Quotes

[Old Noob]

"War means fighting, and fighting means killing." - Bedford Forrest

 

[dlazov]

“It is essential to relate what is strategically desirable to what is tactically possible with the forces at your disposal. To this end it is necessary to decide the development of operations before the initial blow is delivered.”
—Bernard Montgomery

 

[JimWhite]

“It is essential to relate what is strategically desirable to what is tactically possible with the forces at your disposal. To this end it is necessary to decide the development of operations before the initial blow is delivered.”
—Bernard Montgomery

In other words Monty liked to tidy up the battlefield.

 

[dlazov]

“By looking on each engagement as part of a series, at least insofar as events are predictable, the commander is always on the high road to his goal.”
—Carl von Clausewitz

 

[dlazov]

“To be practical, any plan must take account of the enemy’s power to frustrate it; the best chance of overcoming such obstruction is to have a plan that can be easily varied to fit the circumstances met; to keep such adaptability, while still keeping the initiative, the best way is to operate along a line which offers alternative objectives.”
—B. H. Liddell Hart

 

[Old Noob]

"Never make circumstances fit the plan, but make the plan fit the circumstances." - George Patton

 

[dlazov]

“In tactics, the most important thing is not whether you go left or right, but why you go left or right.”
—A. M. Gray

 

[dlazov]

“There is only one principle of war and that’s this. Hit the other fellow, as quick as you can, and as hard as you can, where it hurts him the most, when he ain’t looking.”
—Sir William Slim

 

[dlazov]

“It follows, then, that the leader who would become a competent tactician must first close his mind to the alluring formulae that well-meaning people offer in the name of victory. To master his difficult art he must learn to cut to the heart of a situation, recognize its decisive elements and base his course of action on these.”
—Infantry in Battle

 

[Old Noob]

Boot them, don't spatter them! - Heinz Guderian

 

[dlazov]

“We must be ruthlessly opportunistic, actively seeking out signs of weakness, against which we will direct all available combat power. And when the decisive opportunity arrives, we must exploit it fully and aggressively, committing every ounce of combat power we can muster and pushing ourselves to the limits of exhaustion.”
—FMFM 1, Warfighting

 

[dlazov]

“In war the power to use two fists is an inestimable asset. To feint with one fist and strike with the other yields an advantage, but a still greater advantage lies in being able to interchange them—to convert the feint into the real blow if the opponent uncovers himself.”
—B. H. Liddell Hart

 

[Actionjick]

Roll in ze hay!
RIP Terri

 

[dlazov]

“Hit quickly, hit hard and keep right on hitting. Give the enemy no rest, no opportunity to consolidate his forces and hit back at you.”
—Holland M. Smith

 

[dlazov]

“For the infantryman to be truly effective ... he will have to be as light of foot as he is quick of thought. ... Mobility is needed most of all in the clash of arms. Swift and agile movement plus rapidity and intelligent tactical flexibility are its true essentials.”
—John A. English

 

[dlazov]

“Victory smiles upon those who anticipate the changes in the character of war, not upon those who wait to adapt themselves after they occur.”
—Giulio Douhet

 

[dlazov]

“In any problem where an opposing force exists, and cannot be regulated, one must foresee and provide for alternative courses. Adaptability is the law which governs survival in war as in life—war being but a concentrated form of the human struggle against environment.”
—B. H. Liddell Hart

 

[dlazov]

“Do not delay in the attack. When the foe has been split off and cut down, pursue him immediately and give him no time to assemble or form up . . . spare nothing. Without regard for difficulties, pursue the enemy day and night until he has been annihilated.”
—Field Marshal Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov

 

[Old Noob]

"If you can't them to wear what they are supposed to wear and salute when they are supposed to salute, how are
you going to get them to fight for their country?" - George S. Patton

 

[Actionjick]

Destroyers to attack on contact with enemy force WITHOUT ORDERS from the force commander.
Admiral Arleigh Burke USN

He said the difference between a good officer and a poor one was ten seconds.