RETREAT TO VICTORY

Retreat to victory may sound like a contradiction, but it is a historically proven military strategy that has won many a battle and more importantly many a war. The Chinese Military Strategist Sun Tzu (544 B.C. - 496 B.C.) in his book THE ART OF WAR strongly made the point that one does not win wars by fighting when he knows he will lose. He wins by fighting only the battles he knows he will win.  

Sun Tzu

"He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious." - Sun Tzu

"The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace...is the jewel of the Kingdom." - Sun Tzu

General George Washington was not known as a great tactical commander, he was though known as a great strategic commander and many have said that without Washington, the colonist may have never won their independence. General Washington understood that he did not need to win to defeat the British Empire, he merely needed not to lose.

In the Summer of 1776, after defeating the British at Boston, he marched his army of 19,000 to New York in the hopes of defending the city against a British Fleet known to be on its way. When the British did arrive it was reported that the sheer number of British tall ships in New York Harbor made it seem as if the forests of England had marched upon America. 500 ships at a cost (in today's dollars) of $100 million each had set sail against the unruly colonialists. Unchallenged the British landed on Staten Island and settled in as more and more British ships arrived over the next few months, building up their forces to over 32,000 Troops.

Without an American navy to oppose them the British had a major tactical advantage on Staten Island. From Staten Island they could attack Long Island or Manhattan. Washington not knowing where they would strike divided his forces between the two Islands. 10,000 colonists took up positions on the Brooklyn Heights on Long Island, his remaining forces dug in to defend Manhattan.



Admiral Howe

Gen. Howe

Washington was facing the Howe brothers; General Howe and Admiral Howe (whom ironically both opposed the war with America and advocated reaching terms with the colonies.) General Howe fought in the French and Indian War proving himself an excellent tactical commander. The soldiers he brought with him to New York had on average seven years of military experiences. His officer core had much more. In comparison Washington's ragtag army had an average of only six months of military service. Washington was facing much greater force than the mere numerical advantage of the British. Since Howe had fought in the French and Indian War and knew America, Washington did not even have a home field advantage.

On August 22nd, 1776 General Howe landed  over 20,000 troops onto Long Island against the 10,000 troops of the American army. Instead of assaulting Washington's lines head on, he brilliantly out flanked Washington on Washington's far left marching through the Jamaica pass (which was guarded by only four Americans.) Howe's forces easily captured the four Americans and moved around and behind Washington's defensive lines. Washington, out foxed by Howe, wisely withdrew from his defenses and took up a new positions with his back to the East River.  Against his officers' advice General Howe did not press his advantage against Washington. He feared a repeat of Bunker Hill  (Breed's Hill) where he had lost 1000 men assaulting the rebels head on. Instead he began to dig in himself to siege the Rebels.

Battle of Long Island

Washington had lost over 1000 troops to General Howe out maneuvering him. Washington was not going to allow Howe to destroy what remained of his army. Washington realized that once the winds changed in the favor of the British navy the British would sail into the East River behind him. They would need to only bring up one or two of their ships-of-the-line and he would be trapped.

Under the cover of night Washington as silently as possible began the withdrawal of his men from Brooklyn, crossing the East River to the safety of Manhattan Island. By morning an uncommon heavy fog covered the crossing for his remaining forces to escape. Washington was reportedly the last to set foot off Brooklyn as he and his army slipped away from certain defeat.

Escaping across the East River

Washington later reconsolidated his forces on Harlem Heights on the Northern part of Manhattan Island. On September 16th 1,800 colonists held off 5,000 British soldiers. In the Battle of Harlem Heights Washington lost only 130 men compared to up to 390 British loses. Howe did finally take the battlefield, but Washington's army once again retreated to the Bronx on the mainland.

On October 28th, Washington with 3,100 troops faced up to 7,500 British in the Battle of White Plains. His men were able to hold against frontal assaults by the British, but General Howe was once again able to out flank Washington. Washington again chose to retreat his army, this time across the Hudson River into New Jersey.

Washington knew, that no matter what, the most important thing as commander was to keep his army intact. He clearly understood that retreat was always the better option to defeat. He was always willing to slink a away, lick his wounds, to fight another day. That strategy finally won the American War for Independence for the Colonists.

