The law of war-this is a problem that anyone who commands a war cannot but study and solve.
The law of revolutionary war-this is a problem that anyone who directs revolutionary war cannot but study and solve.
The law of China's revolutionary war-this is a problem that anyone who guides China's revolutionary war has to study and solve.
We are at war, our war is a revolutionary war, and our revolutionary war is in semi-colonial and semi-feudal China. Therefore, we should study not only the laws of general war, but also the laws of special revolutionary war, and even more the special laws of China's revolutionary war.
Everyone knows that no matter what you do, if you don't understand the situation, nature and relationship between it and other things, you can't do it well, you can't know its laws, and you can't know how to do it.
War-the highest form of struggle, starting from private property and class, is used to solve the contradictions among classes, nationalities, countries, political groups and political groups that have developed to a certain stage. If you don't understand its situation, its nature and its relationship with other things, you won't know the laws of war and how to guide it, and you won't win.
Revolutionary war-revolutionary class war and revolutionary national war, in addition to the general situation and nature of war, there are also its special situation and nature. Therefore, in addition to the general laws of war, there are some special laws. If we don't understand these special circumstances, nature and special laws, we can't guide the revolutionary war and win the battle in it.
China's revolutionary war, whether civil war or national war, was carried out in the special environment of China. Compared with general war and general revolutionary war, it has its special circumstances and characteristics. Therefore, in addition to the laws of general war and general revolutionary war, there are some special laws. If we don't know this, we can't win the revolutionary war in China.
Therefore, we should study the laws of general war; We should also study the laws of revolutionary war; Finally, we should study the laws of China's revolutionary war.
There is a person's view that is wrong, and we have refuted this view; They said: Just study the laws of war in general, specifically, just follow the military regulations promulgated by the reactionary China government or the reactionary China Military Academy. They don't know that these rules are just the laws of general war, and they are all copied from foreign countries. If you copy it completely and use it without changing the form and content at all, it will definitely be a slap in the face and a debacle. Their reason is: why can't we get what we used to get through bloodshed? They don't know that we should respect the past bleeding experience, but we should also respect our own bleeding experience.
Another person's opinion is also wrong, which we have refuted; They said: As long as we learn from the experience of the Russian revolutionary war, specifically, as long as we follow the guiding laws of the Soviet civil war and the military regulations promulgated by the Soviet military organs. They don't know that the laws and regulations of the Soviet Union contain the particularity of the Soviet Civil War and the Soviet Red Army. If we copy them completely and don't allow any changes, it will be like cutting our feet and fitting our shoes, and we will lose the battle. These people's reasons are: the Soviet war was a revolutionary war, our war was also a revolutionary war, and the Soviet Union won. Why is there a choice? They don't know: of course, we should pay special attention to the Soviet war experience, because this is the experience of modern revolutionary war, which was obtained under the guidance of Lenin and Stalin; But we should also respect the experience of China's revolutionary war, because there are many special circumstances in the China Revolution and the Chinese Red Army.
Another person's opinion is also wrong, which we have refuted; They said: 1926 to 1927 had the best experience in the northern expedition, so we should learn, specifically, the northern expedition and capture big cities. They don't know that we should learn from the experience of the Northern Expedition, but we shouldn't copy it rigidly, because the situation of our war has changed now. We should only use those things in the Northern Expedition that are still applicable in the current situation, and we should stipulate our own things according to the current situation.
From this point of view, different war situations determine different war guiding laws, and there are differences in time, region and nature. From the time point of view, war and its guiding laws are developing, and each historical stage has its own characteristics, so the laws of war also have their own characteristics and cannot be mechanically transferred to different stages. In terms of the nature of war, revolutionary war and counter-revolutionary war have their own characteristics, so the laws of war also have their own characteristics, so we can't copy them mechanically. From the perspective of geographical conditions, all countries and nations, especially big countries and nations, have their own characteristics, so the laws of war also have their own characteristics, and they cannot be mechanically copied. When we study the guiding laws of war in different historical stages, different natures, different regions and different nationalities, we should focus on their characteristics and development and oppose mechanistic war theories.
That's not all. For a commander, it is a progress and development for him to command a small corps first and then a large corps. One place is different from many places. At first he will fight in a familiar place, and later he will fight in many places, which is a progress and development for a commander. Due to the development of technology, tactics and strategy between the enemy and ourselves, the situation at each stage of the war is also different. People who can command the lower level will also command the higher level, which is more progress and development for a commander. We can only adapt to a certain regiment, a certain place and a certain stage of war development. This is called no progress and no development. There is a kind of person who has a skill and a hole in his brain, but never makes progress. Although this has some effect on the revolution in a place for a while, it has little effect. We need war leaders who play an important role. The guiding laws of all wars are developed according to the development of history and war; Nothing stays the same.
