It seems to be something that is forgotten from time to time. So let us revisit a lesson from World War II.
Some will say that World War 2 doesn't qualify as "modern warfare." And there have been changes. The drones deployed by Ukraine have been a game changer in many ways, but a lot of the targets those drones seek are tanks, troop carriers, and planes. And Ukraine has done some targeted attacks on the rail system and the bridges supporting the Russian army.
This is the WW2 Tales video German Colonel Captured 50,000 Gallons of US Fuel and Realized Germany Was Doomed. It is a comparison of US versus German fuel supplies during the Ardennes Offensive (The Battle of the Bulge), 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.
On just one aspect of that fight, Patton's Third Army move north to relieve the Siege of Bastogne.
The American response demonstrated industrial warfare at its peak. Patton's third army pivot north required 350,000 gallons just for redeployment. Considered impossible by German standards, yet accomplished in 3 days.
Fuel, bullets (or Javelin warheads or whatever), and food. Modern armies cannot maneuver without fuel. They cannot fight without ammunition. They cannot fight if the troops are starving, though that isn't a modern constraint, as it was Frederick the Great who said that an army travels on its stomach.
Operation Watch on the Rhine failed through immutable mathematics of industrial warfare. The offensive consumed approximately 2.8 million gallons, 40% overall allocation, the difference from captured supplies. During the same period, Americans consumed 267 million gallons, nearly 100 times more.
The video is 38 minutes.
I cannot embed that video here because of policies by the video owner. The images included in the video are interesting, but it is the audio that is most interesting.
Logistics beats tactics. Always been this way, will always be his way.
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