However, even in such a war environment, intellect still has its place to give full play to its effects, and compared with other wars, its manifestations are more diverse, and its scope of activities is wider, just like Gambling has become a small business. Here, the combat time is spent on pretentious small actions, that is, long-term strategic deployments that have no effect, as well as the formation and marching that are considered by later generations to be learned but actually meaningless. So it is considered to be very learned, because some small reasons for doing this are unknown, and people cannot imagine). It happens to be here that the real military art was discovered by certain theorists. They found all the objects of theoretical research: virtual stab, anti-stab, anti-bottom-right stab and anti-left-up stab used in ancient warfare, and discovered intelligence Factors are much more important than matter. They researched that the recent wars were barbaric struggles, and there was nothing to learn from, and they could only regard such wars as a step backwards to the barbaric era. This view is as worthless as the object it discusses. In the absence of great power and great passion, cleverness played a natural role at this time. However, when commanding a large army to fight, it is like steering the helm in a violent storm, can't it be said that it is a more advanced intellectual activity? Isn't the true method of warfare not including the fencing-style warfare mentioned above? Is the relationship between the former and the latter different from the relationship between the movement of people on the ship and the movement of the ship itself? In fact, this fencing-style combat method can only be used when the opponent is disadvantaged than ours. But do we know how long this condition will last? Didn’t the French Revolution attack us when we were still using old-fashioned methods of warfare and drove us to Moscow? Didn’t Frederick the Great surprise Austrians who were accustomed to old-fashioned warfare in a similar way, and shocked the Austrian dynasty? When dealing with a savage enemy who is not bound by any other laws but limited only by inner strength, it would be too sad if a government does not adopt resolute countermeasures as soon as possible, but also uses old-fashioned military art! At this time, all slackness in thought and action will strengthen the enemy's strength. It is often impossible for a fencer to use the fencing posture to wrestle. As long as he is pushed a little harder by the opponent, he will fall.
To sum up the above content, it can be proved that in a battle, its military operations are intermittent rather than continuous; therefore, between each bloody action in a war, both sides have a phase of waiting and seeing each other and defending each other; But generally speaking, the principle adopted by the party with a higher purpose is mainly to attack. Its state is to advance, so its wait-and-see attitude is positive.
Characteristics of modern warfare
People must consider the characteristics of modern warfare. Such considerations are of great help to all combat plans, especially strategic plans.
Napoleon's luck and courage made all the methods of war commonly used in the past become worthless, and many first-rate powers became vulnerable to him. From the tenacious fighting of the Spaniards, we can see that there are some shortcomings and shortcomings in the popular armed and uprising, but we cannot deny the important role it played. The Russian War of 1812 also told us: First, it is very difficult to conquer a vast country (in fact, people should have known this for a long time); Second, the defeat of the battle, the fall of the capital, and the loss of local areas. It does not mean that it is impossible to win the final victory (in the past, all diplomats regarded this situation as reducing the possibility of victory as an immutable truth, so once encountered such a situation, they would passively accept temporarily. A contract that is not conducive to oneself); in the end, this war also tells us that when the enemy’s offensive power has been exhausted, the original defensive party becomes the strongest. In this case, the defense becomes Attack is a very wise approach. In addition, Prussia in 1813 further demonstrated that the rapid establishment of militias can quickly increase the army's strength by six times its usual strength. These militias can still be used abroad, just as they do at home. To sum up, we can draw the conclusion that popular sentiment and popular opinion are an extremely important factor in national power, military power, and combat power. When governments have known the advantages of these auxiliary methods, they are likely to use these methods in future wars. They may do so because danger threatens their survival, or they may be driven by a strong sense of honor. They do it.
It goes without saying that the two sides organized the war according to different principles, that is, relying on national forces for war or relying solely on the standing army for war. In the past, the standing army was like a fleet. The relationship between the army and other aspects of the country is almost the same as the relationship between the navy and other aspects of the country. Therefore, certain principles in naval tactics have also been adopted by the military art of the army. However, this approach is no longer applicable.
