The discussion broadens from naval mining to the recurring problem of forgetting how much firepower small units require. First World War experience drove machine guns, mortars, and other weapons downward through army organizations because expending ammunition could preserve people. Fire intended to destroy a target differs from suppressive fire that forces an opponent to move, hide, or break off an attack. Heavy and medium anti-aircraft guns in the Second World War illustrate the distinction: disrupting an aircraft's approach could matter even when no aircraft was shot down. Measuring success only by confirmed destruction can therefore conceal an important tactical effect.
Notable Point · 20:37-22:32
The small-unit firepower lesson had to be learned again
First World War armies learned to increase machine guns, mortars, and other weapons at the lowest levels, yet the value of fire used to suppress rather than merely destroy had to be relearned in the next war.