I think the thing that you’re not considering is that when tunnels are more prevalent and more densely packed, the incentives to use the defensive strategy of “dig a tunnel, then set off a very big bomb in it that collapses many tunnels” gets far higher. It wouldn’t always be infantry combat, it would often be a subterranean equivalent of indirect fires.
Thanks, I hadn’t considered that. So as per my argument, there’s some threshold of density above which it’s easier to attack underground; as per your argument, there’s some threshold of density where ‘indirect fires’ of large tunnel-destroying bombs become practical. Unclear which threshold comes first, but I’d guess it’s the first.
I think the thing that you’re not considering is that when tunnels are more prevalent and more densely packed, the incentives to use the defensive strategy of “dig a tunnel, then set off a very big bomb in it that collapses many tunnels” gets far higher. It wouldn’t always be infantry combat, it would often be a subterranean equivalent of indirect fires.
Thanks, I hadn’t considered that. So as per my argument, there’s some threshold of density above which it’s easier to attack underground; as per your argument, there’s some threshold of density where ‘indirect fires’ of large tunnel-destroying bombs become practical. Unclear which threshold comes first, but I’d guess it’s the first.