But in all situations there will be points of no value, while other points are of value inestimable; for the reason that the occupation of the former will not favorably affect the play, or may even lose the game; while by the occupation of the latter, victory is at once secured.
But it is not the province of Mobility to pass on the values of points; this latter is the duty of Strategy. It is sufficient for Mobility that it provide superior facilities for movement; it is for Strategy to define the Line of Movement; for Logistics, by means of this Line of Movement, to bring into action in proper times and sequence, the required force, and for Tactics, with this force, to execute the proper evolutions.
Mobility derives its importance from three things which may occur severally or in combination, viz.:
- 1. All power for offense or for defense is eliminated from a Chess-piece the instant it loses its ability to move.
- 2. The superiority possessed by corps acting offensively over adverse corps acting defensively, resides in that the attack of a piece is valid at every point which it menaces; while the defensive effort of a piece, as a rule, is valid only at a single point. Consequently:
PRINCIPLE
Increased facilities for movement enhance the power of attacking pieces in a much greater degree than like facilities enhance the power of defending pieces.
Such increasing facilities for movement ultimately render an attacking force irresistible, for the reason that it finally becomes a physical impossibility for the opposing equal force to provide valid defences for the numerous tactical keys, which at a given time become simultaneously assailed. Hence:
PRINCIPLE
Superior facilities for occupying any point at any time and with any force, always ensure the superior force at a given point, at a given time.
The relative advantage in mobility possessed by one army over an opposing army always can be determined by the following, viz.: