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| The Art Of World War 2 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:20 am (452 Views) | |
| Gryffin | Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:20 am Post #1 |
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Han's Unifier
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Here's a term paper I did last year. What do you think? History has been defined by conflict. Be it an argument over religion or a world war, humanity has used these instances as benchmarks in recording events. As humanity evolved, its fascination with war hasn’t ceased. Warfare itself, though superficially changed by technology, remains fundamentally the same, firmly based on certain principles, such as those discussed in Sun-tzu’s Art of War. Despite its magnitude, World War II was no different; both the Allies and the Axis powers needed to utilize these principles to be victorious. The Art of War has thirteen chapters, each with its own essential principles, which can be illustrated by certain events in WWII. The first chapter of the Art of War stresses one thing: Warfare is the most important affair of the state. It must be carefully analyzed and pondered, and never rushed into. Everything from material strength to leadership must be taken into account. This applies not only to the whole war, but to individual battles; before engaging the enemy, the stronger force must be determined, so as to deal with the difference in strength accordingly. The Japanese, by contrast, failed to take into account the US’s immense industrial potential when they decided to attack Pearl Harbor. During WWI, America, fueled with a desire for revenge, quickly geared its full industrial might into the feared war machine that had turned the tide of the war. However, the Japanese didn’t learn from the Central Powers’ mistake; perhaps assuming that the Depression had fatally slowed our economy, Japan gambled on a quick, decisive strike to both bring the US into, and take out of, the war. Unfortunately for the Axis, not only did the Japanese fail to take the country’s industrial strength into account, but they failed to knock out the US’s carriers. The second chapter states that in addition to being the most important affairs of the state, warfare is also one of the costliest. Therefore, rather than draining one’s resources feeding and equipping the army, one should use the enemy for sustenance. Stealing supplies, capturing equipment, and even simply foraging for food and shelter are all encouraged. This way, your country stays prosperous, while the enemy is robbed of essential materials for making war. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, their initial victories prompted Stalin to proclaim a “Scorched Earth” policy; that is, to destroy everything when forced to retreat, so as to deny the enemy any material reward. Everything the Russians couldn’t take with them, from crops to houses to forests, was burned. Cattle were driven towards the center of the nation. Stalin hoped to force the Germans to fatally stretch their supply lines, which could then be encircled and cut. When the Russian counteroffensive following Stalingrad began, the policy began to do its work; the Russians totally isolated soon-to-be Field Marshall Paulus’ force in the city, starving the beleaguered force into submission. The fifth and sixth chapters relay similar messages. Victory is achieved through the use of both orthodox and unorthodox tactics. It is worth noting that in some situations, the orthodox becomes unorthodox due to the circumstances, and vice-versa. A charge in an ideal ambush location could catch the enemy off guard. Do the unexpected, strike the undefended, and never let your enemy know your plans. If your intentions are unknown, the enemy will have to spread itself out. The British were masters of deception. In Africa, the British employed all forms of deception, including fake tanks, false information, and a unit comprised entirely of magicians and the like to create ways to deceive the enemy. They even rigged up a series of lights to serve as a decoy of Cairo in the event of a night raid. The Germans long suspected the coming of the D-day invasion; in fact, Erwin Rommel personally designed the defenses of the French coast to withstand an invasion. However, it was believe that the assault was intended for Pais de Calais, rather than Normandy. Calais was a closer and more favorable landing site, and the Allies furthered the ruse by creating hundreds of fake tanks and landing craft for the supposed “invasion” of Calais. It was so effective that, during Operation Overlord, Hitler refused to send a number of elite panzer units to repel the invaders, believing that it was merely a feint, and that the true attack was still coming at Calais. According to the seventh chapter, to achieve victory, the army must advance as swiftly as the wind, fight as fiercely as fire, hold position as steady as the mountain, and infiltrate as silently as the forest. The chapter essentially stresses the army’s need to exert its utmost in any action. A prime example of this is the Normandy landing. It required the paratroopers infiltrated enemy lines (silent as forest) and disable defenses before the soldiers arrived the next day (swift as wind), at which the marine forces was to take and hold the beaches (fierce as fire), and withstand the counterattack (steady as mountain) until the paratroopers reunited with them. The eighth chapter contains the “do’s and do not’s” of war. For example, do not stay on isolated terrain. The army likes heights, but hates low places. Likewise, the army prefers sunny areas, and abhors shadows. If you can go forth, but it is difficult to return, then it is suspended terrain. If, in this situation, the enemy is unprepared, go forth and conquer. If not, be