In 1812 it was the Russians that retreated against the invasion of Napoleon's Grande Army. The Tsar's Russian army did not engage the French and instead gave up land for time. They withdrew from the French further and further into the Russia. The Tsar's army followed a scorched earth tactic leaving nothing of worth for the advancing French. Moscow itself was set ablaze denying the French the ability to winter in the city. Napoleon, over stretched, the harsh Russian winter upon him, was forced to withdrawal and abandon his invasion of Russia. Napoleon had entered Russia with over 600,000 men, he left Russia with only a little more than 100,000.

The French Forced Retreat from Russia

In 1836 General Sam Houston also faced a much larger advisory in the War of Texas Independence. Dictator Santa Anna fielded an army of 6,000 men against the Texas rebellion. At first the Texans held him up for 12 days at the Alamo, buying Houston much needed time to raise his own army.  After the fall of the Alamo Houston was still not strong enough to face Santa Anna. He strategically retreated his forces away from the Mexican border towards the American border forcing Santa Anna to stretch out his supply lines. Houston confounded the Mexicans by also destroying anything the advancing Mexican army could use to resupply themselves, he slaughtered live stock and burnt crops, repeating the scorch earth tactic of the Tsar's army. For almost two months Houston did not engage Santa Anna and let me chase him East. Finally on April 21th Houston turned his army against Santa Anna camped at San Jacinto north of Galveston (the at the time Capital of the Texas rebellion.) After destroying a bridge to prevent the Mexicans from receiving any reinforcements Houston attacked the 1,600 Mexicans with only 900 men. His early morning attack caught the Mexicans so off guard the battle lasted only 18 minutes. 630 Mexicans were killed 208 wounded, and 730 prisoners taken. The Texans lost only 9 killed and 30 wounded, which included General Houston who took a shot to his ankle. Most importantly the Texans captured Santa Anna who had attempted to escape in disguise - Checkmate.

General Houston Accepts Santa Anna's Surrender

General Washington, the Tsar's Army, and General Houston all used retreat as a means of keeping their armies intact, stretching out the supply lines of their opponents, and only hitting their advisories when it was tactically to their advantage. Their strategy of retreat finally lead to their victories.

These conflicts prove how Sun Tzu's teachings ring true. "Know yourself and know your enemy." There is no shame in retreat, there is shame in throwing away the lives of your men. Patients and knowing our own weaknesses is often the greatest path to victory.

THE BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC GAMING

Gaming is very much part of the lives of today's students. They have access to games on their video game consoles, computers, tablets, and even their smart phones. The problem with computer games are they are solitary games that only interactions is with faceless unknown players in multiplayer versions. There is also the problem of a the graphic violence of many of today's games that may desensitize young people to horrific acts of violence.

Chess, although technically a war game, is not a game of graphic violence. It is a game that is rooted in Indian war game Chaturanga which was first played as far back as 600 A.D.

Chaturanga

By 1000 A.D. Chaturang evolved into two different games; the Persian, or Western, version most Americans and Europeans are accustomed to and the Chinese Chess version played in Asia.

Western or Persian Chess

Chinese Chess 

Chess is a game that has stood the test of time. It is game that does not distinguish between the players size, gender, race, age, and even physical disadvantageous.

Chess is much more than a fun game to play to pass the time. It is a game that exercises the mind of young and old. Chess has been proven by multiple studies in benefiting players to improve their higher cognitive thinking skills and academic performances in all subject matters.

How does Chess benefit higher cognitive thinking?

1.      Observational skills: Players need to develop keen observation of the positions of their pieces and their opponent's pieces on the board. They need to understand in the project range of different pieces on the playing board.

2.      Problem solving skills: No two chess games are the same. Players must learn to solve unexpected problems as they arise. They are forced to counter unexpected moves of their opponent.

3.      Concentration and memory skills: Too often games are lost by making a wrong move. Players need to remember the dynamics of how the different pieces move. They must concentrate on where their opponent moves their pieces.

4.      Projection skills, logic and reasoning: As a player improves they learn not to just react to their opponent's immediate moves, but instead begins to use logic and reasoning skills to predict what moves their opponent may make in counter to their own moves. Advances players are able to project several moves and countermoves in their heads before making a single move.

