WAR TACTICS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4230, 12 January 1940, Page 7

WAR TACTICS

PATIENCE THE WINNING VIkTUE. “The temptation to indulge in costly frontal attacks,” says “Scrutator” in the Sunday Times, “must be resisted. If Hitler shrinks from the prospect of a long war, that is perhaps one good* reason why we should not . A' still better reason is that against fortified lines like those of Germany attack without the most careful preparation and without any element of surprise would l result in a repetition of the last war’s carnage .... that is precisely what the enemy would wish us to do. Victory in war consists not in inflicting loss »n the enemy, or even in the ratio cf losses inflicted and received, jbut in convincing the enemy that he cannot

possibly win. Already the Germans are half convinced that they cannot win a long war. If they were not they would not be so obviously anxious to shirk military issue in the West. If, therefore, we continue for any considerable time without serious check, we are already halfway to victory. To try to force the issue is to encourage the enemy. This period of preparation is not to be hurried. We as a Government,’ saidi Mr Chamberlain, ‘will ndt be rushed into courses which our military advisers, with whom we work in the closest possible contact and mutual confidence, do not approve. What we will not do is to rush into adventures that offer little prospect of success and are calculated to impair our resources and to postpone ultimate victory .... that road leads to disaster? ”