Tension and Calm--The Law of Mechanics in War
As mentioned in Section 16 of this article, in almost all battles, the intermittent and calm time is far more than the action time. Although we talked about the brand-new characteristics of modern warfare in the previous section, there is no doubt that there will always be long or short intervals in real military operations. Therefore, we must further explore the essence of these two states.
If there is a gap in military operations, that is, both sides have a negative attitude, then there may be a calm situation and eventually a balance of power. However, this refers to the balance of power in the general sense. This balance of power does not only include the material and spiritual strength of the army, it also includes all relationships and interests. However, if one of the two sides regains a positive goal and takes action for this (even if it is just some preparatory activities), then the other side will also take corresponding countermeasures, and the situation between the two sides will become tense again. As long as the decisive battle does not end, this state of tension will continue to exist, that is, until one party abandons its own positive purpose or the other party makes a concession.
After the decisive battle conducted by both sides in consideration of their respective interests is over, a new movement will emerge.
If there are difficulties that must be overcome in this movement, such as internal resistance, or the emergence of the latest antagonistic forces and exhaustion, then there will be either peace again, or new tensions and new struggles; then there will be a brand new and new struggle. Movement in the opposite direction in most cases.
For actual activities, the theoretical distinction between balance of power, tension and movement is more important than it seems at first.
In a state of balance or calm, there may be certain activities, but these activities are only caused by accidental reasons, not caused by the purpose of causing major changes. Perhaps these activities are great battles, and there may even be major battles, but because they have completely different properties, they often produce different effects.
In a state of tension, decisive battles often have greater effects. On the one hand, people’s will can exert greater power at the time, and the environment may also produce greater pressure; on the other hand, due to such a large-scale The action has been prepared in all aspects. Such a decisive battle is like the explosion of gunpowder in a sealed state, but if an incident of the same scale occurs in a calm state, it seems that the gunpowder is scattered and burning.
In addition, let alone self-explanatory, the degree of tension must be different. Therefore, there are many different degrees of tension from the most tense to the weakest, and the final state of tension is almost the same as the calm state.
From the situation mentioned above, we can draw the following conclusions:
In a state of tension, the same measure is more important and effective than in an equilibrium state; and in the most tense state, its importance is more prominent.
For example, the Warmi shelling was more decisive than the Battle of Hochkirch.
Garrisoning in areas where the enemy is unable to defend and is forced to abandon, and garrisoning in areas where the enemy has temporarily withdrawn in order to wait for a better time for a decisive battle, should be completely different. When fighting the enemy's strategic offensive, if the position is not suitable, or if a mistake is made in the march, it will lead to extremely bad consequences. However, in a state of balance, unless these shortcomings are particularly prominent, it is impossible to prompt the enemy to act.
As mentioned earlier, in many wars in the past, a large part of the time was consumed in the balance of power, or wasted in lesser degrees, longer intervals, and insignificant tensions. The events that occur in this situation are unlikely to have a great effect, because sometimes they are just to celebrate the birth of the queen, such as the Battle of Hochkirch; sometimes they are just fighting for the honor of soldiers, such as Cunesto Sometimes it is as simple as fighting to satisfy the vanity of the commander-in-chief, such as the Battle of Freibeck.
In our view, a commander must be able to clearly distinguish between these two states, and then prescribe the right medicine for these two states and arrange actions reasonably. This must be done. But the fact is that the experience of the war in 1806 had to make us realize that people were still a long way from this requirement. The situation at the time required all attention to be focused on the main force of the decisive battle in a highly tense state. The commander was supposed to spend all his power on this vital main force decision. However, he only proposed some measures. What is put into practice is only some activities that can only cause small vibrations in a state of equilibrium. People are just evasive and aware of the measures and opinions that cause confusion and waste of energy, and they have left behind the only important measures that can save the overall situation.
In order for readers to understand our theory better, it is necessary to distinguish between theories, because whether it is the relationship between offense and defense, or the implementation of offense and defense, all of these are closely related to the moment of crisis, that is, the tension and tension of various forces. The state of movement is related; and all activities carried out in the state of balance of power, we only regard it as something extraneous. The reason is that the crisis is a real war, and the state of balance of power can at best be a reflection of the crisis.