Educators at the Roberto Clemente School (C.I.S. 166) in New York report that chess has improved not only academic scores, but social performance as well. In 1988, Joyce Brown, an assistant principal and supervisor of the school’s Special Education department, and teacher Florence Mirin began studying the effect of chess on their Special Education students. “The effects have been remarkable,” Brown says. “Not only have the reading and math skills of these children soared, their ability to socialize has increased substantially, too. Our studies have shown that incidents of suspension and outside altercations have decreased by at least 60% since these children became interested in chess.” ¹

As noted in the Roberto Clemente School study another measured benefit to playing chess has been in social skills and improved behavior. Other studies have confirmed these benefits in students' social behavior along with improved attendance.

Jerome Fishman, Guidance Counselor, C.J.H.S 231, Queens, NY: “I like the aspect of socialization. You get into friendly, competitive activity where no one gets hurt. Instead of two bodies slamming into each other like in football, you’ve got the meeting of two minds.- It’s strategic, and you use logic to plan an attack scheme Aside from being good for the cognitive development of these youngsters, chess develops their social skills, too. It makes them feel they belong. Whenever we get a child transferred from another school who may have maladaptive behavior, our principal (Dr. Wilton Anderson) suggests chess as a way of helping him find his niche. It also helps kids learn how to be better friends. They analyze the game and talk it over afterwards. I even had a couple of kids who never had much in common start going to each other’s houses to play chess and swap Chess Life magazines. We’ve got kids literally lining up in front of the school at 6:45 am to get a little chess in before classes start.” ² 

Move2attacK Games are an advanced forms of chess. With all the benefits of chess and more. As They are abstract strategic games where players begin the games on a equal footing. Move2attack strategic Games have the added benefit in practical skills from game play and exposing players to historical eras in the hopes of arousing their interests in history, science & technology, and political science.

Practical skills:

1.    Map reading skills: Unlike chess, which is played on a simple checkered board, Move2attacK Games are mostly played on topographical maps. Players need to learn to read the map for best movement and defensive positions. Woods, elevations, roads, major rivers, oceans, coral reefs, mountains, streams, towns, bridges, are all elements players need to be able to read and understand. It some games being able to understand compass points is also critical. 

Muskets & Sabers Playing Board

2.     Mathematics: Combat in most Move2attacK Games are determined by a combat chart based on odds. Players need to understand basic addition and subtraction, along with skills in calculating odd ratios, multiplication, division, and percentages.

3.      History and current events: Even though Move2attacK Games are not recreations of actual historical battles,  which too often were not fought on equal terms and players would have the advantage of hindsight of the actual battles. Move2attacK Games are abstract like Chess with both players mostly start at equal strength, many of the games are yet still based on historical eras. It is the hope that by making the games historically as realistic as possible they will encourage players to learn more about these periods in our history, beyond just the battlefields of the times. Games such as International Politics and the Home Front Series are designed to help players understand and spark interest in current world events.

4.      Communication Skills: The Move2attacK role playing games of Sol III: The World of Our Lord Joe and International Politics: A Political Science Simulator are multiplayer games that require players to communicate, negotiate, and cooperate with other players in order to be successful in game play.  

5.      Economic skills: Many of the Move2attacK games have elements of obtaining resources in order to purchase new units for game play. Players must make economic and strategic decisions on what they should or shouldn't purchase in order to succeed in game. Games such as Wars of Fantasy, Black vs. Blue, International Politics, and Sol III, all have economic elements in their game play. Wars of Fantasy, Sol III, and International Politics have the additional element of trade within their game structures. 

Chess has been proven to be extremely beneficial for students and seniors in helping them develop, improve and maintain their higher cognitive skills. Move2attacK Games build on the success of chess with the added practical skill benefits built into the games. There games are perfect for teachers to inspire their students in a fun way, seniors to exercise their higher cognitive, concentration, and memory skills. Most importantly these are games parents can play with their children to help their children improve their reasoning, logic, and academic scores, while spending quality time as parent and child.

 References

¹ http://www.kcfe.eu/sites/default/files/research_KCFE.pdf

² “New York City Schools Chess Program” by Christine Palm, copyright 1990.

