Types of Deception
Broadly, military deception can take both strategic and tactical form. Deception across a strategic battlefield was uncommon until the modern age (particularly in the world wars of the 20th century), but tactical deception (on individual battlefields) dates back to early history. In a practical sense military deception employs visual misdirection, misinformation (for example, via double agents) and psychology to make the enemy believe something that is untrue. The use of military camouflage, especially on a large scale, is a form of deception. The Russian loanword maskirovka (literally: disguise, camouflage, concealment) is used to describe the Soviet Union and Russia's military doctrine of surprise through deception, in which camouflage plays a significant role.
There are numerous examples of deception activities across this history of warfare, such as:
- Feigned retreat
- Leading the enemy, through a false sense of security, into a pre-positioned ambush.
- Fictional units
- Creating entirely fictional forces or exaggerating the size of your army.
- Smoke screen
- A tactical deception involving smoke or other form of cover to hide battlefield movements.
- Trojan horse
- Gaining admittance to a fortified area under false pretences, to later admit a larger attacking force.
- Strategic envelopment
- A small force distracts the enemy while a much larger force moves to attack from the rear. A favoured tactic of Napoleon.
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