Because of the unreliability of various intelligence and estimates, accidents continue to appear. During the war, the commander constantly discovers different situations from the original expectations. His combat plan, or at least some assumptions related to the plan, is affected as a result. If this impact is great, it will lead to the cancellation of the established combat plan, which must be replaced by a completely new plan. At this time, necessary explanatory materials are often lacking. In the course of military operations, most decisions must be made immediately. People have no time to re-understand the situation, or even time to think carefully. It is usually the case that our knowledge of certain changes in assumptions and certain accidents that have occurred is not enough to make us completely overthrow the original plan. Its effect is only to shake our confidence in the victory of the original plan. As our knowledge of the situation has increased, so has the uncertainty of the war. Since the awareness of these situations is gradually gained, our determination is constantly being impacted by new situations, and our spirit is often on guard.
In order to continuously eliminate the interference of accidents, it must have two characteristics: one is the intelligence that can still emit an inner gleam to illuminate the truth in the vast darkness; the other is the courage to follow this gleam and move on. The former is vividly called eyesight in French, and the latter is called decisiveness.
In the war, the most noticeable thing is the battle, and in the battle, time and space are very important factors, especially in the era of fast-fighting cavalry. Therefore, the rapid and accurate judgment was originally derived from the expected results of the two factors of time and space, and thus obtained the name "eyesight" which only means accurate visual inspection ability. Many military scientists also define it with the meaning of this limitation. It is undeniable that accurate judgments made at the moment of action, such as correctly specifying the point of attack, will soon be regarded as having "eyesight." Here, the eyesight referred to not only refers to the quality of vision, but also refers to the strength of insight. The word and the content it expresses are mostly used in tactics, but it is also indispensable to make rapid judgments in strategy. If the excessive image component and narrow meaning brought by this name are removed from this concept, then it only refers to the ability to quickly discern the truth, and this kind of truth cannot be discerned by ordinary people. It needs to go through a lot of Observing and thinking for a long time.
Decisiveness is a form of expression of courage in specific situations. When it becomes a character trait, it becomes a spiritual habit again. What I'm talking about here is not the courage to risk life, but the courage to take responsibility, that is, the courage to face mental danger. This courage comes from wisdom and is usually called the courage of the wise, but it is not simply Intellectual performance, it is also a kind of emotional performance. Pure intelligence does not equal courage. We often see that some very smart people are not decisive in doing things. Therefore, the intelligence must first arouse the feeling of courage, so that the intelligence can be supported and supported, because in a critical moment, people are more controlled by emotion than by accepting intelligence.
We believe that the role of decisiveness is an effective way to eliminate the worries of doubt and the danger of hesitation as soon as possible when conditions are insufficient. Of course, according to non-rigorous language habits, blindly adventurous, bold, fearless, brutal, etc. can also be called decisive. However, if a person has sufficient motives, whether subjective or objective, whether appropriate or inappropriate, and then take action, there is no reason to comment on whether he is decisive.
What I'm talking about here is only the strength of motivation. Don't be so pedantic. Because of some differences in language habits, there will be endless arguing.
This kind of decisiveness that can dispel doubts can only be produced through the special activity of intelligence. However, the simple combination of a high level of understanding and the necessary emotions generally does not produce decisiveness. Although some people have very keen insight to see through the most complex issues, and do not lack the courage to bear heavy tasks, they still cannot make decisive decisions in many difficult situations. Their courage and their understanding are like well water or river water. They have nothing to do with each other, so they cannot derive a third thing-decisiveness. Only through such a special activity of intelligence, that is, to realize the necessity of taking risks, and determined to take risks, can we be decisive. It is precisely this kind of special intellectual activity that can make people with strong emotions decisive, which defeats any other fears by overcoming the fear of vacillation and doubt. Therefore, in our opinion, a person with poor intelligence cannot be a decisive person. They may take action without hesitation in difficult situations, but this is not thought through, not through intellectual analysis, and at best is just "the courage of a man". Such operations will occasionally succeed, but as we have said before, only average results can prove whether there is military talent. If someone does not understand this statement, it is because as far as he knows that some decisive hussar officers are not good at thinking, then we must remind him that this is a special activity of intelligence. It does not mean the ability to be good at thinking.
