The Nitpicker’s Guide to Ancient Warfare: Types of fighting

[Gary Oswald]

Discuss this article by @David Flin here

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Good article (again).

Take, as a practical example, the position often seen in films and books, of a force on the march which comes under attack. Generally, my first reaction is to scream at the screen: “Where were your scouts?”

You're not alone. I think anyone with even a basic knowledge of warfare knows that scouts are essential - regardless of the environment or the age. Fleets have scout vessels out ahead and to all sides (then aircraft, once they're available); you've covered armies on the move; even air movements need scouting (though admittedly that's getting more into tactical intelligence than pure scouting).
Another version of this is the assumption that ambushes are easy which of course they're not. If the opposing force has scouts out then to successfully ambush the main force you need to avoid being seen by the scouts (all of them - lead scouts, flank scouts, etc) whilst still getting into position to attack the main force. That's not as easy as the 'we'll just hide behind some rocks and jump out at them / shoot at them when they get close' which appears in so many books/films.

It's got so that I specifically notice when authors get it right, or even close to right. Strangely enough, in my experience fantasy authors often manage this better than writers of historical fiction. To take one example, in Oath of Swords David Weber notes 'the constant roving patrols [...] along the column's flanks, coupled with regular scouting forays' of a merchant caravan, along with comments about the roving patrols going out for miles (not just a few hundred yards). A little bit further on in the book he also implicitly makes the point that scouts are useless if they're not paying attention ('The missing sweep rider must have ridden straight into [the brigands] without knowing. He'd no doubt paid for his inattention with his life'). That brings us back, of course, to a point you've been making both implicitly and explicitly in this series: the importance of communications. The best scouts in the world are useless if they can't get information back to the commander - and that in enough time for him (or her, but usually him in ancient warfare) to make a decision.

 

[Death's Companion]

Dishonorable mention to the Koreans in the early stages of the first Japanese invasion when senior commanders executed scouts and messengers for treason upon reporting how close large enemy formations were given that would imply that they were advancing and winning.

 

[Cydonius]

It's a good series so far, considerations like this are something I'd like to know more about than I do and the level the articles are running at feels completely accessible, and engaging, to someone like me who's essentially an interested noob in the subject.

One question that springs to mind, about scouts specifically, is this: If an element of Force A encounters a scouting element of an opposing Force B, when that scouting element is discovered at a fairly close range and hasn't spotted the Force A's element yet, is there a general consensus whether it's better to suppress the scouts (whether fatally or not) to prevent information getting back to their main force, or whether by suppressing them Force A would announce its presence, though maybe not specific (dis)positions, to Force B?

 

[Death's Companion]

It's a good series so far, considerations like this are something I'd like to know more about than I do and the level the articles are running at feels completely accessible, and engaging, to someone like me who's essentially an interested noob in the subject.

One question that springs to mind, about scouts specifically, is this: If an element of Force A encounters a scouting element of an opposing Force B, when that scouting element is discovered at a fairly close range and hasn't spotted the Force A's element yet, is there a general consensus whether it's better to suppress the scouts (whether fatally or not) to prevent information getting back to their main force, or whether by suppressing them Force A would announce its presence, though maybe not specific (dis)positions, to Force B?

Consensus seems impossible in something so circumstance dependent.

Normally the scouts/vanguard whatever will have a specific mission and probably orders what to do, "advance to contact" "do not engage unless engaged" etc. right up to Fighting Patrol, Recce by fire* or Reconnaissance in Force which amounts to going out and picking a fight with anything that looks vaguely suspicious and hostile and see what kind of scrap develops from there.

A small vehicle or few member recee team is probably going to try and observe at range and avoid a fight, a platoon or company of armored infantry with fire support is probably to want to get stuck in, also well the further out you engage the enemy from the main body the less chance they have of getting a good grasp of where exactly that main body is located and the more aggressive a smaller unit is the more likely the enemy is to think its stronger than it is and so overestimate you.

*Americans adore this one which is basically drive around shooting at likely ambush points, shrubbery, buildings, livestock, birds, hospitals, grass, churches, trees, friendly call signs etc. and see if anything shoots back. Other armies usually use more distinction.

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Americans adore this one which is basically drive around shooting at [...] friendly call signs etc. and see if anything shoots back.

American forces are very much in favour of equal opportunities - everyone has an equal opportunity of being shot at. I recall one occasion when we received Troops in Contact reports from two separate American recce patrols, presumably on the sort of recce mission you describe. Air support was half-way there before it turned out that the two patrols were shooting at each other... Luckily they'd both engaged at a distance and there were no significant casualties (at least, none that were officially reported).

 

[Death's Companion]

American forces are very much in favour of equal opportunities - everyone has an equal opportunity of being shot at. I recall one occasion when we received Troops in Contact reports from two separate American recce patrols, presumably on the sort of recce mission you describe. Air support was half-way there before it turned out that the two patrols were shooting at each other... Luckily they'd both engaged at a distance and there were no significant casualties (at least, none that were officially reported).

I've nearly been blown up by the Americans before on an exercise and the week before I arrived guys from the advance party nearly got hit by a fortunately concrete training bomb dropped from an F-15 and I've heard plenty of horror stories over the years.

Love them to bits but frankly they're fucking careless and enthusiastic when it comes to flinging stuff around even in training and it can and does get people killed and undermines trust.

 

[David Flin]

Huh. I go to bed with no comments, and I wake up to a lengthy discussion. That's gratifying.

One question that springs to mind, about scouts specifically, is this: If an element of Force A encounters a scouting element of an opposing Force B, when that scouting element is discovered at a fairly close range and hasn't spotted the Force A's element yet, is there a general consensus whether it's better to suppress the scouts (whether fatally or not) to prevent information getting back to their main force, or whether by suppressing them Force A would announce its presence, though maybe not specific (dis)positions, to Force B?

That brings us back, of course, to a point you've been making both implicitly and explicitly in this series: the importance of communications. The best scouts in the world are useless if they can't get information back to the commander - and that in enough time for him (or her, but usually him in ancient warfare) to make a decision.

@FriendlyGhost is spot on that if the scouts don't get information back to the command structure, they're useless. I have a chapter planned on Communications, which - in the ancient period - is very limited. I digress a little there into misunderstandings and ambiguous orders (I'm looking at you, Charge of the Light Brigade).

That's why I wince every time I see that old trope of stealthy attackers silently dealing with a guard and then the route to the enemy camp is unwatched. One of the utterly basic aspects is that any half-way competent defence will have a sentry, who may or may not be silently dealt with, watching for approaching bad guys; they will also have a guard further back watching the sentry. If the sentry suddenly disappears, the alarm is raised. That's basic. It can be spoofed, but it really isn't as simple to get past competent sentries as Hollywood and many fiction writers would have you believe.

As for the point @Cydonius raises, a whole chapter (and more) could easily be devoted to just scouting. There are many tasks that a scouting group (which might just be one person) be given. Locating enemy forces, checking the route of advance, foraging, and so on. What different scouting groups will do when they encounter each other will depend in large part on what they are trying to do and what their instructions are (and, allied with that, how good they are at actually following instructions. Scouts, by the very nature of their job, are generally operating outside the sight and immediate control of high command. That's kind of the point of them. That means they'll make decisions on the spot without being able to refer the matter upwards.)

Take, for example, those scouts sent out to locate suitable places for the army to camp as it moves. The command will want to know at the start of the day where the army will be marching to, so the previous day, scouts will have needed to have identified a suitable spot. Given that a typical army could cover 10-20 miles in a day, the scouts will need to be operating that sort of distance in advance of the army. Which, coincidentally, gives that much greater advantage in acquiring the best of the loot forage. It's a high-risk task, but it does have its benefits to those carrying it out.

If they come across enemy forces, then that's a good indication that it's not an ideal spot to camp, and their job is to skedaddle back as quick as possible to let command know the news.

Other scouts might, as @Death's Companion describes, be probing for weak spots in a defence, so might push on a bit to see how strong the defenders actually are.

There's no simple answer; that's why good scouts are valuable. They have to think and make decisions without reference to the command structure. That requires initiative, and that's generally in short supply.

I've nearly been blown up by the Americans before on an exercise and the week before I arrived guys from the advance party nearly got hit by a fortunately concrete training bomb dropped from an F-15 and I've heard plenty of horror stories over the years.

My experience of American forces is, unfortunately, tainted by the fact that most of my contact with them was during their nadir of the post-Vietnam era, when the American military was, quite frankly, an embarrassment to everyone. I am not in a position to comment meaningfully on current capabilities, but I can wax lyrical about the mid 1970s.