with the development of automatic weapons.
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a tactic in which the combatant is expected to be sacrificed. A famous example of suicide attackers are the Japanese kamikaze pilots in World War II. Suicide attacks can be effective for several reasons. Since the combatants are intended to be sacrificed, less provisions in equipment, training, and infrastructure are needed to create and support them. There is also a demoralizing effect upon the defenders of such an attack, because such an attacker cannot be repelled or forced to surrender, only destroyed. In spite of these factors, suicide attacks can only be maintained for a short time because of the high attrition rate. In general, such tactics are only used in a situation of asymmetric warfare when all other alternatives have been exhausted.
Line tactics
A common tactic used primarily when armies face off, is the usage of line tactics. Line tactics generally involves the use of long lines of army forces facing the enemy with the goal of stopping the enemy from surrounding the troops. The difference in spacing of forces determines how the enemy will respond to the usage of this tactic. There is always a weakness in the use of line tactics though. Spreading the troops too thin will make it easy for the enemy to use the Overwhelming Force tactic. However, heavily concentrated troops let the enemy surround and eventually destroy the surrounded troops.
See also
Bibliography
- Muhm, Gerhard. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign.
- Gerhard Muhm : La Tattica nella campagna d’Italia, in LINEA GOTICA AVAMPOSTO DEI BALCANI, (Hrsg.) Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993
External links
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