Everything caused by mental quality and function belongs to the first category; the number of troops, the composition, the ratio of the arms, etc. belong to the second category; the angle formed by the front, the centripetal movement and the centrifugal movement belong to the third category; the commanding heights, Terrain influences such as mountains and rivers fall into the fourth category; finally, all supplies fall into the fifth category. In order to clarify these concepts and be able to immediately determine the value of various elements, it is necessary to examine these elements separately, so that the false elements in some elements disappear by themselves. For example, even if the battle base only includes the battle line, here, the value of the battle base depends on the geometrical element of the angle formed by the battle line, rather it depends on the conditions of the road and area through which the battle line passes.
In fact, the above elements are mostly intricate and closely related in military operations. Therefore, if someone wants to conduct strategic research based on these elements, then this idea is unfortunate. He will inevitably be in vain, because he will lose his way in the analysis away from the reality, just like in a dream, from an abstract pier to a bridge in the real world. God bless, I hope no theorist has such a beginning. We never want to leave the real world, and we do not want to make our minds more than the reader can understand. Our thoughts are the result of the impression that war gives us, not from abstract research.
Spiritual element
The spiritual element runs through the entire field of war and is one of the most important issues in war. They are closely related to the will that governs and promotes all material forces, just like the two become one, because the will itself is a spiritual element. Unfortunately, they are hard to find in any book, because they can only be seen or felt. They can neither be expressed as numbers nor classified into ranks.
The military ethics of an army, the talent of the commander, the wisdom of the government, other spiritual qualities, the people’s sentiments in the war zone, and even the spiritual impact brought about by a certain victory or defeat, all of which are different in themselves, and they are all different for us at the time. The environment and purpose have different impacts.
It is difficult to discuss these issues in books; but like other elements of war, they are included in the category of military art theory. It must be pointed out that if someone sticks to the rules and excludes all spiritual elements from the rules or principles, when encountering spiritual elements, they will treat it as a special case, "scientifically" stipulate it, and treat it as exceeding all rules. The genius of the above, in fact, this is equivalent to saying that the rule is a poor philosophy, and it is stupid in itself.
The theory of military art has expanded its scope to the spiritual realm. Letting people pay attention to these spiritual elements can only show that it is very necessary to fully evaluate the spiritual elements. Moreover, once people have confirmed these views, they will first make a ruling for those who wish to use the relationship of material force to defend themselves in a theoretical court.
Even in order to establish the so-called rules, spiritual elements cannot be excluded theoretically, because the effects of material power and spiritual power are inseparable, and alloys must not be separated like chemical methods. When theories formulate various rules for material forces, they must consider the spiritual elements. Otherwise, the rules will become boring clauses. Sometimes they are cautious and their limitations are very large, and sometimes they are too arbitrary and their scope will be very broad. Even if you don't want to involve the theory of spiritual content at all, it will be involved unknowingly, because without considering the spiritual elements, no problem can be explained, such as the role of victory. Therefore, the issues to be reflected in this article involve not only material causes and effects, but also spiritual causes and effects. If the material cause and effect are compared to a knife handle, then the spiritual cause and effect are sharp blades.
History can truly prove the value and function of spiritual elements, and the commander-in-chief draws spiritual nourishment from history. But it must be pointed out that, on the contrary to theoretical research, various feelings, impressions and inspirations can more sow the seeds of wisdom and bear the fruits of spirit.
Originally, we could examine the most important spiritual phenomena in war in detail, and we could also analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each spiritual phenomenon as carefully as a diligent lecturer. However, the consequences of doing so are likely to fall into a mediocre situation, unknowingly neglect the most essential things in the analysis process, and only pay attention to those things that everyone knows. Therefore, we did not hesitate to choose an incomplete, incomplete, but focused narrative method, so that everyone can more clearly notice the importance of this issue.
Main mental power
The main spiritual power mentioned here refers to the commander’s talent, the military ethics of the army, and the national spirit of the army. It is difficult for anyone to determine which of these main spiritual forces is of greater value. This is because it is no longer easy to just point out their respective values. It is necessary to further compare their value. It's harder. The best way is not to despise any of them. But the problem is that when people make judgments, they always waver, or despise one side, or despise the other side. Therefore, it is a more appropriate way to use sufficient historical facts to illustrate the remarkable effects of these three spiritual forces.
As we all know, the armies of modern European countries have almost reached the same level in terms of skills and training, and the methods of warfare have become a set of methods that can be used by all armies of all countries. In the words of philosophers, they have reached the same level. It is impossible to expect the commander-in-chief to use any personal methods, such as the diagonal battle formation like Frederick II did. So it goes without saying that judging from the current situation, it is the national spirit and war training of the army that can play a greater role. Of course, this situation may change after a long period of peace.
The most obvious manifestation of the national spirit of the army-enthusiasm, fanaticism, conviction and belief-is in mountain warfare. Because at this time, any soldier from top to bottom must move independently. In other words, the most suitable battlefield for civilian armed forces is the mountains.
And the most able to give full play to the proficient skills of the army and the spirit of trained warriors-the army is united as a piece of metal fused together-is on the open plain.
The best commander's talents are on complex terrain or hilly ground. That's because in the mountains, it is rare for a commander to command a single unit, and it is impossible to command all the troops. On the open plain, commanding the army seems too simple to fully display the commanding talents.
Therefore, when formulating a combat plan, one must consider the role of the above-mentioned spiritual forces.
Military virtue
We must pay attention to this question. Military ethics is different from pure bravery and enthusiasm for the cause of war. Bravery is indeed an important part of military ethics. However, the bravery of a soldier is different from the bravery of ordinary people. The bravery of the latter is an innate quality of talent. In addition to this, the bravery of a soldier can also be trained through training. Cultivate it. The tendency of individual bravery to display power at will and uncontrollably is something that the bravery of the soldier must get rid of, because the bravery of the soldier must obey higher requirements, that is, to obey orders, obey discipline, rules, and methods. And the enthusiasm for the cause of war, although it can increase the vitality of martial virtues and make the flames of martial virtues burn and flourish, but it is definitely not a necessary part of martial virtues.
War is a special cause, even if it involves a wide range of aspects, even if all men of a nation who can participate in war come to participate in this cause, it is still a special cause, which is different from other kinds of human life. activity. Wu De’s personal performance includes: a deep understanding of the spiritual essence of the cause of war, inspiring, training and drawing on the power in war activities, applying all of his intelligence to the cause of war, and then making himself accurate and agile through training Take action and do your best to transform yourself from an ordinary person to a competent soldier.
Therefore, let people do everything possible to imagine how to train a person as both a citizen and a soldier, let people imagine war as having the nature of the whole people, let people think that the development of war is different from the previous period of mercenary captains, and it is impossible to obliterate the cause of war. Of particularity. In this case, those who have always been engaged in the cause of war will always regard those who are engaged in war with them as a whole, and the spiritual elements of war are perfected through the rules and regulations of this group. In fact, it is exactly the same. Therefore, we advocate viewing the war from the highest angle, and we must not underestimate the more or less the collective spirit of the army. To make an appropriate analogy: In what we call Wude, this group spirit is like a kind of adhesive that binds the various spiritual forces that work together; and the crystals that make up Wude need to rely on this The team spirit can condense them relatively easily.
For an army, if it can still maintain normal order under extremely fierce artillery fire, it will not be intimidated by imaginary dangers, and it will not be afraid when faced with real dangers; it will be proud of victory. In the adversity of failure, it can still consciously obey orders, and respect and trust the commander as always; in the face of hardship and fatigue, if it can still regard this dilemma as a means of winning, it will not only be discouraged, but also like an athlete. Continue to exercise yourself; if it only holds the unique and brief belief in maintaining the honor of the military, and can keep all the above-mentioned obligations and virtues in mind, then there is no doubt that this is a military and virtuous army.
But then again, if an army does not have this kind of military ethics, it can still fight like the Vendées, achieve great things like the Swiss, Americans and Spaniards, and even more like Eugen, like Malpollo, led a standing army without military ethics and finally won. Therefore, it is not to say that military ethics must be possessed in order to win the war. We particularly emphasize this point in order to make the concept presented here more clear, that is, neither the importance of martial virtues can be ignored, nor can martial virtues be regarded as a necessary factor for victory. The fact is true. Wude is a special kind of spiritual power, it can be considered individually, and its effect can be estimated, just like the power of a tool can be calculated.
We have explained the characteristics of martial ethics, and now we want to talk more about the role of martial ethics and the ways to obtain martial ethics.
