The civil war in the United States between 18 saw the use of railways as a mean to rapidly shift the operational effort from one theatre of operations to another one. Later in the century, the progress of technology led to further development in the operational art : This battle wad decisive not because the immediate outcomes (the coalition was not defeated yet) but because it set the conditions for the Battle of Austerlitz. On October 20, Ulm was taken along with Mack’s army. October 13, Soult 4 corps attacked Austrian troops (general Mack), making 4500 prisoners and losing 16 soldiers. The Coalition was surprised by Napoleon’s speed of advance, and took to much time to react. The speed of the corps advances was made possible by improved logistics. Perfectly trained in Boulogne, the 200 000 man strong army invaded the heart of Germany through a sweeping march on 7 different directions. In a famous order to Marechal Berthier, he sent the seven Corps to the East. The mounting threat of the Russian Austrian coalition forced Napoleon to change his plans completely:

He was in Boulogne at the end of the summer of 1805, poised to invade England. Nd 3rd act, half a century later, Napoleon embodied a « revolution in military affairs », started a quarter of century before, by a combination of technical, sociological, political changes. Martin Van Creveld explains that the operational art was made possible when the speed of communication made it possible for the commander. The operational level may be settled only when the speed of communication ensure strong liaison between Centre of Power and battlefield or operational theatre. At this time there was no room for an intermediate level as the strategos had to be on the battlefield. Alexander was both the “Strategos”, and the tactician. We were in the classical age of war, with a unity of time, space and action. In the morning, his warriors were tired and Alexander won the decisive battle. Darius, afraid of a night attack, made sure his army was fully awake all the night. However Darius, the Persian proposed him to make peace and offered him half of the Persian empire. This year, Alexander the Great was leading his army to the Heart of the Persian empire.

T’he story started in Ancient times, 331 BC, on a battlefield called Arbella/Gaugamela close to the modern-day city of Mossul, in Iraq.

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