³ http://www.uschess.org/content/view/7326/28/

⁴ http://successthroughchess.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Ferguson-Developing-Critical-and-Creative-Thinking-through-Chess.pdf

⁵ http://www.Move2attacK.com

 

Christmas Truce of 1914 and the French 75mm

Exactly one hundred years ago three cousins, all grandchildren of Queen Victoria, fought against each other in the "War to end all Wars," the King of Great Britain, the Czar of Russia, and the Kaiser of Germany. Their alliances with France, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire (today' Greece and Turkey,) pulled these cousins into the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen. The armies they raised and fought against each other were so massive that the Western front in Europe had had one flank anchored on the Alps to the South and other flank anchored on the North Sea to the North.

Western Front 1914

Such long battle lines made it impossible for either side to out flank the other. Modern weapons like the machine gun, but more importantly artillery, like the breach loading French 75mm.

Breach loading of the French 75mm

The French 75mm had recoil system between the barrel and the carriage. This meant that the gun did not have to be repositioned after each shot. An American Civil War field gun would recoil the entire gun after each shot, to fire a second shot the gun crews would have roll the cannon back into position, swap the barrel down of an remaining sparks, load the powder, load the shot, ram it all in ant then aim before firing again.  A well trained gun crew could get one aimed shot per minute. In addition the French 75mm fired single piece ammunition (which included casing and shell,) Its gun crews could fire 20 rounds a minute on target.

French 75mm

 

The French 75mm was also rifled, it had groves in the inside of the barrel that caused it's projectiles to spin before leaving the barrel, much like a quarter back puts a spin on a football for distance and accuracy. While a smooth bore American Civil War cannon had a range of less than a mile, The French 75mm had a range of 5 miles.

rifling
 

Other key technologic advances of the French 75mm was the ammunition it fired. Besides it being all in one ammunition, it fired explosive shells with fuses, it's anti-personal shells could detonate above advancing forces and shower 300 lead balls down upon enemy with each shot. It's solid shot could detonate on impact on fortified positions.

Shrapnel Shell

French 75mm also used smokeless powder. Black power that was used before had two negative side effects: one was the cloud of smoke it would create after each time it fired would give away the cannon's position on the battlefield.

After several shots the black powder would actually create so much smoke it could obscure the gunners abilities to see their targets. With smokeless powder the French 75mm could fire without giving away their positions easily, and they would not blind themselves with smoke after repeatedly firing their gun.

Smoke from Black powder

One could imagine how deadly a World War battle field was with such weapons. It is the main reason the armies on both sides dug deep into the earth hoping to escape the raining death of guns like the French 75mm. World War One saw 16 million dead and 22 million wounded. Artillery, not machine guns, were the cause of most of those deaths and wounded.

In the midst of all this carnage something miraculous happened on Western Front in 1914. On Christmas Eve the entrenched British and Germans began singing Christmas carols to each other.

British and Germans meet in no man's land Christmas 1914
 

On Christmas the Germans were the first to emerge from their trenches, unarmed, and shouting across no man's land in English "Merry Christmas."

The British at first thought it was a trick, but seeing that the Germans were truly unarmed, they too rose from their trenches and cautiously approached their foes across the no man's land. In between the two enemy lines British and German shoulders greeted each other as brothers in the spirit of Christmas.

They shared gifts with each other, and even played "football" which what the rest of the world calls soccer.

Christmas Truce of 1914

These young men in the trenches created an unofficial truce during the bloodiest conflict the world had yet ever seen. From the men that actually did the fighting and dying, peace was germinating, it was an opportunity in the first five months of the war to end a conflict that would stretch on for another three and half years.

Unfortunately the national leaders and generals on both sides would have none of it. The day after Christmas the slaughter restarted. Never again was there another Christmas Truce during World War One that did not end until 1918.

Please check out General Hindsight's Christmas Special. Hope you enjoy it and learn something interesting. http://youtu.be/fX7Qud9gO38

An Army Marches on its stomach

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was famous for saying "An army marches on its stomach." It is also reported that Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, might have made this quote before Napoleon. 

Frederick The Great

 

 Neither-the-less both these great commanders understood that an army needs to be supplied. Hungry men do not march quickly, or fight well. Extremely hungry men will lose their resolve to campaign and will begin deserting.

