Mission Command Analysis of Helmuth Johannes Ludwig Von...

â€Å"One either lets me do as I want or one gives me concrete orders,† General Donrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, German Sixth Army Chief of Staff responsed when it was suggested he suspend offensive employment of his army. The First Battle of the Marne, also classified as the most, â€Å"significant land battle of the twentieth century,† impresses one for its scale, decisiveness, and devastating use of rapid small arms fire, machine guns, hand grenades, and artillery. From 5 through 11 September, Germany and France each fielded over 2 million men (British 130,000) between Paris and Verdun. The most modern military technology to date was brought to bear by both sides to terrible effect. During the month of August, each country suffered†¦show more content†¦It was to be â€Å"a lightning forty-day wheel through Belgium and northern France ending in a victorious entry march into Paris, followed by a redeployment of German armies to the east to halt the Russian steamroller.† Germany began the war on 3 August occupying the whole of France’s eastern border from Switzerland up to Luxembourg with Seventh, Sixth, Fifth, and Fourth armies. Third Army then proceeded to occupy L uxembourg, without resistance, before fighting through Belgium’s extensive fortifications beginning on 6 August and culminating on 16 August with the fall of Lià ¨ge, Belgium’s most significant fortification. Afterwards, the German Army began to push First and Second armies, which combined made up over two-thirds of Germany’s Western forces, into northern France. Refer to Figure 1, Map of the First Battle of the Marne, 1914. First and Second armies formed the spoke of the wheel, while the hub was created by the Third and Fourth armies. This left Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh armies to hold the line against the aggressive French Plan XVII. Plan XVII called for a French frontal attack at Alsace-Lorraine with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) protecting the left flank. From 14 to 31 August, over eight battles raged between German and French soldiers with the Germans gaining ground and forcing the Entente powers to retreat back towards Paris, ending French Plan XVII. French Army Chief of Staff, Joseph Joffre, called an orderly retreat and restructured his