Why are generals important? What happens when in war, a general is killed?
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It depends on the military/nation. But in general (hahaha), they are the strategic leaders of the military organization. They don’t (or shouldn’t) dictate tactics, but will develop the overall strategy for the war. Such as how forces may be split, what priority targets are, and how the efforts of the war will go. In reference to large force units, not single platoons, fire teams, or smaller units. Lower level commanders develop the plans for how to accomplish those strategies, some of which may also be generals. In the U.S. there are multiple flag officer ranks (flag officers are generals/admirals).
A general being killed can result in little to no effect on the war/military to a complete breakdown of that particular campaign or battle. Again, it depends on the military. Some are designed with the lower ranks trained and expected to follow the orders given to them and nothing else. So the loss of leadership leaves effectively without a head and unsure of what to do. Others develop adaptive chains of commands that are trained and expected to continue the mission and make decisions for themselves when a loss of leadership occurs. Losing a general in this situation will have some detrimental impact on that units operations, but potentially minimal to unnoticeable.
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