Combat – serie

This colourful study investigates the Byzantine and Seljuk forces that fought in a series of battles with profound implications for the Middle East during the 11th and 12th centuries.The Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in one of history’s pivotal battles resulted in the victorious Seljuk Turks pushing west to the Bosporus. Byzantine appeals for aid sparked the First Crusade, as the Byzantines and Seljuks continued to fight their own private war for control of the Anatolian peninsula (present-day Turkey).In this account, Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides of this critical struggle, as the Byzantine armies stabilized their Empire’s eastern frontier, reclaiming control over the coastline, while the Seljuk forces tightened their grip in its interior. Placing the two sides’ struggle in the wider political and military context, he shows how this war of raid and counter-raid periodically flared up into full scale military commitments by both sides; the outcome of this stand-off hung in the balance, hinging on one wrong move, one decisive victory.Incorporating carefully chosen photographs, specially drawn maps and vivid original artwork, this book also analyses the battles of Manzikert (1071), Philomelion (1116) and Myriokephalon (1176), three decisive encounters that determined not just the ultimate fate of the Anatolian peninsula, but the Levant to its east and Balkans to its west for centuries to come.

Fully illustrated, this enthralling study explores how the Vandals in North Africa attempted to defend their kingdom against the resurgent Byzantine Empire during 533–36.In AD 533, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I launched the first of his campaigns to reconquer the Western Roman Empire. This effort began in North Africa (modern Algeria and Tunisia), targeting the Vandal kingdom established there a century earlier, which also included Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Featuring full-colour artwork and mapping alongside carefully chosen archive illustrations, this book shows how the Byzantine general Belisarius established his formidable reputation in the lightning-fast campaign that ensued, exploring the origins, tactics and reputation of the two sides’ forces as they fought for control of North Africa.The landing of Belisarius’ forces took the Vandal king, Gelimer, completely by surprise; in September 533 the two sides met in battle near Carthage in an encounter known to posterity as Ad Decimum, with Gelimer ambitiously attempting to trap Belisarius’ forces as they advanced. In December, the two sides fought again in a momentous clash at Tricamarum, where the fate of Gelimer’s regime would be determined. A third battle ensued in 536, when the rebel Stotzas’ Byzantine and Vandal troops confronted Belisarius’ forces, the outcome sealing the Byzantine general’s standing as the foremost soldier of his age.Featuring specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside archive illustrations and photographs, this vivid account compares and assesses the two sides’ fighting men as they vied for supremacy in North Africa.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork, gripping first-hand accounts and expert analysis, this engaging reassessment offers a glimpse of what it was like for Britain's Chindits to fight in the jungles and mountains of Burma at the height of World War II.In order to keep China in the war against the Japanese, the Western Allies believed they had to return to Northern Burma. Colonel Orde Wingate, a military maverick and proponent of guerrilla warfare, knew that a different type of British infantryman was required for this role – the Chindit, indoctrinated with special training – to re-enter the jungles and mountains of Northern Burma in order to combat the victorious Japanese forces there.The Chindits’ opponents would include the 18th Division, one of Imperial Japan’s most seasoned formations, which by 1941 had already accumulated as much operational experience as most Anglo-American divisions would acquire in the entire 1939–45 war. In a host of encounters the two sides clashed repeatedly in the harsh conditions of the Burmese jungle; the intended role and subsequent operational performance of the Chindits remains fraught with controversy today.Packed with full-colour artwork, specially drawn maps and archive photographs, this gripping study offers key insights into the tactics, leadership, combat performance and subsequent reputations of six representative Chindit and Japanese infantry units involved in three pivotal actions that hastened Japan’s defeat in Burma during World War II.

