Ruse of War - Legitimate Ruses

Legitimate Ruses

Legitimate ruses include:

• surprises, ambushes, feigning attacks, retreats, or flights
• simulating quiet and inactivity (to lull the enemy into complacency)
• use of small forces to simulate large units (for example, inducing an enemy unit to surrender by pretending that it is surrounded by a large force)
• transmitting false or misleading radio or telephone messages
• deception of the enemy by bogus orders purporting to have been issued by the enemy commander
• making use of the enemy’s signals and passwords or secret handshakes
• pretending to communicate with nonexistent troops or reinforcements
• deceptive supply movements (which might make the enemy think you are preparing an action you're not)
• deliberate planting of false information
• use of spies and secret agents
• moving landmarks (to confuse an enemy operating in unfamiliar territory)
• putting up dummy guns and vehicles or laying dummy mines
• erection of dummy installations and airfields (to intimidate or encourage useless attack)
• removing unit identifications (but not those that identify the belligerent while in combat) from uniforms
• psychological warfare activities
• disguising a warship to appear to be a neutral merchant vessel, or a merchant vessel on your opponent's side, has traditionally been considered a legitimate ruse de guerre, provided the belligerent raises their own flag, to break the deception, prior to firing their guns. This was called sailing under false colors. Both sides during the world wars used this tactic, most famously the Royal Navy's Q ships.
• disguising a warship to appear to be one of your opponent's warships has traditionally been considered to be a legitimate ruse de guerre, provided the belligerent raises their flag to drop the disguise, prior to firing their guns. The Germans took steps to disguise their pocket battleships as allied cruisers during World War II. This tactic was also used by the Royal Navy to great effect during the Napoleonic Wars, since the boarding and capture of enemy vessels was quite common during that time, and information about the current ownership of vessels was not easy to disseminate rapidly.