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    Operational Encirclement: Quick Decisive Victory Or A Bridge Too Far?
    Operational Encirclement: Quick Decisive Victory Or A Bridge Too Far?
    Operational Encirclement: Quick Decisive Victory Or A Bridge Too Far?
    Ebook67 pages58 minutes

    Operational Encirclement: Quick Decisive Victory Or A Bridge Too Far?

    By Major Robert G. Fix

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    About this ebook

    History is replete with examples of lost opportunities to decisively defeat an enemy’s army on the field of battle. All too often, tactical success has not been followed by actions to ensure operational success. This failure may be attributable to a misunderstanding of the dynamics of operational encirclement. Two case studies highlight these dynamics. The Battles of the Falaise Gap in 1944 and the Ruhr Pocket in 1945 both illustrate the difficulties operational commanders face in conducting this type of operation. In the first case, Allied commanders failed to anticipate the opportunities presented by poor operational planning and tactical execution by their German adversaries and missed an opportunity for a quick and decisive victory. In the second, Allied commanders succeeded in learning from their previous mistakes at Falaise to achieve decisive operational results during the encirclement of the Ruhr.

    This monograph examines the dynamics of operational encirclement and determines what critical factors impact success or failure in achieving decisive results. It concludes that the three most critical factors which directly impact the success or failure of an operational encirclement include: the development of a flexible campaign plan, the establishment of an efficient and effective command and control infrastructure, and an ability to properly read the events on the battlefield. Based on these factors several planning considerations are identified as useful in the planning and execution of operational encirclements.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786253187
    Operational Encirclement: Quick Decisive Victory Or A Bridge Too Far?

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      Book preview

      Operational Encirclement - Major Robert G. Fix

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1993 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      OPERATIONAL ENCIRCLEMENT: QUICK DECISIVE VICTORY OR A BRIDGE TOO FAR?

      by

      MAJ Robert G. Fix

      USA

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      I. INTRODUCTION 6

      II. THE DYNAMICS OF OPERATIONAL ENCIRCLEMENT 9

      III. A MODEL FOR ANALYSIS: MILITARY MISFORTUNE 11

      IV. ADAPTIVE FAILURE 13

      Lost Opportunity at Falaise, August 1944 13

      Step One—Failure Defined 13

      Step Two—What Happened 14

      Step Three—Layered Analysis 19

      Step Four—Matrix of Failure 21

      Step Five—Pathway to Misfortune 22

      V. ADAPTIVE SUCCESS 24

      Encirclement of the Ruhr, March 1945 24

      Step One—Success Defined 24

      Step Two—What Happened 25

      Step Three—Layered Analysis 28

      Step Four—Matrix of Success 31

      Step Five—Pathway to Success 31

      VI. CONCLUSIONS 33

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 35

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 36

      Books 36

      Government Documents 37

      Other Sources 38

      ABSTRACT

      History is replete with examples of lost opportunities to decisively defeat an enemy’s army on the field of battle. All too often, tactical success has not been followed by actions to ensure operational success. This failure may be attributable to a misunderstanding of the dynamics of operational encirclement. Two case studies highlight these dynamics. The Battles of the Falaise Gap in 1944 and the Ruhr Pocket in 1945 both illustrate the difficulties operational commanders face in conducting this type of operation. In the first case, Allied commanders failed to anticipate the opportunities presented by poor operational planning and tactical execution by their German adversaries and missed an opportunity for a quick and decisive victory. In the second, Allied commanders succeeded in learning from their previous mistakes at Falaise to achieve decisive operational results during the encirclement of the Ruhr.

      This monograph examines the dynamics of operational encirclement and determines what critical factors impact success or failure in achieving decisive results. It concludes that the three most critical factors which directly impact the success or failure of an operational encirclement include: the development of a flexible campaign plan, the establishment of an efficient and effective command and control infrastructure, and an ability to properly read the events on the battlefield. Based on these factors several planning considerations are identified as useful in the planning and execution of operational encirclements.

      I. INTRODUCTION

      "Total victory... is not simply a battle won, but the complete defeat of the

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