A tactical victory is a victory in which the losses of the defeated outweigh those of the victor. A tactical victory may also be a victory, that results in no substantial or long-term gains.
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Concepts
Large scale planning of goals may be called strategy, in contrast to smaller scale organized handling of assets called tactics.[1] Tactical assets include soldiers, vehicles, weapons, and munitions. Strategy might be as encompassing as a national policy, while tactics might be as simple as the combat maneuvering of an individual soldier in a skirmish with an enemy soldier. These definitions may become blurred in large scale tactical maneuvering of troops in division-sized formations, or strategic goals of company-sized units to exercise control of important positions. Nations may have differing strategic objectives for a conflict, and their individual combat units may be made to believe in still different objectives. Survival, on an individual or unit level, may become an important objective in battle. Different objectives allow both sides to maintain morale by declarations of victory to justify the costs of combat. Many battles involving multiple units include elements of tactical success by both of the opposing forces. These individual tactical victories may not cause the force to be successful in that battle or in the larger goals of the conflict.[2]
Examples
An example would be the Battle of the Coral Sea. The battle was considered a strategic victory for the Allies, because they stopped a Japanese invasion, but the Japanese lost fewer ships (the Allies lost one aircraft carrier, one destroyer and one oil tanker while the Japanese lost one light carrier and one destroyer), so it was considered a tactical victory for the Japanese.[3]
See also
Notes
References
- Dunnigan, James F. (1982). How to Make War. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-00780-5.
- Potter, E.B. and Nimitz, Chester W. (1960). Sea Power. Prentice-Hall.
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