Learn lessons from Rommel’s battle
Published: 28 Nov. 2024, 19:20
The author is an international news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.
The war in Ukraine is no longer an irrelevant issue to Korea. The North Korean forces, which have been deployed to the front line with the Russian military, will gain combat experiences and pose a real threat to South Korea.
There is an anecdote about German general Erwin Rommel, known as “the Desert Fox,” related to combat experience. When he was serving as an infantry officer in World War I, Rommel was shelled by enemy forces in a French forest in September 1914. Other German units hid in dense forests, but Rommel’s unit was located on desolate ridges without trees.
However, the adjacent unit hiding in the forest suffered severe damage while Rommel’s unit was unhurt. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that forests are safe, it was safer to be in a place without coverage.
Rommel later came up with the analysis that the shells that would have flown away without causing any damage on the barren ridge hit trees and exploded between branches in the forest. As modern shells were more accurate and sensitive, they can cause greater damage in the terrain of forest, he added.
Until before the actual battle, he didn’t know that trees could be dangerous. He learned it after the bloody battle was over. The North Korean troops dispatched to Ukraine will acquire knowledge of battlefield variables our military can’t — thanks to the blood of its soldiers.
Our government wants to send an observation team to Ukraine. Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said, “It would be a dereliction of duty not to send a team,” as the dispatch could provide an opportunity to study the tactics and weapons of North Korean troops without our soldiers’ sacrifice.
But the opposition parties strongly oppose this, saying it would escalate tension between the two Koreas. But sending an observation team is different from sending combat troops to the battlefield. Our military has been closely monitoring the movements of the North Korean military at the border, but it isn’t a battle.
If the dispatch of a team of observers requires an approval of the National Assembly, the opposition parties should discuss with the government and governing party to calculate the gains and losses in terms of national interests rather than blindly opposing it. If you don’t prepare during peacetime, you will bleed in wartime. They must not forget that young German soldiers bled to death in a forest in France in exchange for Rommel’s valuable lesson.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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