Steel Push Doctrine

The Steel Push was a military doctrine created by Saxon general Johann Stahl during the early 1800s, most notably during the Saxon Revolution and the Six Years War. The doctrine primarily focused on infantry aggression, combined arms tactics and units operating independently from their commanding general.

Having served during the Saxon Invasion of Poland, Stahl had found great success with his small company of 250 men. As he was promoted, Stahl expressed concern with the decreased efficiency an officer could wield as the numbers under his command increased. He noted particularly at the battle of Vissenbjerg how general Ludwig Frommel almost lost control of Vissenbjergbakkerne due to his inability to see the ongoing conflict in the forests. Resulting from this, Stahl placed greater and greater emphasis on encouraging independent thought amongst his subordinates, what he termed "forming the wolf pack" eventually evolving into what would later be termed the "Steel Push". The Saxon Revolution would put his theories to the test, as without a unifying military leader, many of the revolutionaries forces had to operate independently. Although his contemporaries performed well during the revolution, Stahl's army proved by far the most effective and decisive, with a great deal of that being owed to its flexibility and, as the Imperial loyalist Karl von Osterholz-Scharmbeck stated in regards to confronting Stahl's army: "it was like attacking a hornet's nest".

In the following Six Years War, Stahl's army dominated eastern Europe and the Balkans, routinely emerging victorious against numerically superior forces. During the battle of Völkermarkt, Saxon forces operated a largescale assault upon Weinburg Hill. Despite being outnumbered by the Italian defenders, the Saxons were able to concentrate their forces on weak points and thus swiftly overran the hill, a manoeuvre that proved decisive. At what is deemed Stahl's masterpiece, the battle of Tiraspol, Russian forces despite possessing a 3 to 1 numerical advantage, were unable to pin down Saxon forces, who consistently pinned down and outmanoeuvred them, allowing for Stahl's grand encirclement.