{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/1285",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 1285,
    "subject": "WWI tactics, \"Terminus est\"",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "1998-11-30T11:46:39+00:00",
    "last": "1998-11-30T11:46:39+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0022-0003@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "John Bishop",
        "address": "jbishop at blkbrd.zko.dec.com"
      },
      "date": "1998-11-30T11:46:39+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Re: WWI tactics, \"Terminus est\"",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "If you read more about WWI tactics, the naive view that\nstupid generals threw away young lives becomes less\ntenable--though some generals were stupid, or at least\ncareless about the many young lives cut short.\n\nThe front was (as someone else said here) like a thin\nskin; many of the offensives did pierce it.  But no\n\"breakthrough\" happened, as the follow-up over no-mans-land\nwas too difficult.  In other words, it was easy (if expensive)\nto take control of the enemy's front line; it was possible\n(if very expensive) to take control of the next few lines\nback; it turned out to be pretty much impossible to convert\nthat success into a war of movement, as the successful troops\nwere too hard to support, and they generally got beaten back\nto the old line.\n\nSo what generals experienced was a set of near-successes,\neach needing only just a little bit more effort to be the\nbig success.  That's an experience that makes you eager for\nanother try, with a bit more effort.\n\nThat said, I'll concur that there were cultural expectations\nand class snobbery and mental inertia; many more died than\nneeded to, and the elites of the time deserved to lose respect\nand legitimacy.\n\nOn another matter, the mixed armies are not odd; the classic\nworld expected that each people would provide men armed after\nthe manner of their people: slingers from the Balerics, hoplites\nfrom Hellas, etc.  An imperial system would find such recruitment\neasier than running a load of draftees through a homogenizing\nmilitary education.\n\nFinally, I think we can assume that \"Terminus est\" is not really\nin Latin, but in some other language which Wolfe represents by \nLatin due to its social function.  I suspect the \"ancient\" language\nof the future is meant to be English, and the sword bears the \nthe legend \"This End Up\".\n\n     -John Bishop"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}