Wow. My egregious omission of the depth of Area Defense is that I left out a discussion on secondary positions and alternate positions. In a nutshell, secondary positions include defensive trenches and bunkers BEHIND the main line of defense. A secondary position can engage the enemy as they begin to assault the first trench line. That is, the secondary position looks at the same Engagement Area as the FLOT. A tertiary position would likewise face the same direction, and when tertiary trenches were dug, they could engage any enemy attacking the second line of defense. This added forward depth. An alternate position may also be created behind the FLOT, however an alternate position defends from an entirely new angle of attack. Think of this as a defense oriented on a valley below a ridge. But an alternate position near the top of the ridge is perhaps oriented 90 degrees in a new direction to cover the possibility that an enemy force might try to flank the defensive line. In this way, there is forward depth and lateral depth in an Area Defense. And this holds true even if we don't use trenches at all. Perhaps we use micro-terrain and mature wooded forests. Or perhaps we use the structures of a village. In any case, this is how an Area Defense creates depth. And with the reserves as well as forward screening forces, the Area Defense can quickly transform its combat force into an offense when the situation suits us.

I suggest you make a serie of videos about various military unit types (tanks, ifvs, apcs, attack helis, infantry, rifleman, machinegunner etc, armored cars, artillery, rocket artillery, sp art, manpads, etc ) and explain what's their purpose and they're employed, and since they dont necessarily operate in pure formations, how they're organized with other units

I like that word screening..

I am South Korean and I find a thumbnail photo very familiar haha

Keep making these videos. Your channel will grow if you put two or more videos out per week. It's hard work but that's what it takes. Either way, I'll be watching. Thank you for teaching

Pete Longstreet (pace Shelby Foote)

Excellent Chris! Keep em coming!

Excellent presentation as always.

The Maginot line was solid. The Germans going around it was kind of part of the plan. That plan was to coordinate with Belgium and hold the Germans off IN Belgium where instead of forts they had natural obstacles in the form of Rivers. Where the plan failed is that these forces that were in theory sufficient to beat back or slow down the enemy advance were defeated in the field. Part of the reason for this was that the forces meant to hold the flank of the defending armies did not expect to defend against a full-scale attack and were too slow to respond to it. There is also the accusation leveled at Belgium, including by Churchill that they surrendered much too quickly, thus depriving the Allies of a good 22 Divisions and robbed the remaining armies of the time to mount a more effective defense. It is apparently the case that after the Munich conference, the Belgian leadership tried to move closer to Germany to the detriment and at partial cost of of the cooperation with France and Britain. On the one hand there is the question of how far this abandonment went, i.e. did the Belgian King decided to surrender because he wasn‘t prepared to oppose Germany completely (unlike the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, Leopold III stayed in Belgium and became a German prisoner). Just how far it was reasonable to resist is always a question here (although the same goes for France after the Fall of Paris). On the other hand, there is the very real possibility that the fudging of the military cooperation meant that the forces that were supposed to be in place well ahead of time had to be rushed into position and were thus ill-prepared and vulnerable to the German offensive, which ultimately led to them getting defeated and cut off.

Hi mate, is there a link to purchase the books on display. Much appreciated it Cheers ps keep the vids coming 👍

Great overview, and love the channel content. Have you ever touched on counter tunnel/subterranean warfare? Lots of examples in history and recent conflicts. Curious what measures an area defense can take to avoid an enemy tunneling (or having previously built tunnels) under through their lines and popping up in the rear or in an undefended area. Thanks!

18:25. Troy walls fall to Greece.. Just have to think out side the box..

Say Chris, I was under the impression that the guys you would be using as a screen would not used out of the reserve, but rather would be part of a rotation. 1/3 on the line, 1/3 in reserve, and 1/3 performing screens and spoiling attacks. Am i mistaken? or did this change based on the length of the line the commander was tasked with as drawn? I'm also curious, as drawn, would each individual platoon be preforming those tasks, line, reserve and screens. Or would it simply be managed at this larger scale?

14:19,, sending out skirmishes to give chase.

Will this look at all different if the defenders are intentionally applying a multi-layered defense on the operational level (think Kursk)? Or is that only relevant to the higher echelons?

200 m for a company(well, 2 platoons) ... Isn't it too crowded?

Thanks🫡

15:28.. These screening tactics u r describing, they r L.R.Ps. (Long range patrols) ..?..

15:15,, yeah they r probing your lines. Id that..

2.24 .. Well to me it ain't inches of ground. I c why ppl say that, mostly due to y.. It's ignorance on the person who say y, when it comes to ppl living free from an oppressive government regime or a regimeist entity that's dead set on destroying a way of life. God won't let it happen, so those inches to me r necessary to life and Liberty .. It's sad most the time when I refect on history.. So meny lives lost and for what ..?. So we becomes Slaves to an oppressive government in our time. In OUR TIME!!.. So meny lives lost, families destroy because of war, I'm not talking just about the loss of life, it's what ppl bring home with them.demons destroy Gods creation .. America has already had a civil war, how far foes that Apple drop from a tree for ppl to remember the horrors of war... SMFH.. So I get it, when I here that opinion I try to be tolerant of their ignorance to a life that has sacrificed their freedom for their Liberty in today that has abused a Gift from God. I SMFH.