Obstacles To Troop Movement - Natural Obstacles

Natural Obstacles

Natural obstacles are represented by those terrain features that for which few troops and their vehicles have capability to traverse. They include water obstacles, or areas of poor drainage such as lakes, rivers, swamps and marshes. The former two can be crossed by amphibious vehicles capable of swimming, or vehicles capable of deep wading after preparation, or by constructing a water crossing, and thus creating an easily targeted choke point. Soil and rock can also represent mobility obstacles if the soil is too soft and unable to support the weight of the military vehicles, or the terrain is fractured by cliffs, or large boulders that make organised movement impossible. While soft soil is relative to vehicle ground pressure, there is little that can be done to negotiate very rocky terrain or cliffs except by using specially trained light infantry troops. Vegetation such as jungles or dense forests can also represent obstacles to movement, in some cases even to light infantry troops. Some natural obstacles can be a result of climatic or soil activity such as deep snow that by covering all terrain makes safe traversing difficult and slow, or landslides that may create an obstruction suddenly despite previously clear route reconnaissance report.