Clarke recalls a tabletop exercise in which a student selected the widest, flattest roads for a two-day advance. The route looked lightly defended, while enemy maneuver forces on either side appeared too far away to intervene promptly. Destroyed bridges and mines slowed the advance to a six-day slog before it was even halfway complete. Those delays gave the flanking forces time to attack the supply route behind the main column, forcing it to turn back as the defenders advanced from the objective. The apparent easy route allowed forces from the harder approaches to converge on the same army.
Notable Point · 16:19-19:03
A fast route becomes a trap when the enemy attacks the supply line
A tabletop exercise shows how obstacles and attacks on supply lines can defeat a movement plan built around road speed.