Section 2 The purpose of war is to eliminate war.
War-the monster that human beings kill each other, will eventually be eliminated by the development of human society, and will be eliminated in the near future. But there is only one way to destroy it, that is, use war against war, use revolutionary war against counter-revolutionary war, use national revolutionary war against national counter-revolutionary war, and use class revolutionary war against class counter-revolutionary war. There are only two kinds of wars in history: just and unjust. We support just wars and oppose unjust wars. All counter-revolutionary wars are unjust and all revolutionary wars are just. The era of human war life will end in our hands, and the war we are waging is undoubtedly part of the last war. But the war we are facing is undoubtedly part of the biggest and most cruel war. The biggest and cruelest unjust counter-revolutionary war is approaching us. If we don't raise the banner of just war, most of mankind will be destroyed. The banner of the just war of mankind is to save mankind, and the banner of the just war of China is to save China. The war waged by the majority of mankind and the majority of people in China is undoubtedly a just war, a supreme honor to save mankind and China, and a bridge to turn the history of the whole world into a new era. Human society has progressed to the point where classes and countries have been eliminated. By then, there will be no war, no counter-revolutionary war, no revolutionary war, no unjust war and no just war. This is an era of eternal peace for mankind. We study the laws of revolutionary wars based on the desire to eliminate all wars, which is the boundary that distinguishes us from all exploiting classes.
In the third quarter, strategic issues are things that study the overall laws of war.
As long as there is war, there is the overall situation of war. The world can be an overall situation of war, and a country can be an overall situation of war, an independent guerrilla zone, a major aspect of independent operations, or an overall situation of war. Everything that takes care of all aspects and stages is the overall situation of the war.
The task of a strategist is to study the guiding laws of war from the overall situation. It is the task of military science and Science of Tactics to study the guiding laws of local wars.
Why should campaign commanders and tactical commanders be required to understand some strategic laws? Because you know the global things, you will use local things more, because local things belong to the global things. It is wrong to say that strategic victory depends on tactical victory, because this view fails to see that the main and primary issue of winning or losing a war is whether the overall situation and all stages are taken into account or not. If there are important shortcomings or mistakes, and the overall situation is taken into account at all stages, the war is doomed to failure. To say "one careless move will lose the whole game" means that this is a move that plays a decisive role in the overall situation, not a partial move that has no decisive role in the overall situation. Chess is like this, and so is war.
However, the whole thing cannot be separated from its parts and independent, and the whole situation is composed of all its parts. Sometimes, some parts are destroyed or invalidated, which may not have a significant impact on the overall situation, just because these parts are not decisive to the overall situation. The failure or failure of some tactics or campaigns in a war often does not lead to the deterioration of the overall situation of the war, precisely because these failures are not decisive things. But if most of the battles that make up the overall situation of the war fail, or one or two decisive battles fail, the overall situation will change immediately. Most of the battles and one or two battles mentioned here are decisive things. In the history of war, some people won Lien Chan's victory and then lost another battle, while others won another battle after many defeats, thus opening up a new situation. The "winning Lien Chan" and "losing more" mentioned here are partial and have no decisive role in the overall situation. The "one defeat" and "one victory" mentioned here are decisive things. All these show the importance of taking the overall situation into account. Those who command the overall situation, the most important thing is to take care of the overall situation of the war. Mainly according to the situation, take care of the composition of the troops and corps, the relationship between the two campaigns, the relationship between the various stages of operations, and the relationship between all our activities and all the activities of the enemy. These are the most difficult places. If we lose this point in order to be busy with some small problems, it will inevitably be damaged.
When it comes to the relationship between the overall situation and the local situation, it is not only the relationship between strategy and campaign, but also the relationship between campaign and tactics. Examples are the relationship between departmental actions and group actions, and the relationship between company actions and dispatching actions. Leaders at any level should focus on those issues or actions that are the most important and decisive to the overall situation under his command, rather than other issues or actions.
Importance is decisive and cannot be stipulated in general or abstract circumstances, but must be stipulated in specific circumstances. The direction and point of the assault should be determined according to the current enemy situation, terrain and the situation of our own troops. In places with abundant materials, we should be careful not to let soldiers eat too much, while in places with insufficient materials, we should be careful not to let soldiers go hungry. In the white area, subsequent battles can be defeated because of the leakage of only one message; In the red area, the problem of leaking information is often not the most important. In some battles, it is necessary for senior commanders to participate in person, while others are not. In a military school, the most important issues are the selection of principals and teachers and the formulation of educational policies. The mass meeting is mainly to mobilize the masses to participate and put forward appropriate slogans. And so on. In short, a principle is to pay attention to those important joints that have a bearing on the overall situation.
