(This is Part 8 of a series. Go back to Part 7.)
In using the overall principle of concentrating strength against weakness, the second method of doing so is:
2. Attack when the enemy is resting.
There are a number of historical instances of an army resting in camp and suddenly being confronted and defeated by an attacking army.
The battle of Trenton in 1776, mentioned previously, is an example. General George Washington chose dawn on the day after Christmas for his attack because he knew that the enemy would be deeply asleep after a day and night of drinking and carousing.
And indeed, Washington won a badly needed victory against the British. He chose the one time when the British/Hessian troops would not be prepared for him.
Another example is when the Roman General Scippio Africanus, in response to Hannibal's invasion of the Italian peninsula, invaded the Carthaginian Empire in North Africa in 204 BC. His force of 30,000 was at once confronted by a combined Carthaginian and Numidian army of 80,000.
Scippio retreated onto a nearby isthmus, the approach to which was now occupied by the Carthaginian armies. His situation was now extremely perilous because he was isolated, greatly outnumbered and backed up against the Mediterranean Sea.
In order to solve this challenge, Scippio feigned fear. He entered into negotiations for surrender. Meanwhile, he instructed his emissaries to take note of all possible details about the enemy camps—where the gates were located, where & when the guards were posted and so on.
At midnight Scippio and his army silently arrived at the two enemy camps. They immediately stationed soldiers at all exits, then set fire to the camps. And as the enemy soldiers fled through the camp gates, Scippio's army annihilated them.
Notice that brilliant generals are not straightforward or direct. They avoid attacking strength, a prepared defense. They don't order frontal attacks against a prepared enemy unless it serves as a distraction. Instead, they find a way to attack the enemy where or when he is vulnerable.
(This is the end of Part 8. Go to Part 9.)
—jim sloman, 8.19.03 for 5.12.04
|
