Review - Books, Red Thrust Central Front

Red Thrust by Steven Zaloga was written in 1989 and looks at a series of vignettes set within a central european cold war conflict. Each chapter examines a different Soviet Arm of Service and each vignette is followed by an analysis and discussion which look at aspects of the doctrine and the evolution of weapons and forces, both NATO and Soviet this of course was written at the time of the cold war and was trying to predict forward so has limitations.  The Chapters cover the subject matter as follows:

Ch 1 Operational Planning and Operational Art

Ch 2 Motor Rifle Troops

Ch 3 Tank Troops

Ch 4 Spetznaz

Ch 5 Attack Helicopters and Air Assault

Ch 6 Artillery

Ch 7 Air Support

Ch 8 Chemical Warfare

The Vignettes sit within the overall context of a Danube crossing operation in Southern Germany and the various stories come together to describe the operational action.  Some of the Vignettes particularly around the core arms of service, tank and motor rifle are not particularly illuminating as the methods of operation of these Arms tend to be reasonably well understood at the level of description provided in the vignettes.  The vignettes on Spetznaz, Air Assault, Artillery and Air Support are more useful as they illustrate the progress of the operation in the context of the doctrine in areas that are less well covered else where.  The analysis components are where the real value of the book lies but these sadly comprise less than 50% of the book. 

Ultimately looking at Soviet combined arms doctrine from the perspective of a single arm is difficult as their whole approach to war fighting emphasised its prosecution in a combined arms environment. The fact that the book is tying to examine the impact of future equipment change identified as coming into service in the 1990s is another limitation if your intent is to use it to understand what the Soviets intended to do at the backend of the cold war. The book is of interest none the less and I found the predictions interesting in the context of how the 1990s played out.  If you can find one at a low price its worth a look but be prepared to be disappointed with some of the chapters, I found Chapters 5-8 the most useful.

Red Thrust: Attack on the Central Front- Soviet Tactics and Capabilities in the 1990s @ amazon

Other Book Reviews:

The Soviet Afghan War, How a Super Power Fought and Lost
Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army
Soviet Air Land Battle Tactics
The Military Balance
Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Manoeuvre
First Clash
The Third World War
The British Army in Germany

The Cold War Bookstore contains links to over 60 Cold War titles covered in my book list

Review - Books, First Clash, K Macksey

First Clash 1985, Kenneth Macksey.  Kenneth Macksey is an ex armoured core officer who served in WW2, he wrote first clash as a training publication for the Canadian DOD.  The book deals with the deployment of 3 Royal Canadian Regiment (3RCR) Battlegroup as part of a 4 Canadian Mech Brigades defensive battle plan and the attack against them by 290 Motor Rifle Regiment and 301 Tank Regiment. The book covers the organisation and rolls of the various sub components of a Canadian Armoured Battle Group.  The Battle Group comprises 3 Mechanised Companies, Anti Tank Platoon, Recce Platoon, Morter Platoon, a Tank Squadron, a Battery of Guns and an Air Defence section of Javalin.  In addition it covers support from the brigades Helicopter Squadron and the use of Engineers to create an obstacle plan. It considers the preparation for and deployment to the defended locations, the sequence of the battle preparation and the detail of the occupation of the defence, then the actions against the two Soviet units which includes their engagement of 3RCR's covering force elements followed by the main action and the sequence of arrival by the Soviets onto the RCR positions.  It closes with the 4 Canadian Mech Brigade  withdrawing covered by the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) Squadron Group comprising 2 Troops of armour and a mechanised platoon from the Royal 22e Regiment (R22R) together with two sections of anti armour weapons and support from the RCD Recce platoon in Lynx supported by the Brigades Artillery Regiment and unit morters.

  

It covers the subject well having been written in conjunction with the Canadian DoD and not only provides some excellent orbat data for the Canadians but also provides a real flavour of what NATO trained for and to some extent expected to happen.  It lays out the procedures for the whole action with the intent of providing instruction for Junior Officers, so not necessarily the most exciting read but a great book none the less if your interested in the cold war on the central front in the 1980s.  I am currently collecting the components of a canadian battle group and hope to get on with it in more detail later in the year or maybe next year so more to come on the Canadians.

First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three  @Amazon

Other Book Reviews

Soviet Air Land Battle Tactics
The Military Balance
Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Manoeuvre
The Third World War
The British Army in Germany

The Cold War Bookstore contains links to over 60 Cold War titles covered in my book list

Review - Books, The Third World War, General J Hackett

The Third World War, written in 1977 by General Sir John Hackett following his command of NORTHAG.  The book is set in 1985 and illustrates the need to strengthen NATOs defence and what might happen in a future conflict if that were achieved. The book provides a high level scenario around which to build many an engaging game, it provides the reader with an understanding of the broad scheme of manouver and the impact of critical systems on the battle. 

The book opens with an engagement between 11 Armoured Cavelry and lead Soviet elements and covers off a number of small scale air and ground actions before detailing the build up to war through activities in a number of surrogate states across Africa and the middle East coupled with rising tensions within the Warsaw pact and Soviet Bloc. The pace picks up as US and Soviet forces clash in Yugoslavia, and Soviet special forces strike against NATO command and control centres. 

General Hackett then articulates expected developments in the two forces between 1985 and 1977 before taking us into the conflict on the central front.  The broad NATO plan and the outline doctrine of forward defence and covering force battles by NATO are introduced through the unfolding conflict before the story cuts across the Naval and Air battles and the influence they have on the land campaign. The final chapters examine the impact of the arrival of French and continental US reinforcements just before the whole thing goes Nuclear.  

A great introduction to what might have happened authoritavly written by an unquestioned expert on this subject and supported by a respectable cast of senior officers from across NATO.

The Third World War: A Future History @Amazon

Other Book Reviews

Soviet Air Land Battle Tactics
The Military Balance
Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Manoeuvre
First Clash
The British Army in Germany

The Cold War Bookstore contains links to over 60 Cold War titles covered in my book list