2009-08-10, 02:53 PM
MasPan Wrote:[color="#cc8899"]A zergling rush also consists of masses of units that the commander generally cares little about and are only useful for their sheer numbers. I never said they were bad people :f6:
Being shot for running from battle is, in one form or another, prevelant in almost any military. It may not be immediate, but even being court-martialed or branded a traitor for running from battle is a form of this. It prevents chaos as half of your forces flee (not only cutting your numbers, but reducing effectiveness of the remaining as they struggle to make headway through the retreating forces. It also causes confusion, blocks line of sight, and demoralizes. So there was a very good reason to prevent retreat at any cost, regardless of the personal nature of each leader or the evils that the force preventing the retreat committed.[/COLOR]
In a civilized military, if the odds are running against you, you retreat or fall back in a rout, (depending on how bad things get.) Not every battle is a case of the 101st Airborne being completely surrounded, responding with the word "nuts" when the Germans demanded surrender and fighting till help got there. Usually you retreat in such odds. A perfect example was in the Korean war, when Americans attacked and instead of North Koreans soldiers they were attacked by a ginormous Chinese force, (speaking of Zerg rush.) The Americans retreated very hastily, nobody was courtmartialed or reprimanded becuase the odds were not feasible. The Russian army would have dealt with this by shooting the troops if they tried to run, forcing them to fight a suicidal battle.