We should carefully consider the guiding law of the overall situation of the war. Because this global thing is invisible to the eyes, you can only understand it with your mind, and you won't understand it without your mind. But the overall situation is made up of parts, and those who have local experience and experience in campaigns and tactics can understand those higher things as long as they are willing to use their brains. Strategic issues, such as taking care of the relationship between the enemy and ourselves, the relationship between the campaign and the battle stage, some parts of the overall situation (which play a decisive role), the characteristics of the overall situation, the relationship between the past and the present, consumption and supply, fighting and rest, concentration and dispersion, attack and defense, advancing and retreating, shielding and exposure, main attack and assistance, assault and restraint, and centralized command and dispersion. Protracted war and quick decisive battle, positional warfare and mobile warfare, our army and friendly forces, these arms and those arms, superiors and subordinates, cadres and soldiers, veterans and recruits, senior and subordinate cadres, veteran and new cadres, red and white areas, old and new areas, central and marginal areas, hot and cold days, victory and defeat, large and small corps, regular troops and guerrillas, in order to destroy the enemy, win over the masses and expand. The difference and connection between the task in that situation and the task in this situation, the fixed and non-fixed fronts, the civil war and the national war, this historical stage and that historical stage are invisible to the eyes, but if you think about it with your heart, you can understand, grasp and master it. In other words, we can use higher principles to solve all important war or combat problems. The task of achieving this goal is to study strategic issues.
The important thing in the fourth quarter is to be good at learning.
Why should we organize the Red Army? Because you want to use it to defeat the enemy. Why study the law of war? Because these laws should be used in war.
It is not easy to learn, and it is even more difficult to use. The knowledge of war is mastered in lecture halls or books. Although many people say the same thing, there is still a difference between winning and losing a fight. The history of the war and our own war life have proved this.
So, where are the keys?
We can't ask for a de facto victorious general, which is rare since ancient times. We need a brave and wise general, a general who usually wins battles in the course of war-a general who is both wise and courageous. To do this, there is a learning method. Use this method and use it when learning.
What method? That is to be familiar with all aspects of the enemy and ourselves, find out the laws of their actions, and apply these laws to their own actions.
The military laws and regulations promulgated by many countries show the necessity of "guiding the situation according to the situation" and the disposal methods when it fails. The former is because of the principle of dead use and subjectively does not make mistakes; The latter is to tell the commander what to do when he makes a mistake subjectively or the objective situation changes unexpectedly and irresistibly.
Why do you make subjective mistakes? It is because the deployment and command of war or battle are not suitable for the local situation at that time, and the subjective guidance is not in line with the objective reality, which is wrong, or it is called that the contradiction between subjective and objective has not been solved. It is inevitable that people do everything like this, and there is a difference between what they can do and what they can't do. Things need more success and more military victories. On the contrary, less failure is needed. The key here is to correctly match the subjective and objective.
Take tactics as an example. The attack point was chosen on a flank of the enemy's position, and it was the weak part of the enemy, so the assault was successful. This is called subjective and objective consistency, that is, the commander's reconnaissance, judgment and determination are consistent with the enemy's situation and the actual situation of its deployment. If the attack point is chosen on the other wing or in the middle, and the result hits the enemy's nail, it is called inconsistency. The timing of the attack is appropriate, the reserve is used no later than early, and all kinds of combat disposal and actions are beneficial to us and unfavorable to the enemy, that is, the subjective command and objective situation are consistent throughout the battle. It is extremely rare that everything is the same in war or battle. This is because both sides of a war or a battle are armed living people in droves, but they keep secrets from each other. This is very different from dealing with still life or everyday events. However, as long as the command is generally suitable for the situation, that is, the decision-making part is suitable for the situation, that is the basis of victory.
The correct deployment of commanders comes from correct determination, correct determination comes from correct judgment, and correct judgment comes from thoughtful and necessary reconnaissance and thinking about the integration of various reconnaissance data. Commanders use all possible and necessary reconnaissance means to get rid of the rough and the fine, discard the false and retain the true, think from the outside to the inside, and study the contrast and relationship between the two sides with their own situation, so as to form judgments, make up their minds and make plans. -This is a strategist's overall understanding of the situation before making every strategy, campaign or battle plan. Careless militarists do not do this, but base their military plans on wishful thinking. Such a plan is unrealistic and unrealistic. Reckless and enthusiastic militarists are inevitably deceived by the enemy, seduced by the enemy's superficial or one-sided situation, and encouraged by his subordinates' irresponsible and insightful suggestions, so they are inevitably hit by a wall, because they don't know or want to know any military plans, and these plans should be based on necessary reconnaissance and careful consideration of the enemy's situation and their relationship.
