Victory Into Defeat

Victory Into Defeat

By

Lt Col VK Singh

The history of warfare is the history of man. No sooner there were two of them - Cain and Abel - they fought, and killed. Over the years, the art of war has flowered, and it has now crossed the dividing line, and become a science. Along with this transformation, warfare has become a complicated and sophisticated subject, making use of the latest developments in science and technology, and gobbling up almost a quarter of the resources, in terms of time and money, of the human race.

Though the science of warfare has made rapid progress, in no other sphere has this been as rapid as in communications. The developments in military communications during the last half century have revolutionised warfare. A modern army depends on communications for its very survival, and no Commander in his right mind would take the field today, without guaranteed communications. Understandably, communications is widely regarded as one of the most important battle winning factors today.

This, unfortunately, is far from the truth; good communications may have improved the passage of information and orders, but whether it also helps in winning battles, is doubtful, as we shall soon see. History is replete with instances of victories which were made possible only because of lack of communications between the field commander and his superiors, and defeats, which were the result of good communications.

During the early part of the last century, Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu, despatched one of his Generals, Zorawar Singh to subdue hill tribes on the Frontier. Zorawar Singh went on to conquer Ladakh, Skardu, Gilgit, Hunza, and later Tibet. Gulab Singh came to know of these victories only from the treasure and •tribute which Zorawar Singh sent back to Jammu, after each conquest. If communications had existed between the two, it is inconceivable that Gulab Singh would have permitted Zorawar Singh to undertake the apparently foolhardy campaign in Tibet, in which he later lost his life.

Robert Clive is regarded by historians as the founder of British rule in India. However, there, are no two views that Clive was an extremely audacious adventurer, who succeeded, by intrigue and deceit, in creating dissensions among Indian rulers, thereby consolidating his own position. His victory in the Battle of Plassey laid the foundation of British dominance in the subcontinent. However, it is rarely that one wins a battle in which he is outnumbered 17 to 1, as Clive was, and his decision to take on a vastly superior enemy was definitely foolhardy. It is doubtful if the Hon'ble East India Company's Directors, in London, would have lent their countenance to Clive for this venture, had it been possible for the latter to obtain their concurrence on telephone. And perhaps, the British Empire in India would never have existed, but for the lack of communications between Clive and his superiors.

We have seen how important victories have been gained only due to lack of communications. Let us now consider the other side of the coin, and see the effect of good communications.

In May 1940, Hitler decided to put into effect an audacious and brilliant plan, suggested by Von Manstein for conquering Western Europe. As part of this offensive, German Panzers crashed through the Ardennes forest in Belgium and raced for the English Channel. Guderian, spearheading the advance, was almost within sight of Dunkirk, when he was ordered to halt, by an inexplicable order from Hitler, conveyed on the radio. This enabled the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force to cross the Channel at Dunkirk, and escape to England. If Guderian had not been halted, it is quite likely that over a million Allied soldiers would have been captured, and the Second World War brought to an end, with German suzerainty over Europe established. The history of the world may have been altered, had not Guderian's communications with Von Rundstedt been as good as they were.

On 24th April, 1980, American Commandos landed in Iran. Their task was to rescue 56 hostages, imprisoned in the US Embassy in Teheran. However, out of eight helicopters that took off from the aircraft carrier NIMITZ, only five landed at the rendezvous, the remainder having broken down, due to mechanical trouble. The force Commander, Col Charles Beckewith, relayed this information to the Pentagon, and this in turn was conveyed to President Carter, who gave orders to cancel the mission. Apart from resulting in loss of face, this incident was also instrumental in Carter losing the election for the US Presidency, later during the year. A hundred years ago, when communications were not as good as today, it is inconceivable that Colonel Beckewith would have cancelled the mission on his own. He still had five helicopters, he had not lost a. single man; and he had achieved complete surprise. It is ten to one that had he gone ahead with the mission, it would have succeeded, resulting in a well earned decoration for himself, as well as considerable increase in prestige for his country. However, this was not to be, and the reason is only one - good communications.

It follows, therefore, that while good communications may be an important factor for fighting battles, it is not necessarily so for winning them. Communications have deprived the field Commander of his precious prerogative - tactical decisions. In future wars, it is quite conceivable that even minor tactical decisions, will be taken at a political level. Military commanders will no longer be commanders - they will become messengers, just like the ambassadors of today, who no longer enjoy plenipotentiary powers, thanks to communications. This dilution of authority to take tactical decisions will severely curb the initiative of field commanders, who will have to look back over their shoulders for orders, before taking any step which involves the slightest amount of risk. It may well happen, as it did in the case of Heinz, Guderian and Charles Beckewith, that good communications turn out to be not a blessing, but a bane, and turn victory into defeat.

(Author's Note            :-Budding Sparrows are advised to take the article with a pinch of salt and not try too hard to ensure failure of communications. However, it is hoped that the instances quoted above will improve the health of some of our conscientious colleagues, who take their job too seriously, and get a stroke every time the line goes out, or a radio net is not through.

 A perusal of the above article, every Monday morning before breakfast, is guaranteed to prevent heart attacks, ulcers, and grey hair, which is taking a heavy tall of our Commanding Officers).

(Published in The Signalman, Sep 1985)