France sends combat troops to Ukraine battlefront
(asiatimes.com)
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We probably shouldn't be making too many French jokes here. The Foreign Legion is famously well-drilled and is comprised of tough men and good fighters.
This is important because it won't make much difference. The Ukrainians are tough and brave fighters as well. No, the current batch aren't well-trained. They're trained in combat, and that's a brutal teacher, but the previous two armies (the original 2022 one and the one for the 2023 summer counteroffensive) were well trained by NATO. The training and equipment are not the missing elements here that will turn this into a success.
Ultimately, Russia has been very efficiently about utilizing its satellites and drones to give crystal-clear real-time images of the battlefield. They've used that to coordinate artillery, air, and missile assets with ruthless efficiency. They've become extremely adept at killing basically anything that moves within their range that's seen as "worth killing." Anything armored gets blown up instantly. Any type of major troop movement is instantly smashed. This is why the Ukrainians have resorted to small unit tactics, sending in men in batches of 2-4 at a time in a highly dispersed and decentralized way. The targets are seen as too small or not worth wasting costly shells, bombs, and missiles to eradicate. It forces Russia to send in their own infantry, leveling the odds somewhat.
Russia has adapted to this over the past many months with aggressive use of snipers and grenades dropped from drones. Again, they see everything that moves on the battlefield, so it's just a matter of bringing in the right asset to clean up whatever Ukraine advances with.
These French troops aren't going to fare better. NATO has operated with the exact same overhead surveillance capabilities, and with the best equipment money can buy, all the latest toys from the MIC. It hasn't been enough. These Frenchmen are going to walk into a buzzsaw of a combat-hardened, combined arms force that the Russians have assembled.
They're being sent in on a suicide mission. So, I have a tough time with the French surrender jokes. If they were smart, their commanders wouldn't even put them there. They're not prepared to fight this any more than any army in Europe was prepared for blitzkrieg in 1940.