Looking for a unique take on German operations and tactics during World War II? Niklas Zetterling's Blitzkrieg From the Ground Up does exactly that while also giving the reader a direct look at how German soldiers used their training and experience to solve tactical and operational problems they encountered during the war's first two years.
Last week I discussed the operational level of war. To summarize, the operational level links strategic objectives to the tactical deployment of military assets. The operational level of war is often referred to as an art, and for good reason. Nevertheless, before we can discuss what makes planning and leading military operations on a large scale an art form we must first start with the set of rules that gives commanders from the same army a common basis of action: that being doctrine. From there we can examine some key metrics for defining sound generalship.
