Infantry Attacks

2022 Reprint of the 1944 Edition. Facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software.

Infantry Attacks is a classic book on military tactics written by Erwin Rommel about his experiences in World War I. Written directly after combat, Rommel critiques his own battle strategies and tactics during World War I in an attempt to learn further from his losses and victories. Herein Rommel describes his shock troops tactics, utilizing speed, deception, and deep penetration into enemy territory to surprise and overwhelm. Rommel recounts 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. The book was first published in 1937 and helped to persuade Adolf Hitler to give Rommel high command in World War II, although he was not from an old military family or the Prussian aristocracy, which had traditionally dominated the German officer corps. This edition reprints the 1944 publication by The Infantry Journal.