On War

Combat features both physical and moral aspects and “embraces sometimes more simply, sometimes in a more complex manner, the object of the whole war” (115). Tactics shape combat. Small, unique features “give every combat a characteristic form” (115). However, overall, these features are not significant in the broad context of combat.

If tactics change, then so does strategy, because the two are related: “If tactical facts in one case are entirely different from those in another, then the strategic must be so also” (115). Typically, in mass-scale battles, many soldiers are arranged behind one another. A small portion of the mass is engaged in combat until it burns out and the next group is deployed. Modern battles generally follow this pattern because of their military organization, understanding of the theory of warfare, and support of national interests.

Combat is the true expression of war, while all other aspects are auxiliary. Since combat is a fight, then “the destruction or conquest of the enemy is the object” (116). The ultimate aim of war is political. At times, it takes “a number of greater or smaller acts which are bound up into a whole” to attain it (116).