The Backbone Of Surprise Is

...as Man Under Pressure Tends To Give In To Physical And Intellectual Weakness, Only Great Strength Of Will Can Lead To The Objective.

The First And Most Important Rule To Observe...is To Use Our Entire Forces With The Utmost Energy. The Second Rule Is To Concentrate Our Power As Much As Possible Against That Section Where The Chief Blows Are To Be Delivered And To Incur Disadvantages Elsewhere, So That Our Chances Of Success May Increase At The Decisive Point. The Third Rule Is Never To Waste Time. Finally, The Fourth Rule Is To Follow Up Our Successes With The Utmost Energy. Only Pursuit Of The Beaten Enemy Gives The Fruits Of Victory.

Kind-hearted People Might Of Course Think There Was Some Ingenious Way To Disarm Or Defeat An Enemy Without Too Much Bloodshed, And Might Imagine This Is The True Goal Of The Art Of War. Pleasant As It Sounds; It Is A Fallacy That Must Be Exposed: War Is Such A Dangerous Business That The Mistakes Which Come From Kindness Are The Very Worst.

Four Elements Make Up The Climate Of War: Danger, Exertion, Uncertainty And Chance.

However Much Pains May Be Taken To Combine The Soldier And The Citizen In One And The Same Individual, Whatever May Be Done To Nationalize Wars, Never Will It Be Possible To Do Away With The Professionalism Of The Business; And If That Cannot Be Done, Then Those Who Belong To It Will Always Look Upon Themselves As A Kind Of Guild, In The Regulations, Laws, And Customs In Which The "spirit Of War" Finds Its Expression. It Would Be Very Wrong To Look Down Upon This Corporate Spirit, Or Esprit De Corps, Which May And Should Exist More Or Less In Every Army.