21 replies to this topic

[Polymorphyne]

Aaah Haig and WW1 tactics overall- "Lets just throw more men across the machine gunned barbed wire minefield to take an extra metre of ground! The enemy wont expect us to do it for the hundredth time!"

On an interesting note however, one german general apparently did write to a british general complaining about the british's use of Australians as attacking troops, saying it was completely unfair to use Australians against them (as Australians often actually succeeded at charging across no mans land and taking the trenches!)

[Jack Gammel]

Here are a few of the worst tactics/strategies in history:

-The French in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) had the mitrailleuse, a progenitor of the modern machine gun, but they mounted it on a fixed platform. They could fire all the bullets they wanted, but only in one direction unless they moved the entire weapon carriage. Excellent. Actually, the entire war was pretty one sided. Unfortunately, its relatively short nature (5 months) was one of the primary reasons elements in Europe believed that the Great War would be over quickly.

-The Great War (1914-1918). Old generals in the High Commands of both the Central and Entente powers were unable to consider the ramifications of technological advances which made defensive tactics far superior to offensive tactics during the opening years of the war. They were operating on outdated concepts, and they were willing to accept casualties to achieve their goals. They were unprepared for the level of death which they encountered, and that's the great tragedy of the First World War.

-The American Civil War (1861-1865). The general strategies involved and lack of training on both sides meant that both the Confederacy and the Union accrued obscene casualty levels in battles which were not necessarily decisive. Consider that total casualties for the war numbered around 750,000 to 850,000 and in relation to the total population of the United States at that time a similar casualty rate in the modern United States would be around 7 to 8 million. The Army of the Potomac was one of the worst offenders here (though the Confederate commanders in the West gave them a run for their money), its commanders completely unable to wage an effective campaign in the East against Lee in spite of the fact that the Union enjoyed almost every advantage over their Confederate enemies. Of course, if the war had concluded quickly the slaves would never have been emancipated...

-The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) is another example of bad tactics. Specifically, the Beiyang Fleet was completely destroyed in harbor by the Japanese because the Chinese hierarchy was so corrupt there were no sentries on duty.

-Operation Citadel (1943). Enough said. Hitler was a lunatic, and I suppose we can all be glad that he was.

-The Japanese in the Nomonhan Incident (1939). The Japanese had this crazy idea about willpower and infantry without any anti-tank weapons beating heavy armored formations. In short: it didn't work. On another note, this was also Georgy Zhukov's chance to prove himself at the command level, and he did so brilliantly. Since he was stationed in the East and lacked the notoriety of other members of the Soviet High Command he managed to avoid being murdered in Stalin's purges, and his leadership would prove integral to the USSR's eventual victory in WWII.

Edited by Jack Gammel, 04 March 2012 - 06:41 AM.