In Clausewitz's eyes, the importance of concentrating military force is embodied in what he called the principle of numbers. After reflecting on the Napoleonic Wars, he said: "An unbiased examination of modern military history has led to the following conclusion: numerical superiority becomes increasingly decisive over time. Therefore, the principle of concentrating the greatest possible number of forces is considered more important than in any previous era."
Mao Zedong referred to this principle as "concentrating consistently," meaning concentrating superior forces in one direction: "Our experience shows that dividing our forces almost never fails, while concentrating our forces to strike against an enemy smaller, equal, or slightly larger than us often leads to victory."
As early as during the Red Army era, Mao explicitly pointed out: "Concentrate forces in the main direction, strategically hitting with one fist... oppose the two-fisted approach... under conditions of a powerful enemy, no matter how many troops we have, at one time, the main direction of use should be only one, not two."
The art of generalship is the first category of things we learn from military strategists. The second category we need to learn is: strategic principles summarized by military scholars. These principles come from military practice and are then used to guide practice. The case studies highly valued in management science are essentially borrowed from military strategists. However, most management scholars are preoccupied with analyzing numerous cases, but few masters like Sun Tzu, Mao Zedong, and Clausewitz believe that these principles play a role in "illuminating the entire path, facilitating progress, educating judgment, and preventing mistakes."
Clausewitz also clearly answered: "Whenever it is impossible to achieve absolute superiority, the only method is to cleverly use the forces we already have to create relative superiority at the decisive point." "Relative superiority means skillfully concentrating superior forces at the decisive point. This is usually based on several factors: accurate judgment of those points, giving the forces the correct direction from the beginning, and the determination to sacrifice less important interests for the sake of major benefits."
Principle of Concentrating Forces
The principle of concentrating forces, clear objective principle, surprise principle, pursuit principle, initiative principle, unified command principle, planning and calculation principle, innovation and adaptability principle.
Mao Zedong's summary of this is simply four words: "defeat them one by one." "With fewer forces striking more, overcoming disadvantage with advantage and winning, all start with our local advantages and initiatives towards the enemy's local disadvantages and passivity, achieving victory in one battle, then extending to others, turning the overall situation into advantage and initiative."
But what if we cannot achieve numerical superiority?
Scholars studying Napoleon generally believe that the reason Napoleon was invincible in Europe for 20 years lies in his strategic ability to mobilize the strongest forces, concentrating on fundamental objectives, using decisive battles to secure victories.
We cannot expect real-life ever-victorious generals; they have been rare throughout history. What we require is familiarity with various situations on both sides during the war process, identifying their patterns of action, and applying these patterns to our own actions.
Numerical Superiority: "This is the most universal principle of victory in strategy and tactics." Napoleon himself had the maxim "the army with more soldiers will surely win." Of course, Clausewitz also knew that the principle of concentrating forces is not the only principle of victory, "only when numerical superiority is great enough to offset all other factors does it become the most decisive factor in determining the success of a battle."
In all military writings, as well as in the most famous battle cases in China and around the world, the principle of concentrating forces is regarded as the first and most revered strategic principle by strategists.
On the political battlefield, Mao once proposed annihilating American forces with a ninefold numerical superiority. On December 30, 1930, during the first anti-encirclement campaign, 40,000 men were concentrated to fight Zhang Huizan's 9,000 men. Later, during the Liberation War, it was proposed: "Concentrating superior forces, annihilating the enemy one by one, was the only correct method of warfare used in the last three months to wipe out 25 enemy divisions. We must concentrate our forces six times, five times, three times, at least three times greater than the enemy, in order to effectively annihilate them." In 1947, Mao further incorporated this principle into the Ten Military Principles.
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