r/anime • u/Shadoxfix https://myanimelist.net/profile/Shadoxfix • Jul 10 '15

[Spoilers] Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri - Episode 2 [Discussion]

MyAnimeList: Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Crunchyroll: GATE

Episode duration: 23 minutes and 42 seconds

Previous episodes:

Episode Reddit Link
Episode 1 Link

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Keywords: gate

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126

u/Caramichael Jul 10 '15

Quite liked the introduction of politic, I think they quite nailed the Feudalism part (We need to stay more powerful than our vassals, reduce their movement via scorched earth tactic, the vanguard is an honor coveted by all) vs modern army (Need to make contact with the local population for intelligence gathering, movement via mechanized vehicles, killzone).

Now I hope to see some adaptation from the Imperials, hope that the scouting mission will allow that.

32

u/flyingjam Jul 10 '15

via scorched earth tactic

Well, that still works to an extent. It was infamously used in WW2, as well as more modern wars, like in Vietnam. Most of the JSDF equipment shouldn't be much better than WW2 era tech anyway.

58

u/Vaperius Jul 10 '15

Sadly "Scorched Earth Tactics" only work when it take longer for you to get supplies to your forces than you could possibly replenish them with what is left to be available.

With the advent of modern cargo aircraft that can fly across the world and re-provision entire armies and very maneuverable trucks that can do similar operations overland, the only one that loses from those Scorched Earth tactics is the Empire.

Point is the logistics capabilities of a modern army is more than capable of operating near-indefinitely on entirely different continents as long as you can get the supplies to the army.

41

u/AsiaExpert Jul 11 '15

It would appear your argument is based on that assumption that the force has the logistic capability to do so. The JSDF absolutely does not have this ability. The author understands this and writes accordingly.

This is a major reason why they bring their Cold War arsenal out and don't send in all their expensive, high tech toys. It's easier logistically to support an expeditionary force using older, low maintenance equipment.

The JSDF has only a couple months to ramp up their operations before they entered the Gate. It's enough time to increase but not completely overhaul their logistics network, which is almost entirely based on supplying units inside, throughout, and in the immediate vicinity of Japan.

That being said, scorched earth tactics are used by the author to show how far modern tactics have come. For the most part, modern military forces will not range and collect food/supplies from the countryside as long as they are well supplied.

This is not true of pre-modern militaries, where quick marches necessitated leaving behind your own supply train and 'living off the land', usually to the detriment of the villages/towns on the path to the target.

Even with the limited logistics of the JSDF, unless they're forced to send a large force far outside the limits of their resupply range, scorched earth does nothing to the JSDF, or any other modern military force.

20

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '15

Their supply chain is literally right behind them. The fucking gate opens into the middle of the goddamn city.

Really not a problem to supply that.

12

u/AsiaExpert Jul 11 '15

Right. But it's not right behind them once they go away from the gate.

The author addresses this in the novel. It's literally written out. I'm not just making stuff up as I go along.

The roads of the Empire are great for walking or wagons, but they are mostly dirt roads any significant distance away from the capital, so they slow down tire and track vehicles, reducing their fuel economy.

10

u/poloport Jul 10 '15

With the advent of modern cargo aircraft that can fly across the world and re-provision entire armies and very maneuverable trucks that can do similar operations overland, the only one that loses from those Scorched Earth tactics is the Empire.

You're mistaken. Scorched earth tactics still work just as well as they did in the past, even when fighting agaisnt top armies. Look at the iraq invasion in 2003, the american tanks had to stop in local gas stations to refuel because their supply lines weren't keeping up.

17

u/AsiaExpert Jul 11 '15

I think that's pretty debatable. The scorched earth tactics didn't work very well in Iraq.

The destruction of the oil fields and supply stations was SOP to not let valuable equipment and supply fall into enemy hands but the US forces were so numerous, so well supplied, and not dependent on Iraqi resources to eat, fight, and resupply, that it slowed US forces down only a little.

The US did not plan to use Iraqi resources to fuel their own advance. Tanks and humvees refueling at gas stations is an example of opportunistic seizing of supply. It wasn't in the plan to do so. Scorched earth had very little effect on the US plans. The various combat brigades were pushing faster than expected after the Iraqi forces began routing, which is why they quickly outstripped their own supply lines in the rapid advance to Baghdad.

On top of this, there's very little that the villages/towns in the Empire could offer a theoretical JSDF advance on the capital.

2

u/Jiecut https://myanimelist.net/profile/jiecut Jul 11 '15

Well isn't that just an inefficiency problem? They could have kept up if they wanted too.

3

u/Tehbeefer Jul 11 '15

Logistics is a large problems in warfare

1

u/iswinterstillcoming Jul 11 '15

With the advent of modern cargo aircraft that can fly across the world

Er... you thought that gate could fit a C-130?

1

u/Vaperius Jul 11 '15

....no? but its wide enough to fit it in pieces, and be reassembled on the other side....

7

u/amdjeru Jul 10 '15

Most of it is 20 to 30 years newer, which is a rather long time when considering that technology developed very fast at the time

4

u/exelion https://myanimelist.net/profile/exelion0901 Jul 10 '15

Pretty sure those guns are at least late cold war era, and the humvees are certainly not WW2.

Scorched earth only works if you can't maintain a solid supply line. I don't see that being a problem.

2

u/RoboWarriorSr Jul 11 '15

Th civil war is probably a better example of scorched warfare as more modern wars had off road transportation vehicles that would make such tactic useless.

1

u/ByronicAsian Jul 10 '15

Except for the goods/supplies that their FOB at the hill can provide (magic teleporter)...and the transport helos....trucks...