We believe that the decisive generation should be attributed to the special activities of intelligence. A person with such intellectual activity is not so much a talented person as a strong-willed person. Some people used to be very decisive when they were in a lower position, but they are no longer decisive when they are in a higher position. Although they want to make a decision, they are aware of the dangers involved in the wrong decision. They do not understand the new things they are facing, so their intelligence has lost its original light and power. The more they realize that they are in a hesitant situation, the more they are used to hesitating, and the more they shrink back.
When talking about eyesight and decisiveness, it is natural to talk about similar wit issues. In a field full of accidents like war, wit plays a very important role. It is a kind of adaptability that can handle accidents well. People admire wit, because it can make clever and appropriate answers to unexpected questions, and can quickly think of emergency measures against sudden dangers. This kind of answer and this kind of method only requires that they are appropriate, not that they are unusual, because the same answer or method, when it is the result of careful consideration, becomes ordinary, so it is left to People's impressions are also plain and unremarkable, but when it is the result of agile intellectual activity, it can be amazing. The word wit is a very accurate expression of the intelligence's ability to promptly and promptly propose emergency solutions.
A considerable part of this rare and precious quality of a person comes from his intellectual characteristics, and at the same time comes from his mental composure, neither of which can be ignored. Appropriate answers to unexpected questions are mainly the product of mental intelligence, and the proper way to deal with urgent dangers is based on emotional calmness.
Now, if we look at the four elements that form the atmosphere of war, namely, danger, fatigue, uncertainty, and contingency, then it is not difficult to understand that if we want to grasp the direction of victory in this difficult atmosphere, we need to be emotional. And intellectually pay a huge price. We found that the narrators and reporters of war incidents summarized the above-mentioned forces in different forms of expression in different situations as enthusiasm, perseverance, tenacity, sturdiness and determination. The performance of all these heroes can be regarded as different performances of the same willpower in different situations. However, no matter how similar these performances are to each other, they are not the same thing after all. Here, it is good for us to distinguish the different manifestations of these spiritual powers more precisely.
First of all, in order to clarify the concept, it must be pointed out that all the pressure, burden or resistance that inspires the above-mentioned spiritual forces of the commander, no matter what the name is, only a small part is directly derived from the enemy's activities, the enemy's resistance and the enemy's actions. The enemy's activities directly affect the commander, the first is his personal safety, not his activities as a commander. If the enemy resisted for four hours instead of two hours, then the personal danger for the commander would not be two hours but four hours. Of course, this kind of danger will be relatively reduced as the position of the commander increases. As for the commander in the position of commander-in-chief, this kind of risk factor is almost zero.
Secondly, the enemy's resistance directly affects the commander, because the enemy's long-term resistance has caused casualties to our army, and the commander is unshirkable for this loss. The loss of the army will inevitably cause anxiety in the mind of the commander, which is also a test of his willpower. Of course, this is far from the heaviest burden he has to bear. At this time, the most important thing for him is to control himself. The impact of the enemy's resistance will have an effect on the commander's subordinates, and will in turn have an effect on the commander himself through them.
When troops enter the battle confidently and energetic, the commander does not have to exert too much personal willpower in the process of achieving his goals. However, when the situation becomes difficult, the progress of the battle will no longer be as smooth as the machine loaded with lubricant. At this time, the battle encounters resistance. To overcome this resistance, the commander must first have a huge Willpower. This resistance does not refer to disobedience to orders, but refers to the declining physical and mental strength of the entire army, and refers to the fear and pain caused by seeing bloodshed and death. The commander must first overcome his own emotions, and then help others overcome this emotion, otherwise the soldier's feelings, worries, and willingness and other negative emotions will directly or indirectly affect him. If the subordinates' physical and mental strength continue to decay, and they can no longer cheer up and persevere with their own willpower, then the pressure on the commander's will will gradually increase. The commander must use his own inner fire and the light of ideals to rekindle the fire of faith and hope of all his subordinates. Only by doing this can he continue to command them and lead them to fight. If he can't do this, and his courage is not enough to regain the courage of all his subordinates, then he will be assimilated by his subordinates, so that he will escape without shame. This is the pressure that a commander must overcome with his courage and strong spirit in the struggle if he wants to achieve an impressive record. This pressure increases with the increase in the number of subordinates. Therefore, in order to withstand this pressure, the mental strength of the commander must increase as the position and the number of subordinates increase.
