Elementary tactics

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Combat service is also referred to as elementary tactics or pure tactics as a sub-area of military tactics that deals with the basic arrangements for the manner of combat, troop formation and movement and is usually set out in regulations. In the rules on combat service, the main aim is to find a solution to the question of how troops are most appropriately used. The term is found almost exclusively in historical texts that deal with military history, although elementary tactics still has its place in today's armed forces .

The elementary tactics mainly include:

  • Characteristics and modes of action of the military branches (operational principles)
  • Basic structure of the army in units of different sizes
  • Forms of appearance and formation of the troops (e.g. line , Terzio )
  • Determination of the places of military leaders or functionaries in the formation
  • Movements of the troop (turns, swings ); In contrast, the movements of the individual belong to the exercise
  • Changes in the form of the troops (e.g. from the marching order to the line )
  • Determination of the time required for the various basic activities

The elementary tactics thus includes the basic tactical rules of the respective armed forces, which have developed from experience and have proven themselves in practice. It was and is not uniform internationally, but follows the specific needs of the respective age, nation or armed forces. In particular, the different needs and capabilities of the various branches of weapon led to a further distinction in tactics of infantry, cavalry, artillery and more. The rules and regulations of elementary tactics, usually fixed in writing, are imparted to all soldiers, warriors or fighters of the respective armed forces as part of military training. Because of its fundamental importance for an orderly overall process and reliable functioning in combat, the preferred training method has usually been the drill .

In contrast to the tactics used, which deal with the formation or distribution and movement of the entire armed forces in the most varied of terrain and on the most varied of occasions, elementary tactics leave little or no room for creative acts by the military leader. In addition to organizational provisions, it includes a set repertoire of actions from which the fighters can take action in a different way than before after free, independent insight into what is necessary or promising or on the command of their superiors. Therefore, in the area of ​​elementary tactics, in contrast to the tactics used, aspects such as weather, enemy influence and terrain obstacles are of no importance. Even questions about the mutual support of the different types of troops in combat ( combat of the combined arms ), security, marches and bivouacs are not part of the elementary tactics, but are already part of the tactics used, which deal with the questions of where and when to put which troops can use most appropriately.

Examples of the elementary tactics of today's armies are:

  • Bead-like or rollover procedure
  • Row, chain, wedge or wide wedge (basic setup of combat vehicles in motion)
  • Rifle line or line of rifles (forms of the open order in the infantry )

in the Navy:

in the Air Force:

  • HI-LO-HI, LO-LO-HI, LO-LO-LO (attack profiles of bombers)

literature

  • Georg Ortenburg: Weapons and the use of weapons in the age of the revolutionary wars. Koblenz 1988, ISBN 3-7637-5807-0 .
  • Hans Delbrück : History of the art of war in the context of political history. 4 volumes, Berlin 1900–1920; new edition Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-11-016886-3 .
  • Hans Droysen: Army and warfare of the Greeks. Freiburg i. B. 1889.