_“Victory lies in the legs of the soldier.”--Frederic the Great._
* * * * *
_“The principal part of the soldier’s efficiency depends upon his
legs._
_“The personal abilities required in all manoeuvres and in
battles are totally confined to them._
_“Whoever is of a different opinion is a dupe to ignorance and a
novice in the profession of arms.”--Count de Saxe._
_“It is easier to beat an enemy than commonly is supposed,” says
Napoleon, “the great Art lies in making nothing but decisive movements.”_
To the proficient in Strategetics the truth of the foregoing dictum is
self-evident. Nevertheless, it remains to instruct the student how to
select from a multitude of possible movements, that particular movement
or series of movements, which in a given situation are best calculated to
achieve victory.
Whatever may be such series of movements, obviously, it must have an
object, _i.e._, a specific and clearly defined purpose. Equally so, all
movements made on such line of movement must each have an objective,
_i.e._, a terminus. These objectives, like cogs in a gear, intimately are
connected with other objectives or termini, so that the project thus
formed constitutes always an exact and often a vast scheme.
Frequently it happens that the occupation of an objective, valid in a
given situation, is not valid in an ensuing situation for the reasons:
1. That the object of the given line of movement is become
unattainable, or,