The Cost of Prolonged War
Maneuvering looks like motion until the baggage-train, provisions, and supply bases fall behind. An army without those three is lost. The clever general avoids an opponent whose spirit is still keen and waits until the march has made them sluggish and inclined to return.
Key Insight
Distance and haste spend the same account as combat. If your plan requires people to stay sharp for months without rest, the plan is already losing, even if no one has named a defeat.
“We may take it then that an army without its baggage-train is lost; without provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost.”Full analysis
