Somali Pirates Seize Cargo Ship With 24 Aboard

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

You are partially correct but I don't think you are not thinking on a vast enough scale. If the enemy begins defending its rear areas, attack the MSRs feeding them, if they defend them attack the production facilities that build the supplies or the ports that bring them in, if they defend them attack the raw materials that get shipped there, defend that attack the people who work in the factories and so on. Make it so the enemy has to defend all of its own territory to the point where there needs to be a group of troops on every street corner depleting their front line forces at the same time as you sow discontent over both the war and military "occupation" (Martial Law) in the civilian populous.

Even if you succeed in getting it all worked out, you become a nuisance, not a genuine threat to the war. Sure, you might blow up some supply convoys, sabotage some factories and port facilities, destroy some raw materials and kill some factory workers, but while this has some short-term effects, you won't really do enough damage to any one of these to actually cripple the enemy war effort (And your units will still be taking heavy casualties). Unless, of course, you have some ridiculously large number of special forces that you somehow managed to get behind enemy lines and then supply and coordinate.

The morale effects of such raids, of course, exist, but they can backfire completely against a determined enemy.

Oh, and don't forget that while you're devoting your resources to doing all this, the enemy divisions might be making mincemeat of your front lines.

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

There is no reason why the lighter mobility doctrine can't be transitioned in to a conventional force. The Air Mobile forces in Vietnam are a prime example of this doctrine where you have regiment sized units that can bypass terrain and enemy strong holds to strike at critical targets. Another example is the MAGTF which is highly flexible and mobile and capable of most any mission and incorporates infantry, armor, aircraft (and by due to its amphibious nature warships).

A large conventional unit attempting to pass through the lines to attack somewhere is much more liable to being detected, both before and on the way there. Airborne and airmobile forces can be shot down by aircraft and SAM sites, ground units counterattacked and destroyed by mobile reserves. And these forces would still fighting at a disadvantage because they don't have heavy equipment or easy resupply. Amphibious assaults are another matter entirely, of course.

I'm not saying special forces, guerrilla, airmobile units and the like are useless, they are far from it. But if you devote all your resources to try to raid the enemy army's command and logistics without actually engaging and defeating it, you won't be achieving much.

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

Commies like to glorify their contributions to WWII
especially partisans and guerrilla
Even now, the Chinese textbooks says the communist partisans killed around 1.2 million Japanese troops.

What does that have to do with anything I've said?