What is the differenc between interior and exterior lines of operation in military terms?

Answer 1

Basically it's about the scope of military maneuver on either Strategic or Tactical level. If you operate on Interior lines then you have set the width of the battlefront & will deploy your reserve within these parameters. Exterior lines is the opposite, having laid out your force in their dispositions you are then prepared to deploy outside the set boundaries of these dispositions. Take Napoleon in the Waterloo campaign as an example: he deploys 2 wings under Ney on the left & Grouchy on the right, keeping the Imperial Guard under his own control to support either wing. Interior lines in action, just a shame that neither Grouchy or Ney quite had the script! but then at Borodino (1812) Napoleon should have acted on External lines & he bottled it.....