Eli5: Why is Urban warfare feared as the most difficult form of warfare for a military to conduct?
In: 1719
Let’s take to similarly sized plots of land, say 100 feet square (100 feet on a side) in different environs.
In the Gobi desert, it would take you about 5 seconds to scan and say ‘No one is there that can attack us’.
In Yellowstone National forest, you would take less than an hour to search for caves, look around all the trees and boulders and look up in the trees and say ‘We have a bear, three squirrels and not much else to attack us..’
At 432 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan…well, you have 85 floors, 147 apartments, 122 1-6 bedroom condos, 25 studio units, 5 floors of penthouses, golf training facility, dining rooms, fitness center, pool, saunas, steam-rooms, private meeting rooms and library to search. You’re going to say, “Oh shit!”
Plus, you have civilians that 1) will always get in the way and 2) may possibly be enemy combatants. Not to mention that ottoman over there may or may not contain a significant amount of high explosive and ball bearings.
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