Arts of War- blow deadly smoke to counter silent killing
- Part 1 -

Gitchandra S Oinam *

"No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war".--Karl von Clausewitz.

"The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn"--- Alvin Toffler.

After "Palace Revolt" by princely brothers against Maharaja Surchand, Lord Landsdowne, the viceroy of India had interfered in the affairs of Manipur and ordered Mr. J.W. Quinton, Governor of Assam, to recognise Kullachandra as the King but to arrest Jubaraj Tikendrajit. In the evening of March 24, 1891 the British troops attacked the Palace Compound, particularly Tikendrajit's residence without prior notice, however, they could not capture Tikendrajit; killing many innocents including women and children who were watching a cultural programme, Raas Lila. The Manipur army succeeded in its offensive struggle. Five officers- Mr. Quinton, Mr. Grim wood, Lt. Col. Simpson, Mr. Cossins and a bugler had to take shelter in the cellar. But the feeling of revenge among the people, whose children, wives and relatives had been killed, grew so high that they executed the five Britishers. This resulted in the Anglo-Manipuri War in 1891…..

War is composed of nothing but accidents, and though holding to general principles, a general should never lose sight of everything to enable him to profit from these accidents; that is the mark of genius. The principles of war could, for brevity, be condensed into a single word--concentration. The strategist is he who always keeps the objective of the war in sight and the objective of the war is never military and is always political. Attack the enemy suddenly when he is not prepared to resist. Celerity is the secret of success.

To do the greatest damage to enemy with the least exposure to us, is a military axiom lost sight of only by ignorance of the true ends of victory (Dennis Hart Mahan). The proverbial weakness of alliances is due to inferior power of concentration. Victory smiles upon those who anticipate the changes in the character of war, not upon those who wait to adapt themselves after the changes occur. Loss of hope, rather than loss of life, is the factor that really decides wars, battles, and even the smallest combats.

War and truth have a fundamental incompatibility. While the horizon of strategy is bounded by war, grand strategy looks beyond the war to the subsequent peace. Warfare may be military, or it may be quasi-military, or it may be non-military. It can use violence, or it can be non-violent. It can be a confrontation between professionals, or one between newly emerging forces consisting primarily of ordinary people or experts. These characteristics of beyond-limits war are the watershed between it and traditional warfare, as well as the starting line for new types of warfare. And now, decisive diplomacy begins….

Plant trees if you think for 10 years, I mean caring, promotion, guiding and support of those who are promisingly good people. I didn't ask you plant trees to keep Manipur remained as Jungle and its people Junglee--anyway tree plantation is very good for everybody to protect ourselves from bio-diversity and climate change. In a census operation, you will find a list of questionnaires, among them "your place of birth"- if you know the place of birth you are easily understood whether s/he is migrate or not, without asking direct unsolicited question.

In such a way, one MLA/MP will ask you about your family profile and some local leaders—very soon he would understood you are his voter or not, then he will continue discussion for the purpose of your visit in short and will ask you to come next day but you would not find another appointment because your neta has already presume that you are useless voter and you have no money—reveal netas secrets. If you find a neta does not wake up in the morning 8 O'clock regularly- believe it, usually he goes to night duty either party or gambling. Target to destroy your enemy's source of income at the first instance- these are the practices of present politician.

Balance writing is no longer called a good writing in Manipur. Writing has become a debate, and invited to be an activist --either writing in favour of government or attacking government until total demolition. Remember, gentlemen, an order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. Tactics and strategy of war would become very sophisticate--throwing bricks time was over and it would be replaced by blowing deadly smoke.

Time to rethink for new government- number game is no problem unless 10 times larger by enemy. Strategy is more important than your number. 42-10x3=12: P :-( This is the simple example of algebraic formula to slice and crash Manipur state congress government. Disadvantage is whenever somebody attacks state government; simultaneously, somebody will tear UPA at New Delhi. Remember, once key players stared rejecting, your government would come to finish...…

The greater the degree to which state--or an entire civilization--succumbs to these "seven deadly sins" of collective behaviour, the more likely that entity is to fail to progress or even to maintain its position, in the struggle just for a share of wealth and power.

Seven sins key indicators are: 1) Restrictions on the free flow of information. 2) The subjugation of women and children. 3) Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure. 4) The extended family relatives or clan as the basic unit of government & social organization. 5) Domination by a restrictive group. 6) A low valuation of education and 7) Low prestige assigned to work.

Our politicians are knowingly or unknowingly learned military skills and using military tactics and strategy to win political power against their own people. