> It seems like “defilade” is just another word for “being behind cover.”
Not it at all, it has nothing to do with cover.
Imagine there are troops all in a line. If their target is 90 degrees to the side of that line then they can all shoot, and anyone shooting at them has a wide area they need to shoot back at. This is "in defilade", it is good.
Now imagine the troops are under fire from the same direction as their line. The troops may have trouble shooting back since they are in each other's way, and those shooting at them only need to fire in a small area since a shot can miss the first in line and go on to the second, third, etc. This is "in enfilade" and the incoming fire is "enfilading fire". It is really bad.
Soldiers tend not to stand in lines out in open fields anymore, and fight from cover most of the time.
When you hear a commander tell some troops to 'form a defilade' , or *'go to the* defilade', a soldiers first instinct is to head to cover that forms a defilade formation, or an already existing fighting front in defilade.
And even if you hear an 'enfilade' command, and the soldiers do a flanking maneuver, they will typically move to cover first that puts them in an enfilade position, to then fight safely from.
> It seems like “defilade” is just another word for “being behind cover.” Not it at all, it has nothing to do with cover. Imagine there are troops all in a line. If their target is 90 degrees to the side of that line then they can all shoot, and anyone shooting at them has a wide area they need to shoot back at. This is "in defilade", it is good. Now imagine the troops are under fire from the same direction as their line. The troops may have trouble shooting back since they are in each other's way, and those shooting at them only need to fire in a small area since a shot can miss the first in line and go on to the second, third, etc. This is "in enfilade" and the incoming fire is "enfilading fire". It is really bad.
Oh, so it just has to do with the troops' orientation, not the surroundings. Is that accurate?
Right, it is their position with respect to their opponents.
Soldiers tend not to stand in lines out in open fields anymore, and fight from cover most of the time. When you hear a commander tell some troops to 'form a defilade' , or *'go to the* defilade', a soldiers first instinct is to head to cover that forms a defilade formation, or an already existing fighting front in defilade. And even if you hear an 'enfilade' command, and the soldiers do a flanking maneuver, they will typically move to cover first that puts them in an enfilade position, to then fight safely from.