(This is Part 14 of a series. Go back to Part 13.)
The eighth sub-principle used for concentrating strength against weakness is to:
8. Attack the enemy from the side.
In military terms, this is called attacking in flank.
This is the same principle used in Oriental martial arts such as aikido, mentioned previously. In aikido, you wait until the opponent comes towards you, you sidestep the attack energy in some way and then attack from the side with either a blow or a throw.
Let's see how a great general used this principle. German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, considered by historians to be the only real military genius to emerge from World War II, employed this method frequently in his desert campaign of 1941-42 in North Africa.
In that campaign Rommel was consistently outgunned, outmanned and outsupplied, often by margins of 3-to-1 or more. He knew, therefore, that any sort of frontal attack would be suicide. Yet he also knew the British would protect their vulnerable flanks.
So the problem became: How to get the British tanks to expose their flanks?
Here's what Rommel did: First he would have his tanks directly attack the British tank formations. Wait, isn't that we've learned shouldn't be done? Yes; but Rommel had something else in mind.
Then his tanks would appear to lose the battle and retreat suddenly. Then, as Rommel's tanks retreated faster and faster the British tank divisions would chase after them, consolidating their "victory."
Notice how, just as in aikido. Rommel has succeeded in getting the enemy's energy to come towards him.
As the British tanks chased the retreating Germans they would become spread out, as in a horse race. As they did so, German anti-tank guns hidden on the sides would now attack the British tanks in flank, with devastating results.
Notice how Rommel is not only attacking from the side but also using sub-principle #1—getting the enemy into motion—so that a flank attack becomes doubly lethal.
The Mongol Genghis Khan and his orlok (main general) Subedei also used this method with great success in the mid-thirteenth century. The Mongols never lost a battle.
Their standard tactic was to have some soldiers approach the enemy and attack heavily enough to draw in enemy reserves. The Mongol troops would then appear to lose the battle and begin a general retreat. And the enemy army would begin chasing them to complete this "victory."
Now the Mongol troops would begin a "panicked" retreat, fleeing in fear at full speed. Sensing blood, the enemy army would pursue the Mongols at full speed also—
—straight into the ambush of Mongol troops hidden in the hills on the side. As the enemy army buckled from this blow, the coup de grace would be delivered by Mongol heavy cavalry attacking from the rear. Time after time, the enemy army simply shattered.
Our last example comes from Caesar. Julius Caesar was an extremely resourceful general, and in 48 BC at the Battle of Pharsalus he needed to be.
Pompey, his adversary, had an army of 53,000. Caesar, because most of his troops were stranded back in Italy, had to face Pompey at Pharsalus with just 22,000 men.
As the armies were lining up for battle, Caesar noticed that Pompey had placed most of his heavy cavalry on his left flank, facing the Roman right. Consequently, Caesar pulled troops from his three front lines and formed a fourth line hidden behind his right flank.
When the battle bagan, Caesar's hidden troops suddenly rushed upon Pompey's cavalry and, through surprise and sheer ferocity, destroyed it before it could charge.
Now, as the front lines engaged—pinning the enemy's attention—Caesar's fourth line rapidly turned left and attacked Pompey's legions in flank. And Pompey's large army disintegrated.
Such is the power of flank attacks.
(This is the end of Part 14. Go to Part 15.)
—jim sloman, 8.25.03 for 7.1.04
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