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zare_i's review
5.0
Colonel Bruchmueller was a person at the right place at the right time. Re-enlisted artillery colonel (retired because of medical issues before WW1) got re-enlisted and then assigned to the Eastern front. Here he proved to be invaluable and rather inventive when it comes to artillery organization, command and control - he demonstrated his knowledge during the battle of Riga.
His approach to use of artillery and way it should be incorporated into general Imperial German Army gave new vigor to the German military machine. In 5 last offensives led by Ludendorf, colonel's doctrine proved its value in the field but came in too late to save the Germans.
As one of the reviewers noted we are not exactly given information how Bruchmueller came to his ideas - everything starts at the moment of his first application of new approach in Riga. It would be interesting to see how he built his knowledge but unfortunately we are never shown this evolution.
On the other hand we are given rather detailed evolution of artillery in Imperial German Army, role it played in the last year and half of WW1 and the way Allies found counter measures against this new German military art.
After 1918 we are given overview how colonel's approach to artillery and his works affected all the sides post WW1 and even today (especially when it comes to USSR/Russia). This part is very informative and shows how proven techniques, especially in field that does not allow for mistakes and second chances, are there to stay. That being said I was surprised that WW2 Germany decided to drop artillery in full - this was marked as a warning note in the book (together with, ironically, Yom Kippur war mentions), mistake of relying on only one way\technology when it comes to waging war. In this way book also shows how artillery and the way it is used changed dramatically at the end of WW1 and paved the way to modern organization of army artillery as a branch (where theory and concepts of application remained the same with only aspect of artillery technology/gun improvements developing at ever higher speed).
It is to the author's credit that book, although rather short, is very readable and very rich with information related to artillery (listed bibliography is quite amazing).
Highly recommended.
His approach to use of artillery and way it should be incorporated into general Imperial German Army gave new vigor to the German military machine. In 5 last offensives led by Ludendorf, colonel's doctrine proved its value in the field but came in too late to save the Germans.
As one of the reviewers noted we are not exactly given information how Bruchmueller came to his ideas - everything starts at the moment of his first application of new approach in Riga. It would be interesting to see how he built his knowledge but unfortunately we are never shown this evolution.
On the other hand we are given rather detailed evolution of artillery in Imperial German Army, role it played in the last year and half of WW1 and the way Allies found counter measures against this new German military art.
After 1918 we are given overview how colonel's approach to artillery and his works affected all the sides post WW1 and even today (especially when it comes to USSR/Russia). This part is very informative and shows how proven techniques, especially in field that does not allow for mistakes and second chances, are there to stay. That being said I was surprised that WW2 Germany decided to drop artillery in full - this was marked as a warning note in the book (together with, ironically, Yom Kippur war mentions), mistake of relying on only one way\technology when it comes to waging war. In this way book also shows how artillery and the way it is used changed dramatically at the end of WW1 and paved the way to modern organization of army artillery as a branch (where theory and concepts of application remained the same with only aspect of artillery technology/gun improvements developing at ever higher speed).
It is to the author's credit that book, although rather short, is very readable and very rich with information related to artillery (listed bibliography is quite amazing).
Highly recommended.