Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

oth methods the same processes seem to be at work for Boyd. Infiltration tactics aspracticed by the Germans under Ludendorff consisted of brief but intense artillerybombardment, that included gas and smoke shell, to disrupt and suppress defenses, toobscure the assault. Small light teams of troops without any linear formation followed thebarrage and spread out along the front in depth and in width. They did not attempt tomaintain a uniform rate of advance or align formations. Instead, as many tiny, irregularswarms spaced in breadth and echeloned in depth, they seep or flow into any gaps orweaknesses they can find in order to drive deep into the adversary’s rear. These small shocktroops would be followed by small battle groups consisting of infantry, machine-gunners,mortar teams, artillery observers and field engineers. These groups were better equipped todeal with remaining exposed enemy flanks and to mop-up isolated centers of resistance.Subsequently. Reserves and stronger follow-on echelons move through newly createdbreaches to maintain momentum and exploit success, as well as attack flanks and rearpositions to widen the penetration and consolidate gains against the expected counterattack58 . The idea behind this was to:Hurl strength (echeloned in great depth) via an irruption of many thrusts, thru weaknessesalong (many) paths of least resistance to gain the opportunity for breakthrough anddevelopment.However, such a focus on maneuver did not sufficiently address how and why infiltrationfire and movement schemes work. Again Boyd addresses the way physical movement,artillery fire, gas and smoke and size and mode of operation of the attack units affectedenemy perception and psyche. The key points to note about infiltration tactics relate to thisrelation between one’s own actions and the enemy’s mental processes 59 :Fire at all levels by artillery, mortars, and machine-guns is exploited to hold adversaryattention and pin him down hence -Fire together with gas and smoke (as well as fog and mist) represent an immediate andominous threat to capture adversary attention, force heads down and dramaticallyobscure view, thereby cloak infiltration movements.Dispersed and irregular character of moving swarms (as opposed to well defined lineabreast formations) permit infiltrators to blend against irregular and changing terrainfeatures as they push forward.Taken together, the captured attention, the obscured view, and the indistinct characterof moving dispersed/irregular swarms deny adversary the opportunity to picture what istaking placeThe result of this dynamic is thatInfiltration teams appear to suddenly loom-up out of nowhere to blow thru, around,and behind disoriented defenders.In more abstract terms, Boyd defines the essence of infiltration tactics as 60 :58 Ibid, p.57.59 Ibid, p.59.60 Ibid, p.60.194