In War, The Chief Incalculable Is The

If You Find Your Opponent In A Strong Position Costly To Force, You Should Leave Him A Line Of Retreat As The Quickest Way Of Loosening His Resistance. It Should, Equally, Be A Principle Of Policy, Especially In War, To Provide Your Opponent With A Ladder By Which He Can Climb Down.

Air Power Is, Above All, A Psychological Weapon - And Only Short-sighted Soldiers, Too Battle-minded, Underrate The Importance Of Psychological Factors In War.

[the] Aim Is Not So Much To Seek Battle As To Seek A Strategic Situation So Advantageous That If It Does Not Of Itself Produce The Decision, Its Continuation By A Battle Is Sure To Achieve This. In Other Words, Dislocation Is The Aim Of Strategy.

The Predominance Of Moral Factors In All Military Decisions. On Them Constantly Turns The Issue Of War And Battle. In The History Of War They Form The More Constant Factors, Changing Only In Degree, Whereas The Physical Factors Are Different In Almost Every War And Every Military Situation.

This High Proportion Of History's Decisive Campaigns, The Significance Of Which Is Enhanced By The Comparative Rarity Of The Direct Approach, Enforces The Conclusion That The Indirect Is By Far The Most Hopeful And Economic Form Of Strategy.