The Tactics of a Battle Scene.

A written battle scene can get murky if you don’t have a good sense of the landscape, the combatants, and the tactics they might use.  Sure everyone knows what flanking means, but how does one make flanking dramatic? And if you’re like me and have zero military experience, you’d better expect a lot of library time. Luckily, I found this little gem: the Marine Corp Doctrinal Publication on Tactics via the Jocko Willink Podcast.

Here’s a passage that really struck me as a literary moment, one worth dramatizing, and an awesome reference for a battle scene I’m working on.

On August 2, 216 B.C., the Carthaginian general Hannibal fought the Roman army under the command of Terentius Varro near the city of Cannae in southern Italy. Hannibal based his tactics on the specific characteristics of both forces and on the aggressive personality of the Roman commander. As dawn broke, Hannibal drew up his force of 50,000 veterans with his left flank anchored on the Aufidus river, secured from envelopment by the more numerous Romans. His center contained only a thin line of infantry. His main force was concentrated on the flanks. His left and right wings each contained deep phalanxes of heavy infantry. Eight thousand cavalry tied the left of his line to the river. Two thousand cavalry protected his open right flank. Eight thousand men guarded his camp in the rear. Varro and more than 80,000 Romans accepted the challenge. Seeing the well-protected Carthaginian flanks, Varro dismissed any attempt to envelop. He decided to crush his opponent by sheer weight of numbers. He placed 65,000 men in his center; 2,400 cavalry on his right; and 4,800 cavalry on his left and sent 11,000 men to attack the Carthaginian camp. Following preliminary skirmishes, Hannibal moved his light center line forward into a salient against the Roman center. (See A in figure.) Then, his heavy cavalry on the left crushed the opposing Roman cavalry and swung completely around the Roman rear to attack the Roman cavalry on the other flank. The Roman cavalry fled the field. The Carthaginian heavy cavalry then turned back to assault the rear of the dense Roman infantry who had pressed back Hannibal’s thin center line. At the same time, Hannibal wheeled his right and left wings into the flanks of the Roman center. The Romans were boxed in, unable to maneuver or use their weapons effectively. (See B in figure on page 21.) Between 50,000 and 60,000 Romans died that day as Varro’s army was destroyed.