Deception in War – I

Numerous boats are charging towards Omaha beach in Normandy. Each boat contains 20-30 soldiers. On one of the boats is Captain J H Miller, in-charge of the platoon, his hands are shaking but he keeps the morale of his platoon high. As they approach the beach they face artillery fire. Many die under this heavy blow but many others continued to move on. This is the opening scene in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ which shows Normandy invasion by Allied troops during World War II. The invasion was a successful one, but a great part in its victorious execution lies in the extreme network of deception laid out by the Allied powers.

Deception as a war strategy is used by forces when facing their belligerents from a very long time. This series of blog posts will deal with deception in war, how one army tricked another and used this advantage to emerge victorious.

Let’s start the blog with a few quotes by Sun Tzu (a Chinese General and military strategist), author of Art of War, regarding deception.

Sun Tzu’s Art Of War is considered as a definitive  work on military strategy and tactics  

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”

A little background

After Dunkirk evacuation (watch out for Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk), in which Britain had to call back BEF (British Expeditionary Forces) from France beaches, this had significantly lowered the confidence of Britain in planning any direct attack on Europe where Hitler had stronghold. In short, they feared to challenge Hitler in Europe, and Hitler had virtually created a ‘Fortress Europe’ which Britain believed was almost impossible to invade.

But gradually, America and British reached a common agreement that in order to weaken Hitler they had to attack his ‘Fortress Europe’. The gist of the plan was deception, not letting Germany know from where they are going to attack, at what time and in what numbers. This was essential because Germany already had a firm position in Europe, having knowledge of attack from Allied powers, they would concentrate all their resources towards it and will be successful in driving them away.

Many historians agree that Normandy invasion wouldn’t have been a successful one if deception wasn’t used correctly.

Comparison

Above graph depicts the strength and casualties of armies on both sides. Germany lost about 28% of its army whereas Allied troops lost only 9%. Germany was a formidable force during World War II, the casualties on both sides were almost same in number but due to deception tactics Germany employed far less force providing an edge to the Allied troops.

The Operation

Codenamed ‘Bodyguard’, Allies developed an intricate plan, of what is now known as the greatest deception operations in war history. The idea was to confuse the Germans about the destination of invasion and the strength of the armies. The plan was divided into two parts- Fortitude South and Fortitude North

German forces believed that the attack from Allied powers could either come from Normandy or Pas de Calais as mentioned in the map below. Allied powers chose Normandy over Pas de Calais mainly because of two reasons – Pas de Calais was the location for launch of rockets, Germans could easily target incoming offensive and it was a heavily fortified region bounded by numerous rives and canals.

The two areas where allied troops were planning an invasion

Fortitude North was planned to persuade the German High command that a diversionary attack on Norway was planned using forces stationed in Scotland.

Fortitude South was designed to make it appear that the major invasion force was stationed in southeast England ready to attack through Pas de Calais.

Fortitude North was least likely to succeed over Fortitude South as Hitler was always worried about an invasion through Norway and kept a large garrison there. Much rested on the success of Fortitude South.

The green arrow shows the “fake” attack points, Allied powers that they wanted the Germans to believe. The black concentric circle denote the real point of the attack.

A phantom army

A bogus army was created under the name First United States Army group (FUSAG). Allied powers wanted to convince Germans that FUSAG was created just for the attack on Pas de Calais. To facilitate the deception, dummy aircrafts and tanks were created (made from wood and fabric). The photographs of these slipped through German intelligence as Allied powers wanted it to be, and Germans became more and more convinced that attack on Pas de Calais was imminent. Although Germans had tracked Allied troops movement in Normandy but information through double agents convinced them that Normandy would a diversionary attack and real attack will be through Pas de Calais.

The image above shows a dummy tank created which could be easily lifted by soldiers.

The dotted lines shows the fake invasion plans led by the imaginary FUSAG group. The real attack was led by the 21st army group on Normandy denoted by black arrow.

A web of deceit

Trail of misinformation being fed to Germans wasn’t an easy task. Double agents were extremely crucial at this point of time. Fake radio traffic was being intercepted by Germans which re-inforced their deception plan.

Juan Pujol Garcia was one of the double agents. He created a network of 27 agents to feed false information to the Germans. Contrarily he was awarded both Iron Cross and MBE, highest honor from both Britain and Germany.

‘Eye of the Needle’ book by Ken Follet is a great read on this topic. A fictional spy thriller, the books account the details of a spy in Operation Fortitude

Rise of the Underdogs -2

:: This is the second article in Rise of the Underdogs series. Click for Part 1.

The Battle of Longewala was fought between Indian and Pakistani forces during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. This battle is the story of brave Indian soldiers who less in numerical superiority withstood against a larger Pakistani Army in the deserts of Rajasthan.

