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To: Michael.SF.; Flag_This

It is possible to be on the strategic offensive but fight a tactical defense. Alesia comes to mind.


39 posted on 06/29/2013 8:50:31 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: FreedomPoster

Agreed. I did note earlier, that the same point made by another was a valid one.


64 posted on 06/29/2013 4:38:38 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (Obama lied, Stevens died, now Obama covers up the lies.)
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To: FreedomPoster

Strategic Offensive and Tactical Defense is an ideal but hard to achieve. Jan Hus tried the same with cannon, wagon lagers and aggressive cavalry to goad his opponents into a counterattack.

His tactics worked until the other side had figured out the gag. Alert enemies could prevent setting up the wagon lager, or could counter the lager with walls of circumvalliation, as Caesar did at Alesia.

Meade was in on the gag, and refused to bloody his forces at Gettysburg in a counterattack. The Tactical defensive against an opponent that refused to attack would mean getting cut off and starved. That eventually happened in Virginia.

Sheridan was ordered to put his forces in the Shenandoah valley south of the pretended confederates and follow them to hell. That permitted operational flexibility that prevented costly frontal attacks by the US against the insurrection.


92 posted on 06/30/2013 8:05:05 PM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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