Pagina 77 van 266

28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory,

but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of

circumstances.

[As Wang Hsi sagely remarks: "There is but one root-principle

underlying victory, but the tactics which lead up to it are

infinite in number." With this compare Col. Henderson: "The rules

of strategy are few and simple. They may be learned in a week.

They may be taught by familiar illustrations or a dozen diagrams.

But such knowledge will no more teach a man to lead an army like

Napoleon than a knowledge of grammar will teach him to write like

Gibbon."]

29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its

natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

30. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike

at what is weak.

[Like water, taking the line of least resistance.]