Enthusiasm refers to the strength of motivation that causes a certain behavior. This kind of motivation may come from rational thinking, perhaps from emotional impulse, but in order to exert great power, emotional impulse is indispensable.
It should be admitted that in the fierce battle, there is nothing stronger and more stable than the heart of honor for all the noble feelings in people's hearts. In German, it would be unfair to use a derogatory term like greed for fame and fame to express this kind of feeling. It is true that casual use of such noble feelings in war will also commit unforgivable crimes against mankind. If only from the source of this kind of feeling, it should indeed be regarded as one of the noblest feelings of human beings. It enables the human body to gain true vitality in the sense of the soul in the war. No matter how common all other feelings, such as patriotism, fanatical pursuit of ideals, revenge, and various other passions are, no matter how noble some of them seem, honor is still indispensable. Although other emotions can inspire and improve the morale of the soldiers, they cannot make the commander more ambitious than his subordinates. This kind of ambition is what a commander must have if he wants to achieve brilliant achievements in his position. Other feelings, like the heart of honor, make the commander treat every military action like his own land, try every means to use it, work hard, sow seeds carefully, and yearn for a bumper harvest. What can best play the role of the army and win victory is due to the efforts of officers at all levels from the highest to the lowest, this kind of diligence, competition and enterprising spirit. This is even more important for the highest-ranking military commander. Since ancient times, which great commander is not honor above all else? It is impossible to imagine a great commander without honor!
Toughness refers to the ability of the will to resist fierce attacks, and tenaciousness refers to the ability of the will to resist continuous attacks.
Although the two words strong and tenacious have very similar meanings and can usually be substituted for each other, the essential difference between them cannot be ignored. People’s strength to a fierce offense may only come from emotional power, but tenaciousness depends more on intellectual support. As the offensive time goes on, it is necessary to continuously adjust and strengthen the planning of actions. Part of it is manifested in this kind of planning.
Now let’s talk about being strong. How to understand the strong
The so-called strongness does not mean strong emotions, but strongness refers to the ability to listen to the call of reason when the emotions are the most excited. Is this ability only produced from intelligence? The answer is of course no. Although some people have high IQ, they cannot control themselves. This phenomenon is not an isolated phenomenon. Some people may say that what is needed here is a special kind of intelligence, not a comprehensive intelligence, but a stronger intelligence. Here, we still want to say that at the most impulsive moments of emotions, we can still subject ourselves to the power of reason, that is, what we call self-control, which is a kind of emotional power. This is a special kind of emotion, which allows the strong person to remain calm in the moment of enthusiasm without hindering the expression of enthusiasm. Through this calm emotion, the dominance of intelligence is guaranteed. This kind of feeling is a person's self-esteem, the noblest sense of pride, and the deepest demand in the heart. So we say that being strong refers to the kind of feeling that can remain calm when you are most excited.
If you distinguish between different types of people based on their feelings, you will find that there is one type of people who are not very sensitive. We call this type of people the emotionally insensitive or indifferent.
The second type is emotionally sensitive people, but their feelings never exceed a certain limit. This kind of people are easily emotional and can quickly restore calm.
The third type is extremely agitated people. Their emotions are agitated like a volcanic eruption and will not last.
Finally, the fourth type is people who are not moved by small things. Their feelings are often gradually aroused. Such feelings are very powerful and lasting. This type of person belongs to those who have strong feelings, deep and not exposed.
This emotional difference is related to the various physiological functions in the human body, and at the same time comes from the dual organization of the nervous system. This organization is related to matter on the one hand, and spirit on the other. This is an obscure question that cannot be stated clearly with our little philosophical knowledge. However, it is still very necessary to study the role and strength of these types of people in military activities.
People with indifferent feelings will not lose composure easily, but this composure cannot be called strong, because it does not show any strength by itself. It is undeniable that it is this kind of person who can always maintain his composure, so he has some useful side in war. Such people generally lack positive motivation for action, that is, lack of motivation, and therefore lack of action. Of course, they are not prone to bad things.
The second type of people is characterized by being easily excited when encountering small things, taking actions blindly, and often feeling low when encountering big things. This kind of people will take the initiative to lend a helping hand when an individual encounters misfortune, but when the entire nation suffers disasters, only a sigh is left, and it seems helpless.