Equation 8 · The Logistics Tail: Sustainment as the Binding Constraint on Organised Force
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Symbol r_max
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Beyond the convoy arrives having eaten everything it set out with. Adding a second convoy to supply the first does not defeat the limit; it recurses, and the tonnage required grows far faster than the tonnage delivered. This is why the practical answer for two millennia was not better convoys but a different mechanism entirely: draw supplies locally, move along navigable water, or stop.
Sources cited in the article section
- [4] Collections: Logistics, How Did They Do It, Part I: The Problem ↗
- [1] Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton ↗
- [2] The history of logistics and supplying war ↗
- [3] Some Thoughts on van Creveld's "Supplying War" ↗
These citations give research context. Read each source to check which claims it supports.
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