Urban Warfare

Urban warfare is a different style of warfare because an enemy could be hiding anywhere, each house must be cleared out individually, and no powerful weapons may be used out of fear for collateral damage. However, it is disadvantageous to use because of the danger it puts your own civilians in. Despite this, however, many weaker enemies resort to urban warfare in order to combat a powerful enemy. For this reason, the US has developed MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) training.

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942-43) in WWII is a prime example of urban warfare. It was initiated due to Operation Barbarossa, the German push eastward towards Moscow. Stalingrad was a key target due to its symbolic name and its industrial capacity. Initially, the Russians under Zhukov were almost completely pushed out of the city by Paulus's Sixth Army. However, powerful Russian tank, skilled Russian snipers, and masses of Russian soldiers (whose life expectancy was less than 24 hours) fought back and even surrounded the Germans in Operation Uranus. Eventually, after a failed rescue attempt by Manstein's German Army, Paulus surrendered and the Russians won the battle.

Military Strategy - Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg means "lightening war". Blitzkrieg was first used by the Germans in World War Two and was a tactic based on speed and surprise and needed a military force to be based around light tank units supported by planes and infantry (foot soldiers). The tactic was developed in Germany by an army officer called Hans Guderian. He had written a military pamphlet called "Achtung Panzer" which got into the hands of Hitler. As a tactic it was used to devastating effect in the first years of World War Two and resulted in the British and French armies being pushed back in just a few weeks to the beaches of Dunkirk and the Russian army being devastated in the attack on Russia in June 1941.

Hitler had spent four years in World War One fighting a static war with neither side moving far for months on end. He was enthralled by Guderian’s plan that was based purely on speed and movement. When Guderian told Hitler that he could reach the French coast in weeks if an attack on France was ordered, fellow officers openly laughed at him. The German High Command told Hitler that his "boast" was impossible. General Busch said to Guderian, "Well, I don’t think that you’ll cross the River Meuse in the first place." The River Meuse was considered France’s first major line of defence and it was thought of as being impossible to cross in a battle situation.

Blitzkrieg was based on speed, co-ordination and movement. It was designed to hit hard and move on instantly. Its aim was to create panic amongst the civilian population. A civil population on the move can be absolute havoc for a defending army trying to get its forces to the war front. Doubt, confusion and rumour were sure to paralyse both the government and the defending military.

"Speed, and still more speed, and always speed was the secret……..and that demanded audacity, more audacity and always audacity." Major General Fuller

Once a strategic target had been selected, Stuka dive bombers were sent in to ‘soften’ up the enemy, destroy all rail lines, communication centres and major rail links. This was done as the German tanks were approaching and the planes withdrew only at the last minute so that the enemy did not have time to recover their senses when the tanks attacked supported by infantry.

Most troops were moved by half-track vehicles so there was no real need for roads though these were repaired so that they could be used by the Germans at a later date. Once a target had been taken, the Germans did not stop to celebrate victory; they moved on to the next target. Retreating civilians hindered any work done by the army being attacked. Those civilians fleeing the fighting were also attacked to create further mayhem.

How effective was Blitzkrieg?

In 1941, a diary kept by an unknown French soldier was found. In it are some interesting comments that help us understand why this tactic was so successful :

"When the dive-bombers come down, they (the French) stood it for two hours and then ran with their hands over their ears." "Sedan fell as a result of a bombardment……….it was a superb example of military surprise." "The pace is too fast……it’s the co-operation between the dive-bombers and the tanks that is winning the war for Germany." "News that the Germans are in Amiens………this is like some ridiculous nightmare."

All the above were written in a period of just 5 days : May 15th 1940 to May 19th 1940.

Why were the armies of Europe caught so badly prepared by this tactic?

Hitler had given his full backing to Guderian. Ironically, he had got his idea for Blitzkrieg from two officers - one from France and one from Britain and he had copied and broadened what they had put on paper. In Britain and France, the cavalry regiments ruled supreme and they were adamant that the tanks would not get any influence in their armies. The High Commands of both countries were dominated by the old traditional cavalry regiments and their political pull was great. These were the type of officers despised by Hitler and he took to his Panzer officer, Guderian, over the old officers that were in the German Army (the Wehrmacht).

In 1940, Britain and France still had a World War One mentality. What tanks they had were poor compared to the German Panzers. British and French tactics were outdated and Britain still had the mentality that as an island we were safe as our navy would protect us. Nazi Germany, if it was to fulfill Hitler's wishes, had to have a modern military tactic if it was to conquer Europe and give to Germany the 'living space' that Hitler deemed was necessary for the Third Reich.

It was used to devastating effect in Poland, western Europe where the Allies were pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk and in the attack on Russia - Operation Barbarossa.

The D Day Planning

6th of June marks one of the important days in the world history. It was the day when the tide of the world war 2 was turned and marked the decline of the Nazi hold on the Europe. The military operation was Operation Overload - a carefully planned military operation for allied troop assault on the french coast of Normandy. It was the largest seaborne military operation involving over 85000 troops.

