ABSTRACT
NATO must be able to meet any conventional attack, short of all out aggression, with conventional means because general nuclear war will in all likelihood ensue if NATO replies with tactical nuclear weapons instead, and strategic nuclear weapons are not the answer to a limited conventional attack. A war that starts as a conventional war need not stay conventional, and the danger is always present that it may suddenly turn into a nuclear war. The troops fighting a conventional war against a nuclear power must be so deployed as if they were fighting a nuclear war, that is they must be dispersed over a greatly extended battlefield. Successful rear attacks are also important morale boosters for troops who have hitherto been fighting only defensively. Rear warfare will also be conducted by other than the regular troops of either side.
