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Critical analysis of the art of war sun tzu
Critical analysis of the art of war sun tzu
Critical analysis of the art of war sun tzu
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There are many different tactics that Sun Tzu made and relied on to gain victory over an enemy. In chapter three of The Art of War, Sun Tzu states, “Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.” (Tzu 12). The chapter is titled “strategic offensive” and he discusses how to attack by stratagem. He explains that the best thing to do is to attack your enemy in its entirety rather than to destroy it. It seems like when you try to destroy your enemy little by little more time and energy is required. With this being said he believed that supreme excellence is not achieved when you attack and win over all of your conflicts. Sometimes losing a battle can help you understand or get the right
General Lee said, to be a good soldier you must love the army, to be a good general you must be prepared to order the death of the thing you love, and therein lies the great trap of soldiering. When you attack you must hold nothing back." Thomas J. Jackson was both a good soldier and a good general. In the Mexican War he fought with all his heart for his country. When the Civil War came, he was a general. He never hesitated to send his men forward. He held nothing back. George McClellan also fought with all his heart for his country in the Mexican War. When the time came to send his men forward in the Civil War, he couldn’t do it. He loved the army to much to order its death.
“Their differing perceptions of the nature of war form the backbone of the difficult relationship between these two men.” Lee, an older soldier, values much of an offensive warfare approach, while Longstreet values a defensive warfare approach. Both men consistently argue about the best option for the Confederacy. However, “no matter how much he might disagree, Longstreet defers to Lee’s decisions.” In an argument as to who was right, none of the developed tactics provide clear evidence as to what was going to work, especially with a military of lesser men, considering the war in 1863. Although General Lee’s tactics did not work during the Battle of Gettysburg, there is no evidence that General Longstreet’s defensive strategy would have worked significantly better. Therefore, neither of the generals exceeded the other when it comes to military strategies, which rather debunks Shaara’s depiction of Longstreet’s advanced knowledge of modern warfare. Despite of the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, often marked as the turning point of the war, General Longstreet should not obey an order that results in a significant loss of men that would be extremely difficult to replace at this time. Already limited by the amount of men still able to fight, pushing additional forces in an open battle would just nearly deplete the confederate soldiers completely, and
Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman observed to a Southern friend that, "In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. . . .You are bound to fail." While Sherman's statement proved to be correct, its flaw is in its assumption of a decided victory for the North and failure to account for the long years of difficult fighting it took the Union to secure victory. Unquestionably, the war was won and lost on the battlefield, but there were many factors that swayed the war effort in favor of the North and impeded the South's ability to stage a successful campaign.
...attle was to take advantage of General Patton’s Army and stop the initiative. Adolph Hitler had no time to plan his counterattack on the 3rd U.S. Army, and his men had no training. The unity of command principle of war from the 3rd U.S. Army side was perfect.
... control under allied empower, Hitler appeared to look nervous from the actions that had taken place. Hitler’s force couldn’t resist the cold of Russia of which they had pushed too far into for further enhancements. Hitler would soon learn an enduring lesson since the push he had made in Russia would eventually backfire on him. The deceptive strategy by the Soviets would work perfectly on the German force. For example, Stalin let Hitler’s force into Russia but for the better of the Allied union. He knew that Hitler’s army would suffer and die from the extensive cold and lack of nourishment in Russia. He would then play an offensive move by counter-attacking and pushing all the way back into Germany. The devious tactics played by the allied force surely was a significant lesson learned from the raid, which in the end made Hitler surrender to its “Fortress Europe.”
