New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: How to understand theory of infantry tactics

Ask HN: How to understand theory of infantry tactics
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I am neither a combat veteran, nor a military history buff, nor a wargamer. In trying to follow the news, I feel a lack of understanding of fundamentals of infantry warfare. I've found that the US Army publishes an amazing detailed manual, “Infantry Platoon and Squad Manual” ATP 3-21.8, that they (!) make freely available for download. It's more of a how-to handbook, or a set of instructions - not exactly what I'm looking for. There are many books on military history available, with titles like WWII / Vietnam /Civil War / Ancient Roman / Infantry Tactics, but they seem to be a lot of history and cataloguing of events and weapons, without as much big-picture philosophy. It seems there should be a textbook that covers fundamentals that apply largely across time, with an explanatory philosopy that covers general principles, but I haven't found it yet. (Maybe something like "Infantry Tactics for Physicists," that begins with the line, "Assume a spherical soldier.") Any recommendations?

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