Every square inch...

One of the criticisms that serious historians had for the French and British generals of World War One is that they spent lives in gross, box-lot amounts to gain inches.

In contrast, the Germans would give up inches and feet as long as the British and French were dying in vast numbers and as long as their initiative did not gain defensible salients. Let them buy dearly what could be bought back cheap.

During the Cold War the Germans seemed to have lost their strategic minds. They demanded that NATO defend every square inch of West Germany with all of NATO's assets.

In retrospect, it is likely that the Germans were baiting their mortal foes the Russians. They knew that moving maximum amounts of ordinance and other consumables close to the line of contest would be perceived as preparing for an offensive. It is certainly not a viable defense. Any significant advance by the opponent puts your supplies in jeopardy.

Germany was like the puny shrimp at the bar trash-talking the bouncer because his "big buddy" will back him up when things get exciting.

Now we have Kamala beating her chest and talking tough.

Maybe she should go to Novosibirsk and look into "root causes" like she is doing to solve our border crisis with Mexico. I for one, would breath easier.

For a simple frame-of-reference, the Soviet era 122mm howitzer has a range of about 10 miles. Their 152mm cannon has a range of about 16 miles. Soviet doctrine favored truck-towed artillery because damage to the engine or tires could be easily remedied by hooking up the artillery to a different towing vehicle. Alternatively, if the gun was damaged, the truck could be detached and repurposed.

More recent Russian doctrine seems to favor integrated, tracked vehicle carriers for artillery.

The Soviets loved to parade their missile launchers. The heavy-lifters of the tactical missile launchers from the Soviet inventory had a range of about 40 miles.

Missile carrying platforms have the advantage of being lighter and being more nimble because steel is heavy. The downside is that conventional arty can lay more HE on a target more economically especially in terms of resupply than rockets. A Smerch carrying 12 rockets could conceivably carry 200 arty rounds to the front.

The point being that the rocket launcher can reach out and disrupt command-and-control to forty miles while the least expensive artillery can reach out 5-to-10 miles (out of reach of small arms fire) and reduce pockets of resistance and disrupt resupply.

I don't pretend to know much about the military. I have many readers who are far smarter about these things than I am. But it seems to me that any half-way competent attack by the other side will result in a twenty-to-eighty mile loss of territory at the outset. Maybe that can be gained back. Maybe not. But to park the majority of your military assets in that at-risk band because you pledged "not a single inch" is just plain stupid and is programming to fail.