Longewala is a area located around the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India

A little background

1971 war was for liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan (as after 1947, it was East Pakistan) led by India. Most of the battles were to to be concentrated along the Eastern sector but Pakistan High command thought otherwise.

Pakistan’s President thought of a plan to somehow capture areas in the Western Areas and used them as a bargaining tool to gain dominance in East. His agenda was “The defense of East Pakistan lies in the West”.

The plan was to establish ground forces deep into the western sector with the help of PAF (Pakistan Air Force). PAF launched pre-emptive strikes along the Indian borders. Pakistani ground soldiers were able to campaign and dug trenches along the western Indian border. To them the town of Rahim Yar Khan was of crucial importance. This town formed an important link for logistics and communication for the Pakistan Army.

India’s main defense tactic was to capture this town and therefore destabilize the Pakistani Army. Although Pakistan intelligence was strong enough in operational areas in Punjab regarding Indian Army’s movements but there was one loophole in it. The loophole was the Longewala’s post. Longewala was originally a BSF (Border Security Force) post but after tensions mounting during the war, it was held under Indian Army’s Punjab Regiment. Pakistan attacked Longewala with the intention that it would be guarded by the BSF guards, not the Indian Army.

The attack

On December 4, 1971, a lieutenant of the Punjab Regiment was conducting a patrol when he detected noises across the border that suggested a large number of armored vehicles approaching. The Pakistani forces began their attack at 12:30 am. As the offensive approached the lone outpost, Pakistani artillery opened up with medium artillery guns, killing five of the ten camels from the 14 battalion BSF detachment.

Pakistan Army with 2000 in strength started closing in at Indian positions who were just 120 in number. To make matters worse Pakistan had 45 tanks in their possession while India had none.

India just had M40 recoilless rifle which could be mounted on a jeep (as depicted above) to combat Pakistani’s tanks.

Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, commanding officer of the Punjab regiment requested reinforcements after sensing the situation but was informed that reinforcements would not arrive before dawn. Major Chandpuri was left with two options: one, to attempt and hold out until reinforced, or, two, to command a tactile on foot retreat of his company. Displaying exceptional courage at the time he decided to maintain defensive position at the post and not fall back.

Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri who commanded the Indian soldiers, was awarded Maha Vir Chakra for his bravery at the battlefield.

Edge for Indians and downside for Pakistanis

An advantage Indian Army had was, Longewala was a strong defensive position. The post was located on a height from the ground level which gave Indian forces a clear vision of the ground beneath and hence a definite advantage over their enemy. This helped the soliders to point the M40 recoil-less rifle directly at the thinner top armour of Pakistani tanks thus destroying them instantly.

Pakistani made may blunders during this war which resulted in their defeat. One of them was that, they misjudged the terrain. Area surrounding Longewala was covered with thick sand thus hindering the movement of tanks. This gave Indian army plenty of time to properly aim at tanks as they got bogged down in the sand.

 

Pakistan took some hasty descions during the war. On discovering barbed wires near the Indian outpost they quickly concluded it to be a minefield and halted their advance. After 2 hours of battle, they realized that there was no minefield. This delay led to Indian Army solidifying their positions. The spare fuel tanks carried by the Pakistani Army, intended to supplement their advance, exploded during the battle providing ample light for Indians located on higher ground, and creating a dense acrid smoke screen at ground level for the Pakistani infantry.

Throughout the engagement Major Chandpuri continued to direct the supporting artillery fire, running from bunker to bunker, he inspired his men to beat back the enemy. Indian defenders were able to hold out Longewala post against Pakistan through the whole night.

At the crack of dawn, India Air Force came into action. With no air support from Pakistan Air Force, the Pakistani tanks and other armoured vehicles were sitting ducks to shoot at for the IAF.

HF-24 Marut was one of the fighter bomber aircraft deployed to defend the Longewala position and attack enemy’s tanks and bunkers.

Indian soldiers rejoicing after capturing a Pakistani tank.

By the end after reinforcements had arrived, Pakistan lost 200 of its soldiers during the battle and 34 of its tanks were destroyed. On the other hand Indian Army comparatively only lost 2 of its soldiers.

In all, Longewala’s win was a combination of bravery of Indian soldiers, taking advantage of Pakistani’s blunders, maintaining a strong defensive position and finally a swift action by the Indian Air Force.

 

 

 

Smart Move! – 2

This blog post is second in the series of posts under Smart Move!. For part one click here Smart Move! – 1

Let me start the blog with wise words by B.H. Liddell Hart, a military historian and theorist, on war strategy.

The most effective indirect approach is one that lures or startles the opponent into a false move — so that, as in ju-jitsu, his own effort is turned into the lever of his overthrow.

