Quote:
Originally Posted by chico20854
I for the life of me can't figure out what the plan was regarding 8th ID... going all the way to Latvia guarantees that they can't return to friendly lines, especially when you look at the disposition of Polish forces around Gdansk and the mouth of the Wisla (from the Intel summary in the box set).
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Yeah, the "navigational error" explanation offered in a couple of canonical sources really beggars belief. How does an entire mechanized division (even a grossly understrength one, as most are by 2000) end up over 250km away from their objective due to a "wrong turn"? Kaliningrad Oblast adjoins Polish territory; Latvia, on the other hand, does not. There's a whole other country/SSR (Lithuania) in between!
I'll have to search the forum and see if we already have a thread that tries to make sense out of 8th ID's misadventure. If not, I'll start one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chico20854
The 5th makes a little more sense, especially when you consider the original plan was to loop around the east side of Lodz and head back to the Baltic Coast. Additionally, if you consider Operation Reset the 5th's raid makes a little more sense.
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Agreed. I mentioned the 5th as an exemplar, based on how 1e canon describes its summer 2000 offensive operations. More broadly speaking, I'm interested in what a "raid" would look like in 2000 and beyond. Raids would seem to be a feature of what "modern" warfare has become by 2000. What would be the objectives of a division-sized raid be,
in general, c.2000?
Here are some possibilities, in no particular order:
- Destroy enemy fuel supplies and distillation equipment
- Despoil enemy food supplies*
- Destroy enemy supply depots and production centers
- Disrupt communications between large enemy cantonments
- Destroy small, isolated enemy units whenever the opportunity arises
- Capture EPWs to collect intel
- Liberate allied POWs
- Disrupt the enemy's planned operations (aka a spoiling attack)
*This one seems a likely objective, but would have the additional consequence of potentially starving civilians in the AO. This would definitely not win any hearts and minds among the local populace.
What would be the priority for each objective. Did I miss any?
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