“Their differing perceptions of the nature of war form the backbone of the difficult relationship between these two men.” Lee, an older soldier, values more of a strategic and offensive approach, while Longstreet values a defensive warfare approach. Both men consistently argue about which the best option for the confederacy, however, “no matter how much he might disagree, Longstreet defers to Lee’s decisions.” In an argument as of who was right, none of the developed tactics provide any clear evidence as to what was going to work, especially with a military of lesser men, considering the war in 1863. Although General Lee’s tactics did not work during the Battle of Gettysburg, there is no evidence that General Longstreet’s defensive strategy would have worked any better, therefore none can be seen as being right, which kind of debunks Shaara’s depiction of Longstreet’s advanced knowledge of modern warfare. Despite of the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, often marked as the turning point of the war, General Longstreet should not obey an order that results in a significant loss of men that would be extremely hard to replace at this time. Already limited with the amount of men still able to fight, pushing more forces in an open battle would just nearly deplete the confederate soldiers completely, and because this battle was one that was fought until
It takes little character to point a gun and pull a trigger, but it takes mountains of courage to accept a challenge in which you are already defeated. Nothing to do but reverse fate, overturn the thoughts and predictions which stand looking down with a grin upon its face. This feat may be impossible, but not totally forsaken, for courage prevails over cowardice. Courage, bravery, selflessness, all attributes necessary for winners to possess.
Sherman supports his claim by saying that “You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.” Sherman is saying that the South may have high hopes that they are going to win but they don’t have the physical ability to win. The South would
There were significant differences in the quality of military leaders and the strategies they employed in battle. Robert E. Lee employed a Napoleonic strategy very effectively - he was able to divide his force and confront his enemy successfully, even while much smaller in number. However, when it came to tactics, he was too Napoleonic. He failed to understand that the war had turned to a struggle not just between armies, but between people. He believed that the Union’s defeat would happen through victory on the battlefield and not through destroying the economy or terrorizing the
Ooka Shohei named the last chapter of Fires on the Plain “In Praise of Transfiguration.” Through the whole novel, readers witness the protagonist Tamura transform from an innocent soldier to a killer. Readers watch him go from condemning the practice of eating human flesh to eating human flesh for his own survival. At the end, Readers see Tamura’s redemption as he shot Nagamatsu who killed and ate his own comrade Yasuda. What was the difference between two men who both killed and ate human beings? To Tamura, the guilt of eating human flesh distinguished himself from Nagamatsu who cold-bloodily killed Yasuda. As Tamura recalled, “I do not remember whether I shot him at that moment. But I do know that I did not eat his flesh; this I should certainly have remembered.” (224) The fact of him shooting at Nagamatsu had no importance to Tamura. However, his emphasis on not eating
Bertrand du guesclin was a great leader for his tactic, which was the Fabian tactic. This tactic was to avoid all planned battles and attack when unexpected. The aim of this tactic was to keep winning and tire the opponent out. This also avoids massive wars leading to less casualties.
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
Robert Lee makes bold moves to win victories. Lee was outnumbered two to one at Chancellorsville in May 1863; instead of just defending against the Union armies, he made an audacious move and split his army into two to encircle the enemy. Without Lee’s courageous move, the Confederacy might have lost another battle. But even if Lee was defeated, his performance would still stay on tract. When Lee was defeated at Antietam in September 1862, he quickly withdrew the remnants of his forces across the Potomac, reorganized his army, and res...
Another strategy of Tzu’s goes like this :”when he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.” (Tzu 67). This means that you shouldn’t attack your enemy where they are the strongest, but wait until he’s pushed into a state of desperate concentration, which leaves him vulnerable in that spot (this would allow an easy victory as you would be fully prepared, and they would be left in a sort of wounded/disoriented state). In a way, this could be what to do and what not to do. You could avoid a large problem but then it could just become even larger and even more of an inconvenience, but it’s not meant in that way in the modified version. The modified version states that you should clean small objects or messes first in order to work your way up to the larger ones. This way, you’ll be more mentally prepared for what's up ahead, or in this case, the so-called enemy. This helps me determine what should be done first all the
Success without adversity is impossible. Everyone in life has their ups and downs and nothing in this world is perfect. At some point in life, hardships begin to occur and that’s when the real test begins. Some people rise up and try their absolute best to take a stand against the challenge. Then there are others that would crawl back into their shells, crying for mercy. There should be no excuse for giving up or not putting in the effort. People are only successful in winning the battle of adversity when they are mentally tough. The intense game of adversity can be referred to football.