Fully illustrated, this book assesses the Roman and Dacian fighting men who clashed in three bloody encounters during the Dacian Wars of AD 85–106.While the Roman emperor Trajan’s two campaigns against the Dacian people (AD 101–02 and 105–06) are widely known, the earlier conflicts between the Dacians and their Roman neighbours are also important. Drawing upon the latest research and findings, this fully illustrated study investigates the emperor Domitian’s Dacian war (AD 86–88) as well as Trajan’s campaigns.Inhabiting an area of Europe from the Tisza River to the Black Sea, the Dacians mounted raids into Roman territory throughout the 1st century AD. In 85 Dacian forces invaded Roman territory; after defeating the invaders, the Roman Army moved into Dacia. Distracted by other crises, Domitian made peace and Dacia became a client kingdom of Rome.In AD 101, the emperor Trajan launched a pre-emptive strike on Dacia, prompting the Dacians to sue for peace in 102. In 105, Trajan’s troops commenced a new campaign; the Romans besieged the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetusa. After the Dacian king committed suicide, a new Roman province of Dacia was established.Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and mapping, this study pits the might of the Roman Army against the formidable Dacians, showing how the fighting men of both sides adapted their tactics and technologies as the fighting progressed.

The bloody campaigns of the American Revolutionary War pitted Britain’s redcoats against Washington’s Continentals in a host of encounters, from Germantown in 1777 to Cowpens in 1781. The Redcoats were a highly trained organization manned by long-serving and experienced infantrymen with a formidable reputation forged on European battlefields during the Seven Years’ War. So, how were the poorly trained, poorly supplied Continental infantry able to hold their own and shape the outcome of the Revolutionary War and establish the future of their young nation?David Bonk answers this question in a highly illustrated book that looks at the challenges facing both armies, weighing up how each side was able to cope with the day-to-day experiences of the war and using extensive first-hand accounts to allow a modern audience to experience what life was like for soldiers on and off the battlefield during the war.Featuring full-color artwork and lively analysis, this engaging study lifts the lid on what it was like to fight in the line of battle in the conflict that determined America’s future.

This illustrated study reveals the crucial roles played by German troops and commanders fighting on both sides during the American Revolution.During the American Revolutionary War, the British Crown deployed hired German troops in its efforts to defeat the Patriots. Facing a steep learning curve, the newly established Continental Army – some of the soldiers in its ranks also German-speakers, notably those from Pennsylvania – faced these stolid regulars hailing from Hessen-Cassel, Braunschweig, and other German principalities. In this fully illustrated account, Robbie MacNiven assesses both sides’ combat effectiveness during three critical months of fighting in late 1776.At White Plains, New York (October 28, 1776), Hessian troops spearheaded a Crown Forces attack on Continental forces; the disciplined Germans turned the Patriot flank and forced the Continentals to withdraw in good order. At Fort Washington, New York (November 16, 1776), the Crown Forces inflicted a demoralizing defeat on their opponents, with the Hessians taking the surrender of the Continental garrison. At Trenton, New Jersey (December 26, 1776), the Continentals crossed the Delaware and surprised and defeated a complacent Hessian garrison consisting of three regiments. Featuring archive illustrations, specially commissioned artwork, and full-color mapping, this book exposes the grueling impact of the American Revolutionary War on both sides’ forces.

The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), waged between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies, involved some of the most important developments in ancient warfare.A life-and-death struggle between the two most powerful Greek city-states in the wake of their combined successes against the Persian invasion of Xerxes in 480–479 BC, the conflict dragged in communities from all over the Greek world on one side or the other. Ranging from the Black Sea to Sicily, the war saw the first recorded widespread use of light-armed troops, reserves, the deep phalanx, and other ideas important for the development of Western warfare into the 4th century BC, such as strategic thinking. It also revealed lessons (some learned and some not) with respect to the strengths and weaknesses of hoplite warfare and the various states in Greece.Featuring full-color artwork and drawing upon an array of sources, this study of three pivotal clashes between Spartan and Athenian hoplite forces during the Peloponnesian War highlights all of these developments and lessons.

The brutal fighting between US Marines and Japanese infantry on the island of Guadalcanal in many ways came to typify the island-hopping war in the Pacific.This book not only explores the differing tactics and equipment used by the two combatants but also shows how the challenges of fighting in inhospitable tropical jungles impacted on soldiers on the ground, as combatants had to deal not only with their determined opponents but also the twin issues of disease and stretched supply lines.Written by a former special forces veteran with extensive knowledge of jungle warfare, this fully illustrated book lifts the veil on one of the most pivotal and ferocious close combat duels of World War II.