General George Washington experienced this when the Americans wintered at Valley Forge in 1777-1778. The Colonial army had been beaten badly by the British and were very low on supplies. Washington knew how dire their situation was and is reported to have said - "If the army does not get help soon, in all likelihood it will disband."

Valley Forge Winter of 1777-1778

It was a harsh winter, cold, hunger, disease, dozens of men disserted. By March General Nathaniel Green was able to get much needed food to Washington's army and the arrival of Baron von Steuben, who actually fought under Frederick the Great, began training Washington's remaining ragtag army that stuck it out through that winter at Valley Forge.  

General Steuben Training Troops at Valley Forge

Steuben could not speak English, and the Americans didn't speak German, but he did know French and Many of Washington's officers knew French. French at the time was the diplomatic language. One of the reasons the French hate us Americans so much. The international language is now English.

General Steuben

Steuben would write his training manuals into French for Washington's officers to then translate them into English. By June of 1778 a new American army emerged from Valley Forge ready to take on the British, because of their willingness to suffer though that bitter cold winter, food finally arriving in time, and the military training a Baron von Steuben.

Napoleon and his Grande Armee



Nicholas Appert - The Father of Canning

Napoleon, knew how important it was to feed his Grande Armée, that he offered an award 12,000 francs for whomever could develop a way to feed his army. Nicholas Appert,

One of Appert's first preserved bottles

a French cook, discovered that heating up food in glass jars sealed with wax and wire kill microbes that cause food to spoil, years later tin cans were used, weighing much less than glass. Soldiers could now carry many days rations with them, and not get ill from their food.

Today we use alumni cans but it all began with Napoleon to feed La Grande Armée and Nicholas Appert.



Battle of Thermopylae and Frank Miller's 300

 

The Latest General Hindsight Video where he discusses his qualifications as an armchair general and the Battle of Thermopylae versus the Frank Miller version "The 300"

 

 

Strategic Studies and Gaming also wants to note the 73rd anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor by six Imperial Japanese carriers that gave a devastating blow to the American Pacific Fleet. On this day we remember the over 2,400 American service men that lost their lives on fateful Sunday morning.

 

 

Strategic Studies and Gaming

Presented by

Move2attack Games

www.Move2attacK.com

 

 

 

General Hindsight - Strategy vs. Tactics

Hello and welcome to Strategic Studies & Gaming. Presented by Move2attacK Games: Face to face strategic games for humans.

My name is General Hindsight and I am an official armchair general.

I am here to help those you understand military terms and the military history behind strategic gaming.

A common question I get is "What is the difference between strategy and tactics?"

It is simple. Tactics are your combat methods to win battles to achieve your strategic goals. Strategy is the larger picture to choose your battles wisely to win the war.

Tactics change due to landscape, the weather, the condition of your men and the condition of the enemy. The biggest game changer for tactics is technology.

For example, if you are fighting a Napoleonic era battle the common tactic of the time were close knit infantry units, shoulder to shoulder to concentrate their fire power on the enemy.

Cannon was used to attempt to break up those formation, so cavalry could swoop in with sabers and lances to pick off routed enemy forces, winning the day.

Cavalry before muskets were the heavy tanks of the battle field. A man alone on foot was no match to a man on a mighty war stallion.

Even with the introduction of the smooth bore muskets a man on horseback was still the greater threat on the battlefield. Muskets were not very accurate. When a musketeer took his first shot at charging cavalry man, more often than not he would miss.

The musketeer would have to reload, swap down his barrel, pour in his powder, ram in his musket ball and wad, and then prime his weapon. By the time he was ready to fire a second time, the man on horse was already upon him and cutting him down with one slash of his saber.

Generals needed to find a way to protect their musketeers. At first they learned to accompany their musket men with pikes men. The Pikes men created a fence of sharpened spikes to fend off cavalry assaults, protecting the musketeers as they reloaded.

When the bayonet was developed, infantry were able to be their own pikes men. With fixed bayonets, men tightly packed shoulder to shoulder could hold off the impact of a cavalry charge.

Cavalry was no longer the most powerful weapon on the battlefield. Close knit infantry was. Only other infantry or field artillery could break an opponent's infantry formations. Once they were routed, cavalry would then be used to mop up, pick off fleeing men one by one, insuring that they did not rally, regroup, and rejoin the battle.

 

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