Do we let our enemies walk through the front door?
YES. In ancient battles, the ONLY way to completely annihilate your enemy was to get them to push forward in the center while they are surrounded. Your center MUST retreat until the flanks have completely enveloped the enemy.
If you do not do this, then the enemy WILL retreat and scatter once they sense they are losing.
NOTE that once they realize they are completely encircled, they will fight like dragons. Your men must be ready for their ferocity.
Eventually, they will become paralyzed with fear and despair. At this point, the "work of death" begins as you slaughter them in large quantities.
Play it right, and you can kill every last one of them.
Note that you must decapitate their army first. The generals are there to prevent falling victim to this tactic.
Gettysburg was a different scenario. Rifles and artillery change the scale of the battlefield. The assault was an attempt to gain a favorable position on the flank. Had they succeeded, the entire Northern position would be in danger. The dynamics of the Civil War made it desirable for the South to get a decisive victory, while the North simply had to hold together and outlast them. This, the South had to take the hill.
I am thinking more along the lines of ancient battles where encirclement was the outcome. This happens in modern warfare but at a much larger scale. We call it "cutting off supply lines" and such.
Awe. I see. I did understand what he was trying to achieve, and considering the disadvantage of the North having the high ground and Longstreet's objections, his decision is a true conundrum and so very un-Lee like. I thought perhaps he was pulling on some ancient battlefield wisdom. Like Patton. Thanks. Married to a Civil War nut. Visited Andersonville on my honeymoon. My knowledge is based on forced osmoses.
I spent (before moving to TN) the last decade living near Antietam, about 12 miles away. Really got into the history of all the nearby battlefields & took a LOT of pictures. To say the whole area is haunted is an understatement.
YES. In ancient battles, the ONLY way to completely annihilate your enemy was to get them to push forward in the center while they are surrounded. Your center MUST retreat until the flanks have completely enveloped the enemy.
If you do not do this, then the enemy WILL retreat and scatter once they sense they are losing.
NOTE that once they realize they are completely encircled, they will fight like dragons. Your men must be ready for their ferocity.
Eventually, they will become paralyzed with fear and despair. At this point, the "work of death" begins as you slaughter them in large quantities.
Play it right, and you can kill every last one of them.
Note that you must decapitate their army first. The generals are there to prevent falling victim to this tactic.
Lee at Gettysburg? Is this the answer to the question oh why Pickett's charge? Man, I need another lifetime to learn what I have missed.
Gettysburg was a different scenario. Rifles and artillery change the scale of the battlefield. The assault was an attempt to gain a favorable position on the flank. Had they succeeded, the entire Northern position would be in danger. The dynamics of the Civil War made it desirable for the South to get a decisive victory, while the North simply had to hold together and outlast them. This, the South had to take the hill.
I am thinking more along the lines of ancient battles where encirclement was the outcome. This happens in modern warfare but at a much larger scale. We call it "cutting off supply lines" and such.
Awe. I see. I did understand what he was trying to achieve, and considering the disadvantage of the North having the high ground and Longstreet's objections, his decision is a true conundrum and so very un-Lee like. I thought perhaps he was pulling on some ancient battlefield wisdom. Like Patton. Thanks. Married to a Civil War nut. Visited Andersonville on my honeymoon. My knowledge is based on forced osmoses.
I spent (before moving to TN) the last decade living near Antietam, about 12 miles away. Really got into the history of all the nearby battlefields & took a LOT of pictures. To say the whole area is haunted is an understatement.
"My knowledge is based on forced osmoses."🐸👌
Excellent and entirely appropriate analogy fren. Reminding us the great awakening is a military operation is a good way to bring focus to events.