We must always aim to
annihilate the enemy; to kill him with as few losses as possible. This is best
achieved from behind, where they cannot defend themselves and attack us. Hence
the desired end state is to outmanoeuvre the enemy, to kill his reserves and
commanders so the main line is isolated and insecure and alone, and then to
catch them in a kesselschlacht and kill them, hemming them in, will also hinder
their ability to fight.
On an open
battlefield we should thus always aim to flank or double envelop the enemy, if
for no other reason; to concentrate force locally in a schwerpunkt and defeat
him with local superiority while holding elsewhere. Yet the desired result must
be to flank, and surround him in a kessel and annihilate him.
On a closed
battlefield like Moesgaard or where the enemy’s flanks are otherwise anchored
safely, the possibility to flank him is not present. We must thus create a hole
in the enemy line by concentrating force in a schwerpunkt (Klotzen nicht
Kleckern), punch through, and penetrate his rear areas as described above,
while at the same time rolling up his flanks on the “shoulder” of the
penetration point. This Schwerpunkt is chosen by the commander, but- and this
is important- any warrior who sees the opportunity to break through locally or
create a Schwerpunkt locally, must always do so at his own initiative. But more
on that later.
In any case, if we
are to achieve a breakthrough, we cannot do so defensively and passively. We
must show initiative and aggression under any and all circumstances, wars are
not won by defending, and a group with well-trained warriors must employ them
to the fullest. As our standard is fairly high and the expectations on us
usually high as well, we would be foolish to not attack. Loitering is not for
us, we must attack and kill the enemy, not just stand around waiting for others
to decide the fight or the enemy to make a mistake. We must attack him, create
a favourable situation for us and punch through to catch him in a
Kesselschlacht. Or die epicly in the effort.
This aggression and
initiative demands cooperation with and trust in your brothers-in-arms on the
line. To cooperate effectively makes us much stronger than an equal number of
individuals. Allow me to elaborate.
By cooperating with
others, your back is covered in most situations as you stand on line, facing
the enemy, to avoid being killed from behind. Equally, on a line you should
worry less about cross-strikes coming in from your front sides, as your mates
will parry these for you and you for them. These are otherwise dangerous, as
the human eye has a harder time noticing peripheral movement and you cannot see
attacks from behind, while you easily spot the enemy opposite you moving and
striking. You must thus parry
these and direct them away from your friends next to you. This cannot be
stressed enough. And with your back and sides covered, you can focus on
protecting your front and stop the enemy’s attacks against your friends as well
as- most importantly- killing him and
his friends. So the protection from your friends allow you freedom to
feint, distract, confuse and kill the enemy in cooperation with your friends.
Creating openings for the fighters right and left of you, for as mentioned;
peripheral vision has a harder time spotting movements than frontal vision, so
cross-strikes are more effective. This is enhanced also, by the frontal
coverage of the shield, which extends to a lesser extent to the front’s sides.
And can be entirely removed by cooperation with your mates to attract the enemy
focus and feint and lure the enemy shield out of the way for your cross-strike.
Hence it is most
effective to fight in cooperation to lure the direct opposition’s attention and
focus away from your mates to the left while you ready yourself to strike the
enemy to your right. Most people are right-handed and you will thus have a
larger uncovered area to strike on their right side than on their shield side,
just as your attacks to your right leave less of an opening than to the left.
If you use a one-handed weapon that is. Your enemy will thus often briefly face
many weapons and strikes as you and the warriors to your sides cooperate on the
line to create small “Triangles” or local Schwerpunkts flexibly in your
surrounding and kill the enemy with this brief local superiority by
cross-strikes.
Often this required
cooperation to briefly focus several weapons on a single target happens by
coincidence, at other times it is the result of communication. What we should
aim for, is that it must always be the result of communication, and ultimately
to know your group-mates so well, that the communication can be silent or in
very few words. This is one of the strongest arguments for settled and
organised groups; most of us simply do not know the other 70 fighters so well
that we can cooperate effectively with them even if we communicate.
We must also not
forget the psychological effects to fight in a group of friends you know well.
Not just do most people feel stronger and safer as a group, but the knowledge
of your mates’ style and fighting spirit and the sense of esprit de corps must
never be underestimated.
So to sum up;
If we cannot flank or envelop an enemy, we must weaken
him from the point of contact by effective cooperation on the line, for a vulnerability
for a Schwerpunkt can be created and exploited for a breakthrough to kill his
rear area, surround him and annihilate him in a Kesselschlacht. But the
essential thing is initiative, flexibility
and aggression in cooperation with your friends to kill the enemies in front of
you. To step into the Danger-Zone
and never let up and “snipe”, but to at least appear active and
threatening, striking and feinting all the time. To keep up the initiative by pressure and aggression and never let the
enemy rest before he is dead.