 

The most consistently successful commanders, when faced by an enemy in a position that was strong naturally or materially, have hardly ever tackled it in a direct way. And when, under pressure of circumstances, they have risked a direct attack, the result has commonly been to blot their record with a failure.

Battle of Myeongnyang

During 1590’s Japanese led a series of battle in order to invade Korea known as Imjin War. Battle of Myeongnyang was a part of this war, where a man named Yi sun-sin displayed some impressive form of military strategy. It was one of the most remarkable naval victory in Korean history.

In this battle, Koreans led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin who had only 13 warships faced with immensely vast Japanese navy who had 300 ships (warships plus logistical ships). Despite these odds, Koreans emerged victorious.

Comparison

The above image is from the Wikipedia article. The left side denotes the Japanese whereas the right side indicates the Koreans. Looking at the strength column, we get to know how heavily outnumbered the Koreans were, but smart thinking by Yi Sun-sin changed the course of the battle. As it is evident from the casualties’ column; Japanese were humiliatingly defeated, losing about 31 ships whereas the Koreans didn’t even lose a ship.

Not only in numerical superiority but also in technology advancement, the Koreans were a bit behind the Japanese.

Warships used by the belligerents in the battle are shown in the above image. The left ship known as “turtle ship” was used by the Japanese contrasted by the ship given on the right known as “panokseon” used by the Koreans. The turtle ships had an iron clad roof which protected the crew members from any incoming attacks whereas the panokseon didn’t have roof of any kind which made them highly vulnerable and defenseless.

A little backstory

Admiral Yi Sun-sin was a praised commander in Korea. Korean navy flourished under his command; he increased the number of warships from 30 to 160. Due to growing popularity of Yi Sun-sin, he had made many enemies. Everything was going happily for Yi Sun-sin until Japanese invasion happened. Due to influence of Japan on Korean politics and Yi’s enemies, Yi was impeached, tortured and demoted to  rank of a common soldier. Yi’s main rival Won Gyun took advantage of the situation and became the head of Korean Navy. Won Gyun was an incompetent military commander and under his command Korean Navy lost almost all the battles (which were a part of Imjin War).  The numbers of warships from 160 were just reduced to 13. After Won Gyun was killed in one of the battle; Yi Sun-sin was reinstated as the Supreme commander of Korean Navy. Seeing the strikingly low number of warships Korea had, King of Korea persuaded Yi to abandon the navy and send the men to join ground forces, but Yi replied to him- “Even though our navy is small, as long as I live the enemy cannot despise us”.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin was an outstanding tactician. His heroism in war is celebrated even today.

Yi Sun-sin’s shrewdness

Yi Sun-sin carefully looked at the situation and drew out a plan. Yi Sun-sin selected Myeongnyang strait as the place for battle. This was due to various reasons.

• First. The water current in the strait had an unusual pattern. It flowed strongly approximately at 10 knots in one direction and then in the opposite direction in three hours interval. Yi thought he could this pattern as a force multiplier.
• Second. The strait was narrow and only allowed a limited number of ships to enter at a time. This proved advantageous to Koreans as Japanese couldn’t use their numerical superiority and had to fight the Korean ships in limited numbers.

Location of Myeongnyang strait was an excellent choice for the battle. A wise decision indeed by Yi Sun-sin.

Yi deliberately sent in scouting ships so that Japanese could spot them and these scouting ships then lured them into Myeongnyang strait for the battle.

Japanese hoodwinked

As I had stated earlier the strait had very high speed of water currents. It flowed in both north and south directions at three hour interval each. The battle could be visualized in two phases; when the water current was in favor of Koreans and when it was against.

Phase one – Water current against Koreans

In this phase, water current was favorable to the Japanese. Yi’s flagship (main commanding ship in the battle) took on the vanguard (commanding ship) of Japanese Navy all alone. The crew of Korean navy were still badly shaken up and intimidated by their loss of previous battles, so Yi alone had to take charge in the initial stages of the battle. Seeing Yi taking on the vanguard of Japanese navy single handedly, Korean’s navy morale was boosted. They started firing cannons and arrows towards the enemies. Patriotism was at an all time high for the Koreans. Despite water current in favor of them, Japanese couldn’t make use of this advantage.

In the above image, we could see Yi’s flagship (denoted in blue) facing the Japanese vanguard (denoted in brown).

Phase two – Water current in favor of Koreans

This was the moment Yi had been waiting for. He could use the water current against the Japanese as a force multiplier. As the tide changed its course, Japanese fleet drifted backwards and soon crashed into each other. This provided an edge to Koreans, as they fired cannons and arrows; it would destroy multiple ships as they were bunched together (due to narrowness of the strait). In the end the numerical superiority proved to be disadvantage in this battle.