Why are generals important? What happens when in war, a general is killed?
In: 2
Generals are typically people who have gone to Military Academy for years and have earned equivalent of masters or doctorate in military strategy. And then afterwards have a long career as a high ranking military officer gaining experience and pioneering new strategies before they get promoted to the rank of general. These are people who have studies and practiced military strategy all they lives and likely faced tactical and logistical problems in war and performed well in those scenarios. When a general retires, is fired or dies their role is taken over by someone more junior without as much experience and who often take longer to make a decision and might not make the best decision.
There is also an immediate effect of losing a general in war. The entire army structure is based on orders from trusted superiors. And if a superior like a general is killed and maybe several of their immediate staff it is going to cause a bit of confusion about who is in charge and what the orders are. In theory all officers have a lieutenant (next in command) with them at all time who they share all information with who can take over command immediately if needed. But this is not always very practical. For example it may be some confusion about if they have been put in charge and have been kept up to date. And even generals have commanders in the form of superior commanders who might take direct command going past the new commander which could cause duplicate orders from different commanders or even contradictory orders being issued. It can cause some confusion which takes a bit of time to clear up.
Latest Answers