How to Attack a Trench?

[Simon Darkshade]

Napalm was only developed in the Second installment.

Blockading and waiting for capitulation is a very lengthy process, and is not of war winning utility without victory on the battlefield exacerbating matters.

 

[FriendlyFire]

what is the smartest way to attack a trench with the technology that existed. So what should the generals of WW1 have done?

Ideally:
Air superiority which allows spotters: Then systematicly take out enemy artillary positions.
Heavy artillary in short accurate bombardment.
Rolling barrage
Infantry to trench as close as possible for short jump off.
Equiped with flame throwers, lots of hand grenades and light machine guns
Short limited objectives.

 

[Verbose]

Ideally:
Air superiority which allows spotters: Then systematicly take out enemy artillary positions.
Heavy artillary in short accurate bombardment.
Rolling barrage
Infantry to trench as close as possible for short jump off.
Equiped with flame throwers, lots of hand grenades and light machine guns
Short limited objectives.

All of which was invented and used as intended in WWI. And in the end tanks worked better anyway.

 

[Ecclesiastes]

Ok I just finished doing WW1 in school. I like reading about that war which is now my favorite war. My question is what is the smartest way to attack a trench with the technology that existed. I mean today it would be pretty easy to bomb a trench to peices and a modern tank would be good at storming trenches. So what should the generals of WW1 have done?

Gases grenades, shell it shoot at it, then when it looks weak enough you pool men from one of your set-ins and raid it, if you take the set-ins it becomes a domino effect and you take over all the set-ins and take the trench as a whole. Onthe second hand if the raid fails, one of your set-ins is now vulnerable for counterattack. Becuase of the domino effect of taking a single set-in later in the war they began making multiple trenches so if you lost one the battle wasnt completely lost.

And i dont mean to sound like an arse but FF theres no point in taking out there arty, they wont shell there own trench and it wasnt accurate enough anyway.

 

[Verbose]

Gases grenades, shell it shoot at it, then when it looks weak enough you pool men from one of your set-ins and raid it, if you take the set-ins it becomes a domino effect and you take over all the set-ins and take the trench as a whole. Onthe second hand if the raid fails, one of your set-ins is now vulnerable for counterattack. Becuase of the domino effect of taking a single set-in later in the war they began making multiple trenches so if you lost one the battle wasnt completely lost.

Actually the biggest problem with WWI trench warfare seems to have been not taking the damn things (not that it's actually easy), put stopping the counter-offensive you invariably got hit by. That's the real poser here. How to hang on to whatever gains you made?

 

[History_Buff]

Fire, and lot's of it. Whether it's machine guns you somehow moved over the quagmire, artillery fire, incindiaries, some sort of cluster munition dropped from the sky, or just lighting fires between your gains and the enemy line.

 

[YNCS]

In March 1918, the Germans delivered an attack against the British 5th Army called Operation Michael. The Germans realized that the tactics used by both sides on the Western Front were inadequate, and devised new tactics. They split their forces into two types of units, trench divisions for defense and Stosstruppen (storm troops) divisions for offense. These Stosstruppen were the best men culled from all divisions (leaving the rest for trench divisions) and extensively trained.

The tactics, which were refined into the Blitzkrieg of WW2, consisted of:

Aufmarsch - rapid movement to the enemy's front, generally by train and motor transport.

Gefeschsstreifen - concentration against a narrow sector of the enemy's front, then

Schwerpunkt - center of gravity for the attack, to be made with great force but with a short artillery bombardment (unlike the literally days of bombardment previously used).

Einbruch - penetration of the enemy front which, if successful, would be followed up by additional forces in order to achieve

Durchburch - breakthrough, permitting the troops access to the enemy's rear, where they could employ

Falchen und Lüketaktick - the tactics of space and gap, avoiding the enemy's reserves and strong points as much as possible, hitting them where they were least able to defend, in order to press on and secure control of enemy lines of communication, while other troops undertook the

Aufrollen - rolling up of the tattered ends of the pierced enemy front, mopping up strong points and widening the gap that additional forces could move up to support the advancing spearheads in attaining

Keil und Kessel - literally "wedge and pocket," the encirclement of the enemy.

Operation Michael succeeded until the Aufrollen stage, when the British 2nd Army to the north and the French 1st and 3rd Armies to the south were able to threaten the German flanks and Allied reserve troops deployed in a new front line. Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht advanced as much as 30 miles beyond the original front line before it was obvious that the attack had failed.

For more information, I recommend:
J. H. Johnson, 1918: The Unexpected Victory. London: Cassell & Co., 1997.
John Keegan, The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 2000.
Correlli Barnett, Swordbearers: Supreme Command in the First World War. New York: William Marrow & Co., 1964 (specifically the section on Ludendorff).

