- 20 Mar 2023 01:00
#15268839
Whenever the Russians do something that doesn’t seem to make any objective sense, it’s usually a Psyop directed at their own people. Interpreting it usually requires an in-depth knowledge of Russian history and culture. I get the armoured trains thing, but a lot of what is going on goes straight over my head. An outsider with only a sketchy awareness of Russian history or culture would find almost everything they do incomprehensible. As Churchill put it, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.
In other words, armoured trains are militarily useless and hopelessly outmoded. They worked during the Russian Civil War because of the peculiar conditions of the time and place - little to no mobile armoured vehicles, impassable roads, a good rail network, and (most importantly) primitive aircraft. On a modern battlefield, they would all be destroyed or immobilised within hours or days at the most.
Rancid wrote:I see. The Psyop part makes sense.
Whenever the Russians do something that doesn’t seem to make any objective sense, it’s usually a Psyop directed at their own people. Interpreting it usually requires an in-depth knowledge of Russian history and culture. I get the armoured trains thing, but a lot of what is going on goes straight over my head. An outsider with only a sketchy awareness of Russian history or culture would find almost everything they do incomprehensible. As Churchill put it, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.
Well the train can't be everywhere at once, couldn't a small special ops team, or even just a band of partisans just sort of damage rail lines here and there? Wait until you know the train is far away, and just mess up some rail ties. Of course, a rail line is easy to repair, but it's still a nuisance for Russia. A small group of people with a minimal amount of training and minimal amount of materiel can do.
In other words, armoured trains are militarily useless and hopelessly outmoded. They worked during the Russian Civil War because of the peculiar conditions of the time and place - little to no mobile armoured vehicles, impassable roads, a good rail network, and (most importantly) primitive aircraft. On a modern battlefield, they would all be destroyed or immobilised within hours or days at the most.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Marx (Groucho)

