Bangkok--30 Mar--Image Impact
Program Title: Counterstrike
Channel: HISTORY on TrueVisions A23 and D48
Telecast Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 8.00 p.m. (Thai)
Counterstrike can take many forms: the sudden inspirational seizing of an unexpected opportunity at a critical moment in a battle; a carefully-planned reaction as the battle develops and the enemy’s intentions can be predicted; and the whole basis of for Battleplan when an enemy assault is anticipated and planned for.
History is full of examples where a numerically inferior army has turned the tide of battle by a brilliant execution of its Battleplan for Counterstrike. But, equally, where a numerically superior force has failed to react properly and been defeated.
The programme looks at three occasions when different types of Counterstrike worked superbly, and examines why these were so effective:
The classic Counterstrike at Tannenberg in 1914 which shattered two massive Russian armies. Masterminded by Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, one of the most famous military partnerships in history, it showed both meticulous planning and brilliant improvisation.
The Russian Counterstrike against Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa, which saved Moscow in winter 1941.
These are then compared with the extraordinary case in 1973, when Israel ignored some of the basic rules for the Battleplan for Counterstrike after the totally predictable Egyptian assault across the Suez Canal on Yom Kippur. The nation came close to disaster and was only saved when an unexpected opportunity could be seized to launch an inspirational second counterattack.