NUMBERS
“A handful of troops inured to Warfare proceed to certain victory; while on the contrary, numerous hordes of raw and undisciplined men are but a multitude of victims dragged to slaughter.”—Vegetius.
“Turenne always was victorious with armies infinitely inferior in numbers to those of his enemies; because he moved with expedition, knew how to secure himself from being attacked in every situation and always kept near his enemy.”—Count de Saxe.
“Numbers are of no significance when troops are once thrown into confusion.”—Prince Eugene.
Humanity is divisible into two groups, one of which relatively is small and the other, by comparison, very large.
The first of these groups is made up comparatively of but a few persons, who, by virtue of circumstances are possessed of everything except adequate physical strength; and the second group consists of those vast multitudes of mankind, which are destitute of everything except of incalculable prowess, due to their overwhelming numbers.
Hence, at every moment of its existence, organized Society is face to face with the possibility of collision into the Under World; and because of the knowledge that such encounter is inevitable, unforeseeable and perhaps immediately impending, Civilization, so-called, ever is beset by an unspeakable and all-corroding fear.
To deter a multitude, destitute of everything except the power to take, from despoiling by means of its irresistible physique, those few who are possessed of everything except ability to defend themselves, in all Ages has been the chiefest problem of mankind; and to the solution of this problem has been devoted every resource known to Education, Legislation, Ecclesiasticism and Jurisprudence.
This condition further is complicated by a peculiar outgrowth of necessary expedients, always more or less unstable, due to that falsity of premise in which words do not agree with acts.
Of these expedients the most incongruous is the arming and training of the children of the mob for the protection of the upper stratum; and that peculiar mental insufficiency of hoi polloi, whereby it ever is induced to accept as its leaders the sons of the Patrician class.
That a social structure founded upon such anomalies should endure, constitutes in itself the real Nine Wonders of the World; and is proof of that marvellous ingenuity with which the House of Have profits by the chronic predeliction of the House of Want to fritter away time and opportunity, feeding on vain hope.
The advantage in Numbers consists in having in the aggregate more Corps d’armee than has the adversary.
All benefit to be derived from the advantage in Numbers is limited to the active and scientific use of every corp d’armee; otherwise excess of Numbers, not only is of no avail, but easily may degenerate into fatal disadvantage by impeding the decisive action of other kindred corps. Says Napoleon: “It is only the troops brought into action, that avails in battles and campaigns—the rest does not count.”
A loss in Numbers at chess-play occurs only when two pieces are lost for one, or three for two, or one for none, and the like. No diminution in aggregate of force can take place on the Chess-board, so long as the number of the opposing pieces are equal.
This is true although all the pieces on one side are Queens and those of the other side all Pawns.
The reason for this is:
All the Chess-pieces are equal in strength, one to the other. The Pawn can overthrow and capture any piece—the Queen can do no more.
That is to say, at its turn to move, any piece can capture any adverse piece; and this is all that any piece can do.
It is true that the Queen, on its turn to move, has a maximum option of twenty-seven squares, while the Pawn’s maximum never is more than three. But as the power of the Queen can be exerted only upon one point, obviously, her observation of the remaining twenty-six points is merely a manifestation of mobility, and her display of force is limited to a single square. Hence, the result in each case is identical, and the display of force equal.
The relative advantage in Numbers possessed by one army over an opposing army always can be determined by the following, viz.: