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The Age Old Tradition of Deploying Fake Artillery
A clever trick as old as modern warfare itself
Few things are as scary as facing down well-entrenched artillery as an infantry squad. Artillery has the ability to decimate small groups of people with just a couple of rounds of ammunition. This has been the case since the invention of the cannon hundreds of years ago. The earliest cannons were inaccurate and designed to knock down Medieval stone walls but as warfare evolved, so too did artillery.
The presence of defensive artillery became such a psychological factor that shrewd commanders of undermanned units began deploying fake artillery to deter enemy movements and attacks. Ever since its inception, the plan has worked beautifully.
The first successful use of fake artillery occurred during the American Revolution when an American commander forced the surrender of an enemy force with a log painted to look like a canon.
But that was just the beginning of a trend that would persist until the modern era.
Civil War & World War I
The use of fake artillery was prevalent during both the Civil War and World War I. During the Civil War, the Confederacy used false cannons to great effect in multiple battles. Often outnumbered and outgunned, the Confederate commanders would deploy false guns to cover their retreat. On multiple occasions, earthworks were stocked with fake cannons, and trains would be pulled in random directions to make it look as though the position was being reinforced. Instead, the southern troops were often sneaking off in the opposite direction to dig in at a better location.
No one wants to run the risk that the guns are real. A frontal assault on real cannons would be suicidal. A frontal assault on fake guns would be laughable. But who is going to…