A study of the US infantry's struggle to wrest control of Normandy, the Siegfried Line and the Ardennes from their German opponents, offering a glimpse into close-quarters infantry combat of World War 2.The Allied airborne and amphibious landings on D-Day opened up the long-awaited Second Front against Nazi Germany, but after overcoming the German coastal defenses at Utah and “Bloody Omaha,” the US Army found itself having to contest every hedgerow and street in a nightmarish battle of attrition.It was the humble infantrymen of both sides who would play a vital role in taking and holding key objectives. Battles across Europe tested both sides to the limit, from the close-quarters warfare around Cherbourg in June 1944 to the struggle for the Scharnhorst Line in October and the brutal cold-weather fighting in the Ardennes that December.Featuring full-color artwork, specially drawn maps, and archive photographs, this study offers key insights into the tactics, leadership, and combat performance of the US and German infantrymen pitched into three pivotal actions at the height of World War II.

The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 pitted Nazi Germany and her allies against Stalin’s forces in a mighty struggle for survival.Fighting alongside the spearhead Panzer divisions were Germany’s highly skilled and veteran motorized infantrymen – including the German Army’s premier unit, Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) Großdeutschland. Opposing these German mobile forces, the Soviets deployed the often ill-trained and poorly equipped men of the rifle regiments, who fought tenaciously and with the threat of savage reprisals from their own side.In this book three bruising clashes during the first seven weeks of the campaign are assessed – a bloody encounter battle at Zhlobin, the struggle for the destroyed city of Smolensk and then a prolonged clash along a dangerously stretched German defensive perimeter at Vas’kovo–Voroshilovo.

The reigns of Augustus and his successor Tiberius saw an epic struggle between the Romans and local peoples for the territory between the Rhine and Elbe rivers in what is now Germany.Following two decades of Roman occupation, Germania Magna erupted into revolt in AD 9 following the loss of the three legions commanded by Publius Quinctilius Varus to the Cheruscan nobleman Arminius and an alliance of Germanic nations in the dense forests of the Teutoburger Wald. The Romans’ initial panic subsided as it became clear that Arminius and his allies could not continue the war into Germania Inferior on the western bank of the Rhine, and Imperial troops poured into the region as the Romans decided how best to resolve the situation.Featuring full-colour artwork, specially drawn maps and an array of revealing illustrations depicting weapons, equipment, key locations and personalities, this study offers key insights into the tactics, leadership, combat performance and subsequent reputations of the Roman soldiers and their Germanic opponents pitched into a series of pivotal actions on the Imperial frontier that would influence Roman/German relations for decades to come.

The Eastern Front of World War I is sometimes overshadowed by the fighting in the West.But the clashes between Imperial Germany and Tsarist Russia in East Prussia, Poland and Lithuania were every bit as gruelling for the participants as the great battles in Western Europe. In spite of the crushing German victory at Tannenberg in August 1914, the war in the East would grind on into 1918, hampered by supply problems, difficult terrain and appalling weather conditions.In this study, author Robert Forczyk assesses the tactics and combat performance of both sides fighting in the brutal clashes at Gumbinnen, Göritten and Mahartse, examining their contrasting fortunes and revealing the evolving nature of infantry warfare on the Eastern Front during World War I.

A gripping account of the fighting between cavalry of the Union and Confederate armies at small-unit level. This book presents new insights on the role of cavalry in the age of massed infantry gunfire and is augmented, as usual, with stunning Osprey artwork.During the intense, sprawling conflict that was the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate forces fielded substantial numbers of cavalry, which carried out the crucial tasks of reconnaissance, raiding, and conveying messages. The perception was that cavalry’s effectiveness on the battlefield would be drastically reduced in this age of improved infantry firearms.This book, however, demonstrates how cavalry’s lethal combination of mobility and dismounted firepower meant it was still very much a force to be reckoned with in battle, and charts the swing in the qualitative difference of the cavalry forces fielded by the two sides as the war progressed.Alongside stunning artwork, three fierce cavalry actions of the American Civil War are assessed, including the battles of Second Bull Run/Manassas (1862), Buckland Mills (1863) and Tom’s Brook (1864).

