The Art of War – War and Military Thought, by Martin Van Creveld, Cassell & Co, London, UK, 2000 is a good introduction to strategies of war. One of the strengths of the Rome in times of the Emperor was the famed Roman Legion. The legion was divided into 3 lines according to age and experience. The youngest formed the front lines, the more mature men the second and the veterans were in the rear. Each line was divided into 10 groups of 120 men and grouping was staggered so they covered the intervals This allowed the reserves to be fed into the fighting line to reinforce an attack. It also allowed the forward groups to fall back to retreat and/or rest.

Over the years there has been many debates whether Jomini’s idea about geometry in a two-dimensional space making use of communication of every sort and manoeuvring among all kinds of natural and article obstacles or Clauswitz’s unrelenting emphasis on the need for a single, climactic, annihilating battle is the best method.

Each new technology changes the tactics of the battle line – long bow arrows, to cannons to rifles to machine guns to tanks and planes. Each new technology also brings in new strategies, Basil Liddell Hart believed direct attacks against the enemy’s front had to be avoided at all costs since they inevitably ended in failure. The better method to restore power to the offense and save casualties is the indirect approach. Rather than attacking the enemy head on, the enemy had to be weakened first by having his limbs cut off, his organization disrupted, and his mind of his commander unbalanced. This could be achieved by combining rapidity of movement with secrecy and surprise. If the offensive comes from unexpected directions including following the route least expectation given the terrain. In this fashion, blue has at least two branches that are flexible enough to draw back if necessary.

With the use of the nuclear war, for many the idea for the military had been to win wars has been changed to the chief purpose of the military is to prevent war.

Guerilla warfare influenced developed as a strategy, for smaller units are harder for a large institutional military to deal with. No one really knows what strategy is best, but everyone knows the number of years there has not been a war are very few indeed.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, during wars people die – first the people who took the most of the battle were soldiers or those in the battlefield. Now days the battle includes citizens who may or not be supporting one side or the other. Wars involving the stock exchange and stocks just involve money. One side wishes the other side to either pay more or one company wanting to stay independent, so the next company can pay more. Getting paid more is a good thing, for having been paid there are more options to invest in other dividend paying stocks and everyone goes home at the end of the day.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions