MOBILITY

“Victory lies in the legs of the soldier.”—Frederic the Great.

“The principal part of the soldier’s efficiency depends upon his legs.

“The personal abilities required in all manoeuvres and in battles are totally confined to them.

“Whoever is of a different opinion is a dupe to ignorance and a novice in the profession of arms.”—Count de Saxe.

“It is easier to beat an enemy than commonly is supposed,” says Napoleon, “the great Art lies in making nothing but decisive movements.”

To the proficient in Strategetics the truth of the foregoing dictum is self-evident. Nevertheless, it remains to instruct the student how to select from a multitude of possible movements, that particular movement or series of movements, which in a given situation are best calculated to achieve victory.

Whatever may be such series of movements, obviously, it must have an object, i.e., a specific and clearly defined purpose. Equally so, all movements made on such line of movement must each have an objective, i.e., a terminus. These objectives, like cogs in a gear, intimately are connected with other objectives or termini, so that the project thus formed constitutes always an exact and often a vast scheme.

Frequently it happens that the occupation of an objective, valid in a given situation, is not valid in an ensuing situation for the reasons: