Tactics

Tactics, technique or science of dispensing and manoeuvring forces to accomplish a limited objective or an immediate end, as opposed to strategy, which is the art of employing all elements of the power of a nation or nations to accomplish the objectives of a nation. Military tactics involve the manipulation of forces to accomplish the aims of a campaign or to defeat the enemy. Tactics are developed based on the size, composition, and quality of forces available to a commander, and taking into account the forces that are available to the enemy to oppose the commander's forces. A commander will seek tactics that will give the optimum chance of accomplishing a mission with the least damage to the commander's forces. Tactics include using deception and surprise, manoeuvres and fire power, and other capabilities of available forces. Tactics must be adapted to the specific conditions that exist. Important elements in determining tactics are logistics, geography, the available intelligence on the enemy's forces, the enemy's usual tactics, and other matters that may influence the outcome of a battle.

Tactics used by successful commanders in the past are carefully studied to modify them for use under current conditions. The Roman general Scipio Africanus the Elder used a two-pronged attack to overwhelm the enemy as did William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of Union forces, in his march to the sea during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Mongol leader Genghis Khan used overwhelming force in sudden attacks against smaller enemy forces to defeat his enemy piecemeal. The Germans used the same idea in their blitzkrieg (war conducted with speed and force) in World War II (1939-1945). Tactics successful at one point in history are not, however, necessarily successful at another. Marquis Heihachiro Togo, the Japanese naval commander in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), defeated the Russians at Tsushima; when Japan applied the same general tactics against Pearl Harbor, the immediate result was highly destructive to United States aircraft, ships, and personnel, but ultimately the United States overcame the blow. However, the tactics of the British admiral Horatio Nelson—destruction of enemy communications and commerce—were used successfully by the American fleets in World War II.

In modern warfare, tactics are becoming increasingly more complex because of the sophisticated equipment now available. Consequently, coordination of operations within and among military units is more important but also more difficult to achieve.