In 1967–68, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) was on the front line of the defence of South Vietnam’s Quang Tri province, which was at the very heart of the Vietnam conflict.Facing them were the soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), men whose organization and equipment made them a very different opponent from the famous, irregular Viet Cong forces. From the ‘Hill Battles’ in April 1967 to the struggle for the city of Hue (January–March 1968) this bloody campaign forced the two sides into a gruelling trial of strength. The USMC held a general technological and logistical advantage – including close air support and airborne transport, technology, and supplies – but could not always utilize these resources effectively in mountainous, jungle, or urban environments better known by their Vietnamese opponents.In this arresting account of small-unit combat, David R. Higgins steps into the tropical terrain of Vietnam to assess the performance and experience of USMC and NVA forces in three savage battles that stretched both sides to the limit.

When Hitler’s forces poured into France and the Low Countries in 1940, the uneasy peace of the ‘Phoney War’ was shattered, and Europe was ripped apart by another Blitzkrieg.Forming the backbone of the German advance were the well-equipped Schützen (Rifles), motorized infantry who embodied the essence of the fluid, swift warfare that had characterized World War II thus far. Facing them were infantrymen of the British Expeditionary Force, units of considerable fighting quality who had nevertheless received no special training to conduct combined-arms warfare in conjunction with armour. This study investigates the combat between the two adversaries at small-unit level, recreating the ferocity of the fighting on the front lines of the Battle of France in three key clashes at Arras, Calais and Merville.Assessing the training, organization and unit ethos of both sides in the context of a new type of mobile warfare, David Greentree reveals the extraordinary difficulties encountered by infantry units in trying to remain in contact with their armoured and mechanized formations.

Providing a unique glimpse into the experiences of regular British and French infantry during the French and Indian War, Stuart Reid reveals what it was like to fight in three battles at the height of the struggle for Canada: La Belle-Famille, the Plains of Abraham and Sainte-Foy.In 1755, Britain and France both decided to escalate a low intensity frontier war that had started the previous year by dispatching regular troops to their respective colonies in North America. Far from home, both sides’ equipment and tactics were initially more suited to the European theatre. As the war ground on, however, combat doctrine evolved as both armies learned lessons that would be utilized by succeeding generations of soldiers.Packed with first-hand accounts, dramatic illustrations and a technical analysis of the changing nature of warfare on the American continent, this book puts readers in the shoes of the combatants who played a pivotal role in shaping the future of North America.

From the 1840s onward, United States military forces clashed with the Apache, a group of Native American peoples associated with the southwestern part of North America.US territorial expansion and conflict – first with Mexico and then during the Civil War – led to an escalation of hostilities that culminated in the defeat of the Apache leader Geronimo in 1886, although fighting continued into the 20th century. In this study the clashes at Cieneguilla (1854), First Adobe Walls (1864), and Cibecue Creek (1881) are assessed in detail.Fully illustrated and featuring contemporary accounts and specially commissioned artwork, this history examines exactly how the Apache were able to pose such a grave threat to US forces and how their initial advantages were gradually negated by the cavalry. Examining the tactics, equipment and training available to each side over four decades of evolving conflict, this is an eye-opening combatant's eye view of one of history's most intriguing campaigns.

Specially commissioned artwork and thrilling combat accounts transport the reader to the far-flung and inhospitable East African theatre of World War I, where the Schutztruppe faced off against the King's African Rifles.In an attempt to divert Allied forces from the Western Front, a small German colonial force under the command of Oberst Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck raided British and Portuguese territory. Despite being heavily outnumbered, his expert use of guerrilla tactics forced the British to mount a series of offensives, culminating in a major battle at Nyangao-Mahiwa that saw both sides suffer heavy casualties.Meticulously researched analysis highlights the tactical and technological innovation shown by both armies as they were forced to fight in a treacherous climate where local diseases could prove just as deadly as the opposition.