Just like the relationship between the commander’s genius and the whole army, so is the relationship between military ethics and various parts of the army. The commander can only command the whole army, not the individual parts of the army. For the part that the commander can't command, he must and can only rely on military ethics. We should use excellent quality and talent as the basis for selecting commanders, and selecting the main commanders of the team must be carefully examined. Generally speaking, the lower the position of the commander, the fewer such investigations can be correspondingly, and the requirements for personal talents can also be reduced correspondingly, but they must have military ethics. Of course, the courage, wisdom, hardship, and enthusiasm of a nation that fights bravely can play the same role. In other words, these qualities can replace martial virtues, and similarly, martial virtues can also replace these qualities. Here are two truths:
(1) Only the standing army possesses and most needs martial ethics. The qualities of the people's armed talents, such as bravery, tact, hard work, and enthusiasm, can replace military virtues, and these qualities are easier to develop in times of war.
(2) The standing army needs more military ethics than fighting the standing army, because when fighting the civilians, the forces are relatively scattered, and each unit needs to rely on its own operations. When the army is able to concentrate on fighting, it can give full play to the commander's genius role, and even the lack of military morality can make up for it. Generally speaking, the more complicated the war becomes and the more dispersed the forces, the more indispensable the military will be.
Combining the above two points can lead to such a lesson: an army that lacks military ethics should be as simple as possible when organizing war, or pay more attention to other aspects of war organization, and never have any unrealistic illusions.
Therefore, one of the most important spiritual forces in war is of course the military virtue of the army. If this kind of power is lacking, we should find ways to replace it with other spiritual powers, such as the commander’s outstanding talent or national enthusiasm. Otherwise, the efforts made are likely to be futile. Whether it is the Macedonian army led by Alexander, or the Roman legion led by Caesar, or the Spanish infantry led by Alexander Farnetier, or the Swedish legion led by Gustav Adolf and Charles XII, and Frederick the Great The Prussian army led by Napoleon and the French army led by Napoleon all relied on this enormous spiritual force to accomplish great undertakings. We must admit this, otherwise it can only show that he is deliberately ignoring all historical facts.
It must be clear: There can only be two channels for the generation of this kind of spiritual power, and the two must be closely combined to produce this kind of spiritual power. The first channel is that the army has experienced many wars and won many victories. The other channel is that the army has experienced a lot of extraordinary fatigue and hardship, because only trained soldiers will recognize their strength. A commander must be accustomed to making more and higher demands of his soldiers. Once the soldier overcomes fatigue and hardship, he will feel immensely proud. Therefore, only after countless hardships and hardships, and only with the encouragement of victories, can good martial virtues be cultivated; and only in the sunshine of victory can the young shoots of martial virtues thrive and be able to resist more. Many misfortunes and failures can even overcome the lax state in peacetime, at least for a certain period of time. Therefore, once you have this kind of spiritual power, even if the commander of this army is mediocre or in a peaceful environment, this kind of spiritual power will continue for a long time.
We must also pay attention to this issue: military ethics and emotions are two different things and cannot be treated the same. The team spirit developed by a wounded and battle-tested army, that is, good military ethics, cannot be compared with the arrogance and vanity of a standing army that only relies on doctrine and code of conduct. Strict doctrines and service rules may be able to keep the military morality of the military longer, but it does not produce military morality. Therefore, although we admit that this is indeed valuable, we should not overestimate it. The characteristics of the military trained in peacetime are: rigorous order, combat skills, strong will, and a certain degree of pride and high emotions. These are things that we must cherish, but they cannot function alone like military ethics. The whole can only be maintained by the strength of the whole, which is like a piece of glass that cools too fast. With little care, a crack can cause the whole to break. Therefore, an army that has not been tempered by victory and defeat, and an army that cannot adapt to a difficult environment, even if it has the most full of emotions, once it encounters setbacks, it will become timid and even very fearful. This is "Great defeat" in French. Such an army can only do something under the leadership of the commander in chief, otherwise it will accomplish nothing. Therefore, we must not confuse martial ethics with emotions.
courage
Courage is a rare and precious spiritual force, it can prompt people to overcome great spiritual dangers, so it should also be regarded as a unique and effective element in war. In fact, courage only appears to have more status in the field of war.