How to achieve this initiative in Viking Fighting?
Generally low-level
leadership is essential in our fighting, the noise prevents orders from
higher-ups to reach the small units in time, the commander may not be able to
see local developments and often his role is limited to committing reserves.
Often even small group commanders have to run op behind fighters and touch them
and shout in their ear to get noticed. And leaders can fall; it is a very
popular tactic to take out Igor when fighting the Poles. And non-reserve units
waiting for orders will often squander the chance to win the battle. A few
years ago Ulfhednir reacting to an Ask outflank saved their side, while the day
before Ask threw away both its initiative and the possibility for crushing the
enemy flank by procrastinating and then withdrawing while an immediate rush on
the enemy from the start would have annihilated the flank in front of them and
started to roll up the centre. Hence, units where both low-level leaders and
warriors have the ability to employ Auftragstaktik has a greater potential to
succeed. But this demands awareness, tactical knowledge, knowledge of the plan,
and boldness. Motivation to undertake the necessary action to succeed, without
blood-rush or ego taking over, but with calculated aggression, and
Fingerspitzengefühl to know when to do so.
It is an old maxim of
war that every plan changes or goes out the window (at the latest) at the first
contact with the enemy. He rarely acts as you predict and it is impossible in
practice to plan for every variable of a battle. Situations in war change and
they change fast. “War is the province of uncertainty” as Clausewitz writes.
That chaos is almost impossible to control, so you should instead adapt and
embrace it, channel it and use it to beat the enemy. The German Way of War is
to do exactly that and the tool they use is commonly known as Auftragstaktik or
“Mission Command”
Auftragstaktik means
that every leader down to the lowest level has the freedom to evaluate the
situation on the ground and then change his orders if he meets a changed situation.
So he will evaluate the situation, match it to his orders, then adapt or even
change his orders to suit the situation. For example; if I send you out to get
me coffee and cake and there is no more cake, and you get me coffee and cookies
instead. You have evaluated the situation and matched it to your orders and
found that they were impossible to achieve, and done the next best thing-
without having to waste time going back to ask me, time in which the last
cookies and coffee could also be gone.
Like Blitzkrieg, it
is not an expression the Germans used themselves; they talked instead about
“Selbständichkeit”, and while Auftragstaktik means you have the freedom to
carry out your orders as you wish, Selbständichkeit means that you are free to
change them. If we continue the example from before with the coffee and cake,
you get out there and you notice there is cake, but there is also chocolate
pudding, and you know I love chocolate pudding. You should change your order
and bring me back coffee and chocolate pudding. That is Selbständichkeit. You
have changed your orders without asking me- cause the chocolate pudding would
be gone when you came back from asking- but you have succeeded because you know
what I like. You have shown Selbständichkeit and initiative. And because you
succeeded in handing me something I love, you are not punished for going
against my orders. Had you brought me cheese because you like cheese, then you would have. Or in military terms; if a
young lt. is tasked by advancing to a river crossing and up a hill overlooking
it to dig in and hold that, then notices the bridge is undefended, he should
change his orders and cross the bridge before the enemy can blow it or dig in
on the other side. He will be praised for having shown selbständichkeit and
initiative and secured a river crossing, not punished for changing his orders.
Had he come upon a strong enemy on the other side, tried to cross and suffered
heavy losses- he would be severely punished; you are allowed to go against or
change orders if you succeed in improving your side’s situation, punished
severely for failing in the face of orders.
Hence, the subordinates - down to the
youngest private - must know what is desirable for his organisation, without
having to ask. You only gain this through thorough education and training-
through having thinking soldiers.
How to protect your mate against cross-strikes when you use a spear?
There is only one way, especially with a one-hander that should always own an opposing two-hander;
attack him as soon as he even thinks of moving. You have a nice shield to hide
behind and can hardly be hit by twohanders, but you can step into and kill
them. So do not fear; hit or threaten him as soon as he tries to strike. We
must remember this or we must have more swords and axes on the line.
What do these two have in common?
Both go to great length to have a fit body- not a pumped body, but a
fit, agile and strong one. The Germans believed that a strong, fit body added
to both bravery and self-confidence, and thus the “selbständichkeit” and
initiative of the individual commander. Ongoing research by the US Army seems
to confirm this. So; keep fit!
Leaders must possess initiative, aggression, tactical skill, timing and serve
to serve; their command should not be about them and self-serving, but they
about their command and unselfishly serving.
