“All the guiding principles of military operations grow out of the one basic principle: to strive to the utmost to preserve one’s own strength and destroy that of the enemy…. How then do we justify the encouragement of heroic sacrifice in war? Every war exacts a price, sometimes an extremely high one. Is this not in contradiction with “preserving oneself”? In fact, there is no contradiction at all; to put it more exactly, sacrifice and self-preservation are both opposite and complementary to each other. For such sacrifice is essential not only for destroying the enemy but also for preserving oneself – partial and temporary “non-preservation” (sacrifice, or paying the price) is necessary for the sake of general and permanent preservation. From this basic principle stems the series of principles guiding military operations, all of which – from the principles of shooting (taking cover to preserve oneself, and making full use of fire-power to destroy the enemy) to the principles of strategy – are permeated with the spirit of this basic principle. All technical principles and all principles concerning tactics, campaigns and strategy represent applications of this basic principle. The principle of preserving oneself and destroying the enemy is the basis of all military principles.”
Mao Tse-tung “Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla War Against Japan” (May 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, pp. 81-82.
Want to get inside the mind of a guerilla? Read Mao. He inspired more successful insurgencies during the 20th century than Lenin ever did.
“Read Mao. He inspired more successful insurgencies during the 20th century than Lenin ever did.”
Yup. Most of the South American and African ones, plus a shitload of Asian insurgencies.
The Soviets were never all that great at guiding insurgencies. Great at equipping them, sure, but their tactics stunk. They trained guerilla movements as if they were massive Soviet armies, whereas Maoist doctrine instructed that guerrillas should move through the local population like a fish through water.
John, while Mao is good and I highly commend him, I would tell you that Sun Tzu is just as important as he influenced Mao.
Hank