The process of knowing the situation exists not only before the military plan is made, but also after it is made. When carrying out a plan, from the beginning to the end of the war, it is another process of understanding the situation, that is, the process of implementation. At this point, whether the things in the first process are in line with reality needs to be re-examined. If the plan is not in line with the situation, or it is not completely in line with the situation, we must form a new judgment, make a new determination, and change the established plan to adapt it to the new situation. Almost every battle has partially changed things, and everything has changed with time. Reckless people don't know how to change or don't want to change. They just do it blindly, and the result is that they have to hit a wall.
What I said above is a strategic action, or an action of campaign and battle. An experienced soldier, if he is open-minded, knows the temper of his troops (commanders, combatants, weapons, supplies, etc. ), the enemy's temper (similarly, commanders, combatants, weapons, supplies, etc. ), and all other conditions related to war, such as politics, economy, geography, climate, etc. So that such soldiers can direct wars or battles. This is the result of long-term understanding of the enemy and ourselves, finding out the law of action and solving the contradiction between subjective and objective. This process of understanding is very important. Without this long-term experience, it is difficult to understand and grasp the laws of the whole war. To be a truly capable senior commander is not something a novice or just an armchair strategist. Only by studying in the war can we achieve it.
All military laws or military theories with principles are the summary of past war experience by predecessors or present people. We should focus on studying the bloody lessons left by these wars in the past. This is one thing. However, there is one more thing, that is, to verify these conclusions from your own experience, to absorb those things that are needed, to reject those things that are not needed, and to increase those things that are unique to you. The latter thing is very important. Without it, we can't direct the war.
Reading is learning, using is learning, and more importantly, learning. Learn from the war-this is our main method. People who have no chance to go to school can also learn about war, that is, learn from it. Revolutionary war is a matter for the people. Often it is not to learn well before doing, but to learn after doing. Doing is learning. There is a distance between "ordinary people" and soldiers, but it is not the Great Wall of Wan Li, but it can be quickly destroyed. Fighting revolution and war is the way to eliminate this distance. It is not easy to learn and use, but it is not easy to learn thoroughly and use skillfully. It is said that ordinary people will soon become soldiers, which means that this door is not difficult to enter. To combine the two, we need an old saying of China: "Nothing is difficult in the world if you put your mind to it." It's not difficult to get started, but it's ok to pursue advanced studies, as long as you have the heart and are good at learning.
Military laws, like the laws of other things, are the reflection of objective reality (1) in our minds. Everything is objective and practical except our thoughts. Therefore, the objects of study and understanding, including the enemy and ourselves, should be the objects of study, and only our minds (thoughts) are the objects of study. There is a kind of person who knows better than his bosom friend and himself, and there is a kind of person who knows better than himself and knows better than himself. Neither can solve the problem of learning and applying the laws of war. Sun Wuzi (2), a great military scientist in ancient China, said in his book "Know Yourself and Know Yourself, Fight Every Battle" that this includes two stages: learning and applying, including understanding the laws of development in objective reality, and deciding to take action to defeat the current enemy according to these laws; Let's not underestimate this sentence.
War is the highest form of struggle among nations, countries, classes and political groups; All laws on war are used by nations, countries, classes and political groups engaged in war in order to win their own victory. The victory or defeat of a war mainly depends on the military, political, economic and natural conditions of both sides, which is no problem. However, not only that, but also the subjective guidance ability of both sides. Military strategists can't try to win the war beyond the material conditions, but they can and must win the war within the material conditions. The stage of military strategists' activities is based on objective material conditions, but with this stage, military strategists can direct many vivid, powerful and magnificent live plays. Therefore, on the basis of the established objective material foundation, that is, military, political, economic and natural conditions, we Red Army teachers must give full play to our strength, inspire the whole army, overthrow the enemies of those nationalities and classes, and change this bad world. We need and must use our subjective guidance ability here. We don't allow any Red Army commander to become a reckless person. We should encourage every Red Army commander to become a brave and wise hero, who not only has overwhelming courage, but also has the ability to control the changes and development of the whole war. The commander swam in the sea of war. They don't let themselves sink, but let themselves decide to reach the other side step by step. The law guiding war is the swimming skill of war. The above is our method.