There is only one way for commander to get information by reconnaissance, and that is by the use of cavalry. The feeling of helplessness in the face of the enemy fliers instilled a paralysis in both officers and men. The columns of savaged artillery pieces, automobiles, and motor transport, together with shattered wagons, horses, and men, blocked the road in many places. With resistance shattered, and with Turkish communications knocked out by an airstrike on the telephone exchange at Nabulus, Turkish forces fell back in confusion. Gen. Heinz Guderian, comment in 1937.
Modern battle is the fight for cubic space.
We had learned one important lesson during this operation, a lesson which was to affect all subsequent planning and, in fact, our entire future conduct of the war. The fact of British air superiority threw to the winds all the tactical rules which we had hitherto applied with such success. In every battle to come, the strength of the AngloAmerican air force was to be the deciding factor. If I didn't have air supremacy, I wouldn't be here. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme allied commander, in comments made while surveying buildup area at the Normandy bridgehead after Operation Overlord, late June 1944.