Long criticized by Stalin for not relieving the pressure on the U.S.S.R. by invading northern Europe, Roosevelt and even Churchill, who favored peripheral campaigns, understood from the start that an invasion of France would ultimately be necessary to defeat Nazi Germany. Planning for a cross-Channel operation began in 1942 and accelerated with the Mediterranean successes of 1943. The Italian campaign faltered partly because the Americans insisted on concentrating troops and materials in England for a Channel crossing. The Soviets launched a huge mid-1944 ground assault against the Germans partly to facilitate the Anglo-American landings.

Operation Overlord was in fact one of the most carefully planned and spectacularly successful military operations in history. An elaborate ruse involving General Patton and a phantom army in Britain confused Berlin as to the probable landing site, leaving Normandy defenses thin and Hitler reluctant to commit reserves even as the landings were occurring. The British and Canadians ran into important panzer divisions, but even these were only accidentally in position while resting and refitting from fighting on the Eastern Front.

The Allied beach targets conformed to the areas of troop buildup in Southern England, which in turn reflected the fact that the American area was close to the Atlantic approaches for the U.S. soldiers and equipment required to assault Fortress Europe. The two American beaches were on the Atlantic (western) end of the invasion area across from the American embarkation ports; the three British and Canadian beaches were on the European (eastern) end, across from their respective ports. Beach assignments in turn largely determined the paths of advance toward the Reich, with the British and Canadians moving north along the coast and the Americans sweeping inland and north to avoid crossing the supply lines of their Anglo-Canadian allies.

The landings on June 6 were a masterpiece of amphibious warfare and combined arms, in part because of experience gained in the Mediterranean theater. Predawn air drops on either end of the beachhead area helped sow confusion and prevent German flanking maneuvers. Precision naval gunnery helped reduce German seaward gun emplacements. Destroyers screened the ends of the Channel to prevent U-boat penetrations. Allied air power kept the skies largely free of Luftwaffe fighters, already scarce from losses in Russia and Italy. Specialized landing craft ferried troops and equipment (from telephone wire to filing cabinets to mortars) and provided covering fire. Specialized tanks (with flails to explode land mines, carpet rolls to provide traction on sand, and the like) supported the landings.

By day's end, 125,000 troops were ashore. Casualties—some 9,000, fewer than half of them dead—were light for so large and complex an operation. The biggest losses came in the morning hours at Omaha Beach, where Americans of the 1st Infantry Division, the famed "Big Red One," encountered crack German infantry after being dropped prematurely into the surf. But the invaders were onshore to stay, and by June 12 they had linked up in a continuous 40-mile beachhead that both permitted full lateral movement and provided a narrow space for further reinforcements 850,000 men, 150,000 vehicles, and 600,000 tons of supplies by the end of the month.

300 or 21?

The numbers pertain to the immortalised souls fighting in two of the greatest battles the world has ever seen.

The first battle is the Battle of Thermopylae, the unforgettable battle between the vast army of Persian King Xerxes and the Heroic King of Sparta Leonidas with his 300 Spartan warriors. Leonidas and his Spartans died in defense of the highest human value Freedom. This battle is now hughely popular thanks to the movie 300, the adaptation of the battle.The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is often used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers, and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.

The second battle is the Battle of Saragarhi. The bravest last stand ever seen by the world. The Battle of Saragarhi was fought during the Tirah Campaign on 12 September 1897 between twenty one Sikhs of the 4th Battalion (then 36th Sikhs) of the Sikh Regiment of British India, defending an army post, and 10000 Afghan and Orakzais tribesmen to the last stand. The battle occurred in the North-West Frontier Province, now a part of Pakistan, which then formed part of British India.

The contingent of the twenty-one Sikhs from the 36th Sikhs was led by Havildar Ishar Singh all chose to fight to the death. Only on the next day, was a relief column able to reach Saragarhi. The Afghans later admitted, "they had lost 4,800 men during the engagement" against the 21 Sikh soliders.

These glorious battles are also taught in schools of France and figures in the "Eight collective stories on bravery" published by the UNESCO. I wonder how many of we Indians have even heard of this battle!!

Thermopylae vs Saragarhi

The ratio of the defending to the attacking force of ca. 1:476 (21 vs. 10,000) at Saragarhi, is reminiscent of the 1:285 ratio at Thermopylae (300 Spartans & 6,700 Greeks vs. 0.8 to 2.1 million). Based on modern estimates, the Persian Army numbered 150,000–200,000 producing a ratio of 1:29.

It is important to note that during the Battle of Saraghari, the British did not manage to get a relief unit there until after the 21 had fought to their deaths. At Thermopylae, the 300 Spartans also stayed after their lines had been breached, to fight to their deaths.

We do have a "300" for Thermopylae, but will we ever have "21" for Saragarhi??