The key to success was surprise. If the enemy knew when and where the attack would strike, their defenders would be ready and the attacking forces faced a greater chance of defeat.

So the attackers turned to deception—to mask their plans, mislead the enemy commanders, and misdirect enemy resources. As troops moved into place under camouflage or cover stories, the enemy’s attention was steered elsewhere through trickery: false electronic chatter, thousands of multi-domain decoys that simulated soldiers and units where there were none. The effect was to simultaneously create and decrease ambiguity, and create cognitive overload, leading to both confusion and the confirmation of the enemy commander’s prior biases.

When the attack came, the enemy’s forces were out of position and their defen

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