wary that defeat will mean annihilation. If you cast your men into a hopeless situation, they shall be preserved. If there is no hope of survival, your men will exert themselves to the utmost. At Normandy, the Germans, who occupied the high cliffs, had a distinct advantage over the Allied soldiers on the beaches. The beaches were isolated and suspended terrain. If the soldiers failed in their objectives, not a soul would return, and if the soldiers stayed where they were, they would be slain. Therefore, they advanced as quickly as possible to more protected positions. At Omaha Beach in particular, the COs, realizing that there was no hope of survival, rallied their soldiers together. They then fought with the fierceness of cornered animals, and brought victory, even as Omar Bradley considered retreat. Also in the eighth chapter are the five dangerous traits of a general. For example, one obsessed with reputation can be shamed , while the general who doesn’t advance or retreat for fame or fear of punishment, but seeks only to preserve the people and benefit the ruler is the treasure of the state. General Montgomery was a military genius; however, he is considered by many to be far too cautious. This stemmed from his fear of tainting his reputation; his choice to not pursue Rommel after El Alamein is a prime example of this. The war in Africa, which he could have ended in days, took months more. However, Field Marshals Erwin Rommel and Erich von Manstein, two of Hitler’s most talented and widely respected officers, held objective views of the war, and frequently remonstrated with Hitler and his policies. When America entered the war, these two were among the only leaders to obtain victories over the Allies. The last chapter of the Art of War is solely based on one thing. The art of information is the most important secret of the country. To betray this secret is to doom the army. Use a variety of spies, ranging from local guides to the enemy’s spies, as double agents. One of the British’s greatest advantages was that it broke Germany’s Enigma Code. This allowed the British to monitor the Germans’ plans and appropriately react. Also, U-boat captains were told to give periodic reports to Nazi HQ. The British were able to tell where the subs were from this, and the captains never figured this out. The British went to great lengths to keep the Germans from discovering their advantage. For instance, when they learned of the location of a fleet, the British would send a plane to the location of the fleet prior to engaging it, so as to give the illusion that the scouts were reporting their locations. One of the fleets scheduled to aid the Afrika Corps in its evacuation of the continent was destroyed this way, trapping additional Germans in Africa. America also benefited from an intelligence advantage. Specifically, the US had broken Japan’s code, called Magic, even before engaging in war. The fact that Magic was broken was just as well protected as the Enigma, and when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the government, which presumably knew of the intended attack, not only failed to stop it, but failed to explain why. The breaking of the code also led to the decisive battle of Midway, which turned the tide of the Pacific War. America not only broke the Japanese code, it also benefited from arguably the most secure code in the world. Using a coded version of the Navajo language, a language in itself only understood by the Navajo people, the US was able to send messages without any threat of decoding. The 30 or so Navajo who understood the code were among the Navy’s most valuable assets. All of them had two or three Marines escorting them everywhere, with instructions to do everything in their power, including sacrificing their lives, to keep the code talker out of enemy hands. Of course, it would be a lie to say that the Allies had a total advantage over the Axis in terms of intelligence. For instance, Operation Market Garden, a large-scale paratroop drop into Europe, failed entirely due to Nazi double agent Christian “King Kong” Lindemans. Lindemans, head of the Dutch Resistance, lead numerous commando raids, but nearly all of them ended in failure, with Lindemans being the only survivor. It wasn’t until Dutch counterespionage agent Oresto Pinto noticed the pattern and caught Lindemans in a sting operation that anyone realized Lindemans’ true purpose. War has been, and always will be, defined by the principles laid down by Sun-tzu. Whether it is a minor revolt of a small country or a war enveloping a continent, conflict is based on these concepts. WWII, despite its reputation as “The Big One,” was, at heart, just a war. It, too, relied on Sun-tzu’s immortal teachings. Ironically, the Japanese had long studied the Art of War, yet they ignored his most important principle: “Warfare is the most important affair of the state. It must be carefully analyzed and pondered, and never rushed into.” Their shortsighted attack on Pearl Harbor cost their side the war. This is a testament to the timelessness of the Art of War and the lessons it gives. |
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| Guan Yu's apprentice | Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:33 am Post #2 |
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And so his first commander and boss has left this site.
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That's a very nice essay comparing The Art Of War to WWII |
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| Gryffin | Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:42 pm Post #3 |
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Han's Unifier
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Not really comparing, per se, but I appreciate the compliment, nonetheless. |
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