Eli5: Why is Urban warfare feared as the most difficult form of warfare for a military to conduct?
In: 1719
A misconception in the public of what it’s actually like sometimes. Thanks Hollywood and videogames. If you are attacking a fortified building, every inch of the inside is sandbagged. They squeeze through sandbags room to room through tiny little rat tunnels. Can you imagine wiggling through a tunnel trying to assault a room with three guys in it just waiting for you? 90% casualties.
Attacking a non fortified area of mud huts or wood and plaster can result in a lot of friendly fire as projectiles travel straight through it. Throw a grenade in a building and all that flak comes straight through the walls at you and your team. That’s always fun. Or the enemy just starts shooting through the walls when your stacking up for entry. 90% casualties.
Then there are other challenges. Your air support cant see through walls. You cant just bomb the area because of the dense civilian population. Tanks and other light armoured vehicles have problems navigating the tight city/village streets. 50ton vehicles don’t just drive through buildings like you might think, basements are always an issue. Sniper support is equally stunted, snipers can’t shoot what they can’t see. Machineguns do actually have their uses, 200rounds of 7.62 can make a decent hole for soldiers to use for entry.
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