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Musical Advice from an Unsung Strategist

The War in Ukraine (2022)

Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson

Dec 31, 2022

Kenny Rogers and Bobby Bare taught us the wisdom of “The Gambler.”

“You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.”

Don Schlitz, Jr., “The Gambler”

I don’t know anything about the musical tastes of Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin. I am quite sure, however, that if he ever develops a fondness for American Country music, the two lead contenders for top billing in his MP3 collection would be Kenny Rogers and Bobby Bare.

Big Serge Thoughts

Surovikin’s Difficult Choice

In January, 1944, the newly reconstituted German Sixth Army found itself in an operationally cataclysmic situation in the southern bend of the Dnieper River, in the area of Krivoi Rog and Nikopol. The Germans occupied a dangerous salient, jutting out precariously into the Red Army’s lines. Vulnerable on two awkward flanks, and facing …

a year ago · 420 likes · 358 comments · Big Serge