Bound to appeal to all those interested in the evolving nature of warfare during the Arab–Israeli conflict, this fully illustrated study pits the soldiers of Israel and Syria against one another, analysing how the lessons learned changed the tactics and approach on both sides.Israel seized the strategically critical Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War in an audacious and determined operation, yet when the Yom Kippur War broke out the Israeli military were exposed by the effectiveness of the newly confident and dangerous Syrian army. In the Golan only luck, herculean Israeli efforts and tactical misjudgements by the Syrians were to allow the Israelis to maintain control.In this book, three pivotal encounters in the Golan are assessed, supported by artwork, maps and photographs, tracking how both sides' forces evolved over the period.

During World War II, the two pre-eminent mechanized infantry forces of the conflict, the German Panzergrenadier arm and the US Army’s armoured infantrymen, clashed in France and Belgium after the Normandy landings.These engagements went on to profoundly influence the use of mechanized infantry in the post-war world. Drawing upon a variety of sources, this book focuses on three key encounters between July and December 1944 including during Operation Cobra and the Battle of the Bulge, and examines the origins, equipment, doctrine and combat record of both forces.With specially commissioned full-colour artwork and maps, this study sheds light on the evolving nature of mechanized warfare at the height of World War II.

In April 1941, as Churchill strove to counter the German threat to the Balkans, New Zealand troops were hastily committed to combat in the wake of the German invasion of Greece where they would face off against the German Kradschützen – motorcycle troops.Examining three major encounters in detail with the help of maps and contemporary photographs, this lively study shows how the New Zealanders used all their courage and ingenuity to counter the mobile and well-trained motorcycle forces opposing them in the mountains and plains of Greece and Crete.Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon first-hand accounts, this exciting account pits New Zealand’s infantrymen against Germany’s motorcycle troops at the height of World War II in the Mediterranean theatre, assessing the origins, doctrine and combat performance of both sides.

For centuries, the crossbow had played a key role on the battlefields of continental Europe, with mercenaries from Genoa and Brabant in particular filling the ranks of the French army.Yet on the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War they came up against a more powerful foe. To master the English longbow was a labour of years, requiring far greater skill to use than the crossbow, but it was much more flexible and formidable, striking fear into the French and their allies.This study examines three battles – Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356) – and shows how the use of the longbow allowed England’s armies to inflict crushing defeats on numerically superior forces. The longbow changed the shape of war, becoming the defining weapon of the age and wreaking havoc upon the French armies that would face it.Featuring full-colour artwork, this is the engrossing story of the first clashes between the English longbowmen and the crossbowmen of the French king on the bloody battlefields of the Hundred Years’ War.

In 1979 the Soviet Union moved from military ‘help’ to active intervention in Afghanistan.Four-fifths of the Afghan National Army deserted in the first year of the war, which, compounded with the spread and intensification of the rebellion led by the formidable guerrilla fighters of the Mujahideen, forced the Soviets to intensify their involvement. The Soviet army was in generally poor condition when the war started, but the troops of the airborne and air assault units were better trained and equipped. As a result they developed aggressive, sometimes effective tactics against an enemy that refused to behave the way most Soviet commanders wished them to. Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this absorbing study examines the origins, combat role and battlefield performance of the Soviet Union's paratroopers and their Mujahideen adversaries during the long and bloody Soviet involvement in Afghanistan during the 1980s.

Waged across an inhospitable terrain which varied from open African savannah to broken mountain country and arid semi-desert, the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880–81 and 1899–1902 pitted the British Army and its allies against the Boers’ commandos.The nature of warfare across these campaigns was shaped by the realities of the terrain and by Boer fighting techniques. Independent and individualistic, the Boers were not professional soldiers but a civilian militia who were bound by the terms of the ‘Commando system’ to come together to protect their community against an outside threat. By contrast the British Army was a full-time professional body with an established military ethos, but its over-dependence on conventional infantry tactics led to a string of Boer victories. This fully illustrated study examines the evolving nature of Boer military techniques, and contrasts them with the British experience, charting the development of effective British mounted tactics from the first faltering steps of 1881 through to the final successes of 1902.

