eli5 How do military units navigate chaos and maintain direction when faced with casualties, especially if the commanding officer is killed, as depicted in the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan”?

Question

Recently I watched “Saving Private Ryan” again, and it made me have some questions. For example, in the opening scene of soldiers rushing to the beach, most of the soldiers were almost dead before they even got out of the landing craft. If the commander was also killed, what about the remaining soldiers? Who should direct the people? How should each unit perform the tasks assigned before departure?

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Answer 1

Avoiding chaos is easy when you have an imperial commisar attached to your platoon. Fear of execution and the word of the emperor go a long way in keeping the unit from breaking. A guardsmen can never forget though that faith is their greatest weapon and even the lowliest guardsmen can topple a daemon if the emperor wills it.