Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: Best policy in war--thwart the enemy's strategy, second best--disrupt his alliances through diplomacy, third best--attack his army in the field, worst strategy--attack walled cities. --Sun Tsu, Art of WarThe battle for Grozny, the capital of the small Russian Republic of Chechnya, took place in January 1995.It pitted a hastily assembled and unprepared Russian force against a Chechen force of regulars and guerrillas equipped with Russian weapons and a belief in their cause.The Chechens held their own for three weeks but eventually lost the city to the Russian armed forces in late January (the Chechens retook the city in August 1996).Both sides learned or relearned many lessons of urban combat, most of them the hard way.[1] This article examines the most important of those lessons, the interesting and perhaps surprising conclusions drawn by the Russians about modern urban warfare, and their implications for US soldiers and urban warfare theory.
Author: Timothy L. Thomas
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3045017983