In the two centuries before the Norman invasion of England, Anglo-Saxon and Viking forces clashed repeatedly in bloody battles across the country.Repeated Viking victories in the 9th century led to their settlement in the north of the country, but the tide of war ebbed and flowed until the final Anglo-Saxon victory before the Norman Conquest. Using stunning artwork, this book examines in detail three battles between the two deadly foes: Ashdown in 871 which involved the future Alfred the Great; Maldon in 991 where an Anglo-Saxon army sought to counter a renewed Viking threat; and Stamford Bridge in 1066, in which King Harold Godwinesson abandoned his preparations to repel the expected Norman invasion in order to fight off Harald Hard-Counsel of Norway.Drawing upon historical accounts from both English and Scandinavian sources and from archaeological evidence, Gareth Williams presents a detailed comparison of the weaponry, tactics, strategies and underlying military organization of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and considers the developments which took place on both sides in the two centuries of Viking incursions into Anglo-Saxon England.

In 1917 the soldiers of the Canadian Corps would prove themselves the equal of any fighting on the Western Front, while on the other side of the wire, the men of the Royal Bavarian Army won a distinguished reputation in combat.Employing the latest weapons and pioneering tactics, these two forces would clash in three notable encounters: the Canadian storming of Vimy Ridge, the back-and-forth engagement at Fresnoy and at the sodden, bloody battle of Passchendaele. Featuring carefully chosen archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this study assesses these three hard-fought battles in 1917 on the Western Front, and offers a new take on the evolving nature of infantry combat in World War I.

In 1941–44, Nazi Germany’s Gebirgsjäger - elite mountain troops - clashed repeatedly with land-based units of the Soviet Navy during the mighty struggle on World War II’s Eastern Front. Formed into naval infantry and naval rifle brigades, some 350,000 of Stalin’s sailors would serve the Motherland on land, playing a key role in the defence of Moscow, Leningrad, and Sevastopol. The Gebirgsjäger, many among them veterans of victories in Norway and then Crete, would find their specialist skills to be at a premium in the harsh terrain and bitter weather encountered at the northern end of the front line. Operating many hundreds of miles north of Moscow, the two sides endured savage conditions as they fought one another inside the Arctic Circle.Featuring archive photographs, specially commissioned artwork and expert analysis, this is the absorbing story of the men who fought and died in the struggle for the Soviet Union’s northern flank at the height of World War II.

By the end of the first week of November 1942, the German Sixth Army held about 90 per cent of Stalingrad. Yet the Soviets stubbornly held on to the remaining parts of the city, and German casualties started to reach catastrophic levels.In an attempt to break the deadlock, Hitler decided to send additional German pioneer battalions to act as an urban warfare spearhead. These combat engineers were skilled in all aspects of city fighting, especially in the use of demolitions and small arms to overcome defended positions and in the destruction of armoured vehicles. Facing them were hardened Soviet troops who had perfected the use of urban camouflage, concealed and interlocking firing positions, close quarters battle, and sniper support.This fully illustrated book explores the tactics and effectiveness of these opposing troops during this period, focusing particularly on the brutal close-quarters fight over the Krasnaya Barrikady (Red Barricades) ordnance factory.

After the US declaration of war on Germany, hundreds of thousands of American troops flooded into France and were thrust into the front line.Among them was the US Marine Corps’ 4th Marine Brigade whose first major action was the battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918, fighting elements of Germany’s 10th, 28th, and 237th Infantry divisions. Volunteers to a man, the newly arrived Marines faced experienced but war-weary German conscripts whose doctrine had been honed by nearly four years of conflict on the Western Front. During the fighting, the Germans are alleged to have given the nickname “Devil Dogs” to the Marines, and Belleau Wood has become enshrined in the Corps’ heritage. Employing first-hand accounts and specially commissioned artwork, this book investigates three different actions that shaped the course of the bitter battle for Belleau Wood, revealing the interplay of doctrine, tactics, technology, leadership, and human endeavour on the brutal battlefields of World War I.