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By: Jim von Krieg
As the commander, you must orchestrate a combination of offensive and defensive operations to defeat the enemy and gain the initiative.
For success on the East Front battlefield, you should plan for an extended battle utilizing all available forces at your disposal. Audacity, aggressiveness and good planning are keys to a victorious fight. You must attempt to shape the battlefield by diversion, delay, destruction, and/or attrition of enemy forces.
Also, you will need to anticipate, create, and exploit windows of opportunity by using flexible battle planning to gain the initiative through offensive operations. By effectively employing maneuver and fire support assets, manipulating the enemy, and expertly using terrain, you can successfully defeat a superior force.
To gain the initiative, you must --
*See the enemy early and determine the capabilities and intentions of the enemy
*Find and track enemy follow-on echelons.
*Identify enemy high value targets (HVTs), targets which if successfully attacked, will contribute to the degradation of enemy battle plans.
*Identify, locate, and attack high priority targets (HPTs), targets which if successfully attacked, will contribute to the success of your plans.
*Detect enemy weaknesses and develop the necessary knowledge of enemy capabilities to know and exploit those weaknesses.
*Determine enemy capabilities and guard against that capability.
*Protect friendly forces and operations from enemy observation.
*Use terrain to your advantage.
By following these guidelines, you can normally retain the initiative and make your opponent dance to your battle plan. An opponent in a reactionary mode is usually unable to put together an effective counter strategy in time and will slowly, and many times, quickly spiral down to defeat.
Jim von Krieg
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