Infantry Attacks - Infanterie greift an (1937)

.

Erwin Rommel - Infantry Attacks During WW1 - tgw > .

Why is Rommel so complicated? - Erwin Rommel vs. Desert Fox - mhv > .

Infantry Attacks by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - DaHa >> .

Infantry Attacks - Infanterie greift an (1937) is a classic book on military tactics written by Erwin Rommel about his experiences in WW1. At the time of the book's writing in the mid-1930s, Rommel's rank was lieutenant colonel. Rommel had planned to write a successor called Panzer greift an (Tank Attacks) about tank warfare, and gathered much material during the North Africa Campaign. However, he was forced to commit suicide before completing this work.

Rommel describes his Stoßtruppen (shock troops) tactics, which used speed, deception, and deep penetration into enemy territory to surprise and overwhelm. Throughout the book, Rommel reports assigning small numbers of men to approach enemy lines from the direction in which attack was expected. The men would yell, throw hand grenades and otherwise simulate the anticipated attack from concealment, while attack squads and larger bodies of men sneaked to the flanks and rears of the defenders to take them by surprise. These tactics often intimidated enemies into surrendering, thus avoiding unnecessary exertion, expenditure of ammunition, and risk of injury.

Infanterie greift an was first published in 1937 and helped to persuade Adolf Hitler to give Rommel high command in WW2, although he was not from an old military family or the Prussian aristocracy, which had traditionally dominated the German officer corps. It was printed in Germany until 1945. By then, about 500,000 copies had been published. 

In 1943, an abridged version titled, more simply, Attacks! was released by the US military for officers' tactical study. The first full English translation was published in 1944 by The Infantry Journal in the United States. The translator was Lieutenant Colonel Gustave E. Kidde without permission from Rommel, according to the foreword to the 1995 edition published by Stackpole Books.

The book was also used throughout the West as a resource for infantry tactical movements. General George S. Patton was among the many influential military leaders reported to have read Infantry Attacks.

The text is divided into six chapters:
I. Movement War 1914 in Belgium and Northern France
II. Fights in the Argonne 1915
III. Position war in the High Vosges 1916, movement war in Romania 1916/1917
IV. Fights in the Southeastern Carpathians, August 1917
V. Attacking battle at Tolmein 1917
VI. Pursuit of Tagliamento and Piave

The book is still in print, and was most recently published in German in 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_Attacks .