Things you've learned from studying military history

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>>3205862
"Really? Tell me about it."

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>>3205869
It's a long and sad tale. Sometimes you can still win the war, though.

>>3205862
>One soldier was going insane with thirst and drank from a pond covered with a greenish layer near Le Mort-Homme. A corpse was afloat in it; his black countenance face down in the water and his abdomen swollen as if he had been filling himself up with water for days now....

War is fucking gross.

Soldiers are far more likely to die from disease, exposure, starvation, or being run down in a rout than to be killed while fighting the enemy.

Likelihood that a strategy will succeed is almost exactly proportionate to how quickly it can be executed.

If you don't know where the enemy is, NEVER travel next to a river. NEVER.

"We'll keep winning battles until our economically stronger enemy gives up" is not a fucking strategy.

supply is pretty important

Mud turns to the consistency of oatmeal of you churn it enough.

>>3205862

when all seems lost, try shenanigans - you just might pull it off in the confusion

If your plan to make money as a country is invade and plunder other nations, it helps to not sick at fighting as war itself is very expensive.

It doesnt matter who you are, what matters is your plan

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>>3206239

>>3205934
Does not apply so much for ww1 forward. More likely artillery kills.

>>3206239
Unless the plan is named after you then it totally matters

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>>3206239
I learned that while studying the Battle of Muret

>King Peter rode to the front line, forsaking his royal armor for the plain armor of a common soldier. His army was disorderly and confused.

>When Montfort's first squadron charged the field, the Aragonese cavalry was crushed and Peter himself was unhorsed.

>He cried out, "I am the king!" but was killed regardless. With the realization that their king had been killed, the Aragonese forces broke in panic and fled, pursued by Montfort's Crusaders.

Dude had no plan and thought who he was mattered, but it did not

>>3205862
digging that filename

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>>3205873
Vo had a professional army with the PAVN.

Hongwu just started with his merry band of Buddhist Buttbuddy Bandits who just got gud after years of fighting the Mongol Emperors of China.

Belief and seeing are both often wrong.

9 times out of 10 a well disciplined infantry will demolish a mounted force. Horses are a liability on the battlefield.

>>3205862
That's literally the same for any plan. If you expect to throw a party and say, "everyone just bring something," hoping people will step up, it's gonna fucking suck.

>>3206397
>Outflank'd

>>3206397
>what are mongols and huns hit and run tactics

>>3208246
Huns were demolished by well disciplined infantry actually. At Chalons.

>>3206397

Fucking Phillip II of Macedon and Alexander the great proved you are wrong already. Charging headfirst into infantry is stupid, but that's why you tie up their infantry with your own so your cavalry are free to do shit like raiding, harassment, and flank attacks.

>>3205862
Not having a plan is bad.

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The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can win a hundred battles without disaster
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win
He who knows when he can and when he cannot will be victorious
Victory is decided before the battle is fought

I still read The Art of War before entering a local chess tournament, hot damn if it ain't a fun thing to do

always formulate a realistic idea of the capabilities of your troops, simply because they are the master race/soldiers of the one true god/vanguard of the revolution/equipped with the most expensive weapons does not make them immortal or beyond the limitations of the human body and mind.

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Arty spam is the pinnacle of tactics.

>>3206397
Polish cavalry would also like to have a word. Well disciplined cavalry will defeat well disciplined infantry.

>>3208352
Of all the quotes, my favourite Sun Tzu quote is probably this:
>Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance

Plans are useless but planning is indispensable

You get +10 strength if you're european

Most of the battle is in logistics. Winning is pointless if you need to immediately retreat afterwards because your men have nothing to eat.

>>3205862
The number of people who talk about military logistics while not understanding what the term means is terrifyingly high.

>>3208823
Most people just seem to namedrop it without explaining any further

>>3208805
I thought it was +3 Charisma

When you compare an exploitation to breaking the enemy line, units in the former:
>go up to four times faster, but use 30% less fuel
>lose 70% fewer soldiers
>use 83% less ammunition
>destroy immeasurably more enemy forces
Once the exploitation phase starts, the main limiting factor is logistics. Supplies need to reach the forward units in a timely and prolific manner. Once supplies run out the exploitation ends and the enemy builds a new defense that needs to be broken all over again. A proper supply system is the difference between anemically pushing on the enemy line and them having no line at all. That's why logistics wins wars.