 

[warmwaffles]

well if it were me I would SPEND millions into the development of nuclear weapons...

but aside from that what I would do is...have the artillery clear way in the no mans land because there are mines and booby traps and snipers in that area...Now with the no mans land completely pot holled even more this will allow my troops a fall back position so they can eventually make a good hold and retreat if needed...

Now with the clearing of the No mans land I take the artillery and shell the enemy lines RELENTLESSLY...and send up a scout party to prod at the enemy lines to see how there reaction is....while that is happeneing I will send out Smoke bombs tons of them to cover the scout team....and scout planes to scout the entire area...and I mean a whole lot of scout planes making notes of enemy positions......While the scout team is being attacked they are to take Dynamite and clear the barbed wire that lay between no mans land and their trenches....after that scout team got back or what was left... I would shell the area that has the huge hole in the barbed wire.

After that I send in the first wave of light infantry backed with artillery fire BEHIND enemy lines that way to supress enemy re-enforcements...The job of the first wave is to breech or make a bigger hole so the second wave may follow in behind to help with the breeching of enemy lines...The third wave will then follow behind the second wave replacing the first...The first wave is then to fall back into the main lines incase...

The 4th wave will have what tanks possible and airplanes flying in to scout enemy positions a second time. If all fails

RUUN AWAY!!!

Any questions or remarks are welcome...as long as you provide a helpful suggestion..

 

[Marla_Singer]

well if it were me I would SPEND millions into the development of nuclear weapons...

If it were me I would spend millions into the development of bombers and tanks. In 1914, they weren't that far from having enough technology to devellop those, it seems that military strategists didn't believe enough in them.

People will need another decade to understand the good old days of small soldiers running in the middle of the battlefield were over. And even then, French and Russians continued with that foolish ideology.

 

[warmwaffles]

Yes but the question is how would you make a break out in trench warfare with the tech they had at the time...and that means those bullet magnet tanks...

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Fire, and lot's of it. Whether it's machine guns you somehow moved over the quagmire, artillery fire, incindiaries, some sort of cluster munition dropped from the sky, or just lighting fires between your gains and the enemy line.

dear God, why didnt they think of that in 1916? Can you imagine a Fokker Triplane dropping firebombs on French trenches? that would be crazy! Its too bad neither side learned the value of close air support in that war

 

[Captain2]

best way to attack a trench?: i like the way one of the russian generals did it, moved a mass amount of troops to the front so the germans didnt notice and then just attacked without any bombardment, the total surpise won it i think

smartest way to attack a trench?: dont you'll get your ass handed to you

 

[Verbose]

dear God, why didnt they think of that in 1916? Can you imagine a Fokker Triplane dropping firebombs on French trenches? that would be crazy! Its too bad neither side learned the value of close air support in that war

Except the German planes rarely operated over the French or British lines. Had they tried they would have been outnumbered and punished for it.

 

[warmwaffles]

and I dont know why on earth generals didn't use aircraft in ground support by straffing...atleast act as forward lookers for god sake

EDIT: Slash and burn tactics is also what I would use if I retreated...much like the russians did in WWII

 

[Ace]

Flying a world war I biplane, made of wood and canvas, low and slow over trenches packed with infantry is not going to have a very high survival rate, and if you do manage to crash land safely on the wrong side of the lines, said infantry who just received your firebombs are not going to treat you with kid gloves.

 

[YNCS]

There's the further point that WWI biplanes didn't have a large carrying capacity. The Handley Page 0/400 bomber, the largest operated during the war* could carry one 1650 lb (748kg) bomb. Artillery was much more cost effective in putting large amounts of explosive on the enemy lines.

*The HP 0/500 and Vickers Vimy didn't come into service until after the war was over.

 

[Bronx Warlord]

Well with the way WW1 was fought I would have to agree. Pray once you go over the top.

Now in a real world situation, try and hit the sides or weakpoints and get in the damn trench yourself. Automatic weapons are great with shotguns for cleaning out a trench or bunker. Lots of frags, taking it slow and smooth. You do this at several points in a trenchline, put in a squad or fireteam, you will own that trench.

 

[Adler17]

YNCS, the Zeppelin Staaken was bigger.

Adler

 

[YNCS]

You're right, Adler. My mistake.

 

[YNCS]

Well with the way WW1 was fought I would have to agree. Pray once you go over the top.

Now in a real world situation, try and hit the sides or weakpoints and get in the damn trench yourself. Automatic weapons are great with shotguns for cleaning out a trench or bunker. Lots of frags, taking it slow and smooth. You do this at several points in a trenchline, put in a squad or fireteam, you will own that trench.

Are you saying that WW1 trench warfare wasn't "real world?" There were several million Germans, British, French, Canadians, Australians, Italians, Portuguese, Indians, and miscellaneous other veterans who might have disagreed with that.