Guerrilla warfare



Pssst, hey bub, c'mere.

I got me a secret to tell ya.

No, no, closer. Yeah, that's it.

*BA ZAh BLAMMo!*

That's guerrilla warfare.

(Heh. --Burgengute)

Guerrilla warfare operates with small, mobile and flexible combat groups called cells, without a front line. While "asymmetric warfare" is the military term for guerrilla tactics, it is often referred to in the pejorative as "terrorism." While cells are the most common organizational method, there have been plenty of "one man crusades", as demonstrated by Lane Smallwood and her culling of the Endlessly Rising Staircase Movement herd.

Guerrilla tactics are based on ambush, sabotage (rampaging Equestrian Beetles seem popular), and espionage, and their ultimate objective is usually to destabilize an authority through long, low-intensity confrontation. It can be quite successful against an unpopular regime or idea: a guerrillero army may increase the cost of maintaining an occupation or presence above what the power may wish to bear.

Guerrilleros do not principally direct their attacks at civilians, as they desire to obtain as much support as possible from the population as part of their tactics. Civilians are primarily attacked or assassinated as punishment for collaboration. Often, such an attack will be officially sanctioned by a guerrillero command or tribunal. An exception is in civil wars, where both groups and organized armies have been known to commit atrocities against the civilian population.

The enemy advances, we retreat.

The enemy camps, we harass.

The enemy tires, we attack.

The enemy retreats, we pursue.

Guerrilla warfare is classified into two main categories: urban guerrilla warfare and rural guerrilla warfare. In both cases, guerrilleros rely on a friendly population to provide supplies and intelligence. Rural guerrilleros prefer to operate in regions providing plenty of cover and concealment, especially heavily forested and mountainous areas. Urban guerrilleros, rather than melting into the mountains and jungles, blend into the population and are also dependent on a support base among the people.

Gidgewell's theory of a "people's war" divides the warfare into three phases. In the first phase, the guerrilleros gain the support of the population through attacks on the machinery of government and the distribution of propaganda. In the second phase, escalating attacks are made on the government's military and vital institutions. In the third phase, conventional fighting is used to seize cities, overthrow the government and take control of the country.

Citations: Endlessly Rising Staircase Movement, Equestrian Beetle, Mortal combat.

--Morbus Iff 11:55, 1 Jul 2005 (EDT)