Battlegroup! - The Lessons of the Unfought Battles of the Cold War

Jim Storr
Battlegroup! - The Lessons of the Unfought Battles of the Cold War
312 strani, mehka vezava, 26 diagramov, 15 zemljevidov, 2 grafa, 15 tabel.

Kratek opis v angleškem jeziku:
What can we learn from the unfought battles of the Cold War? Could any supposed British superiority at the unit level, or superior American equipment and technology, have as much effect on a possible Warsaw Pact attack as the Bundeswehr's apparent mastery of formation tactics?
The Cold War dominated the global events for over 40 years. Much of the world genuinely believed that a nuclear war might break out at any moment. Millions of men were involved. National budgets strained to equip and sustain them. Much of Europe had to endure conscription, tank convoys clogging up the roads, low-flying jet aircraft and large-scale mobilisation exercises. But what do we really know about the Cold War? More importantly, what can we learn from it?
Battlegroup! investigates the unfought land battles of the Cold War on the Central Front. It focusses on the 1980s. It looks solely at high-intensity, conventional warfare; largely from NATO's perspective. It concentrates on the lower tactical levels: from company to brigade, or perhaps division. It considers the tactics, organisation and equipment and of the American, British, West German, French and Soviet armies.
The book discusses what battles would have been fought; then how they would have been fought; and, lastly, what we can learn from that. The first section looks at the strategic and operational setting and the armies involved. The second section looks at the components of a land force; how those components were organized, and would fight; and assembles them into battlegroups, brigades and divisions. Battlegroup! then steps through the tactics of land warfare: delay, defence and withdrawal; advance, attack and counterattack; fighting in woods, built up areas and at night; and air support to land operations. The final section of the book illustrates some of the possible early engagements of any war on the Central Front. It then draws out the major observations and conclusions.
Battlegroup! relies heavily on two previously untapped sources, virtually unknown to English-speaking audiences. They explain much of the Bundeswehr's highly individual approach to defeating a potential Warsaw Pact attack.
This is not a counterfactual history. It does not attempt to say who would have won the Third World War. It explodes some myths. It will be uncomfortable reading for some, and contentious in places. Battlegroup! will be essential reading for anyone interested in warfare of the last decade of the Cold War: be it as a professional, an academic or a wargamer.

“It’s difficult to do justice to the range and depth of Battlegroup! The book is outstanding. It ranges from Army structures to platoon tactics, from offensive to defensive, fighting in woods to fighting in towns. All are convincingly blended to challenge any preconceptions you may have about conventional warfare. You’d be right to finish reading it and question why you don’t already understand warfare from this perspective. It certainly made me look at British doctrine and warfare development differently. However, the quality of this book is such that it needs a stronger recommendation. I agree with General James Everard who writes in the forward “he is a joy to read, and in Battlegroup! He has again spun a web of rich discovery.” The Wavell Room

“If ever there was a timely release… Even before the current war in Ukraine erupted there was an increasing level of interest in the Cold War. This book is primarily focused on the 1980s, and examines the battles that would have been fought had Warsaw Pact forces crossed the Inner German Border. Much of what is written about the strengths and weaknesses of both Soviet, and NATO forces is extremely relevant today. It may make for uncomfortable reading for those that remember their years in West Germany with fondness. This is however a useful examination of high intensity, conventional warfare at operational, and tactical level.” Royal Anglian News, Mar 2022

"Of particular interest to wargamers will be Storr's use of miniature wargaming to test some of his hypothesis in the absence of real-world history to examine. While he makes it clear that such an approach has limitationsm the results are interesting and they offer a glimpse of how this unfought war might have unfolded. Combined with Storr's first-hand knowledge and his incisive use of the available declassified documents, the result is an outstanding analysis of Cold War era NATO tactics that should be considered a must-buy for any wargamer interested in the period." Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy Magazine

"...I’d say this is a ‘Must Buy’ for the serious wargamer of NATO/Warsaw Pact conflict in the 1980s....You may disagree with some of [the authors] conclusions, but you get an abundance of information on organisation equipment and tactics, accurately distilled and clearly written, supported by clear diagrams. [The author] uses wargames to learn and to evaluate options – a model for us all." Miniature Wargames Magazine

"...provides an incredibly concise but information packed look at the organization, tactics, training, and equipment of the respective armies amassed in Central Europe during the 1980s." Globe at War

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