French Army Has Stellar Idea

[Subdeacon Joe]

An engineering detachment from the French Armed Forces recently completed work on an unusual star-shaped camp at Labbézanga in northern Mali.

 

 

 

[Ozark Huckleberry]

"If you want new ideas, read old books; if you want old ideas, read new books."

 

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

 

 

 

 

 

[Pat Riot]

Interesting that their motto is “without hindsight”. 

 

 

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

That's a very old design.  FT McHenry, where the battle of Baltimore was fought in the War of 1812, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, looks exactly like that.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

1 hour ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

That's a very old design.  FT McHenry, where the battle of Baltimore was fought in the War of 1812, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, looks exactly like that.

I could say the Romans invented the design but they would have been copying the Carthaginians who likely copied the Egyptians who copied .....

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Some years ago, the French built a similar fort out in the boon docks of French Indochina.  Called "Dien Bien Phoo" (sp).  Didn't work out too well.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

14 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

Some years ago, the French built a similar fort out in the boon docks of French Indochina.  Called "Dien Bien Phoo" (sp).  Didn't work out too well.

Yea, but the problem was, it was full of French.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

5 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

That's a very old design.  FT McHenry, where the battle of Baltimore was fought in the War of 1812, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, looks exactly like that.

Goes way back before that.  They were called "crusader fortresses".  Notice that every inch of the outside wall can be covered by defensive fire.

 

Of course, "defensive" doesn't win battles nor wars.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

7 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

Some years ago, the French built a similar fort out in the boon docks of French Indochina.  Called "Dien Bien Phoo" (sp).  Didn't work out too well.

They did not think the Vietnamese had Artillery

[Phantom Falcon, SASS # 46139]

And weren't the French also in a hole with the high ground covered by gomers?

 

PF

[Marshal Hangtree]

53 minutes ago, Phantom Falcon, SASS # 46139 said:

And weren't the French also in a hole with the high ground covered by gomers?

 

PF

That was Parrot's Beak, I believe.

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

Right out of the Marquis de Vauban playbook.

 

Cheers,

FJT

[Ozark Huckleberry]

On 8/22/2020 at 5:34 PM, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

They did not think the Vietnamese had Artillery

If I remember, they knew the Vietnamese had artillery, but the French didn’t think they could get heavy artillery to the heights overlooking the base. 

[J.D. Daily]

General Giap thought he could do the same to the Marines at Khe San during 1968 Tiet.  Tiet & the Cambodian incursion made it pretty quiet in 3 Corps in 6/70 - 4/71.  Only a few mortar rounds landed inside the wire in Dau Tieng 7/70 - 12/70 & I don't recall any incoming at Long Binh or Tay Ninh 12-70 - 4/71