Strategy and Tactics of Modern War

Reading the strategy employed by the British in the Malaya Emergency we see the effective combined use of political, economic and psychological elements to win against an insurgency.

Knowing these methods can enlighten people as how a counter insurgency would operate today.

The British found that the Chinese communist insurgents could associate freely with the Chinese population of Malaya and be supplied and sheltered by them. It made it possible for the communist insurgents to threaten and coerce the Chinese population as well.

The British isolated and brought in the population into secure compounds at night in a curfew. Anything outside the compounds was enemy.
The British made it a mandatory death penalty to supply the insurgents, however food and other supplies found their way out of the compounds to the insurgents.

The British then decided to centralise all food, and not only that, the population could only have cooked food in those compounds. Only guarded community kitchens fed people. There was no sacks of rice in private hands that could be smuggled out. Some Chinese smuggled out cooked rice, but by the time it reached the insurgents in the tropical humid whether, that rice would cause death by dysentery.

The Chinese insurgents began to starve, long supply lines through the jungles lead to the suppliers eating most of the supplies just in the attempt of bringing them in.

Then the British employed a very well connected Chinese business man, who became central in the counter intelligence effort. Through him the British discovered the communication network of the communist insurgents. Thin rolled paper messages were being transported by bicycle and the British began to intercept more and more of them, and turn the messengers themselves.

The intelligence coup allowed the British to deploy greater targeted military force and psychological warfare on the insurgents.
The British supplied the insurgents with radios that had homing beacons in them, which allowed the British aircraft to drop heavy munitions on insurgent camps even in the deepest jungle. The Chinese insurgents never discovered how the British could so accurately find them.

All this took a heavy toll on the communist insurgents and their plight was grim.

Then the British employed cash bribes, immunity and British citizenship with relocation to Britain to Chinese insurgents, in leaflet drops.
The starving, wounded and demoralised insurgents, looked at their commanders like a roast chicken with an enormous cash cheque attached to it.

The British were as good as their word giving generously to turn coat insurgents. Once the word got out, the insurgents began killing their commanders to claim their rewards. One insurgent brought the British the head of his former commander as proof.

At this point the insurgency was crushed, the combined political, economic and psychological strategies had done their damage.

Understanding this history will give people an idea of how a counter insurgency could be used against them. It highlights also where their preps and counter strategies are lacking.

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Strategy and Tactics of Modern War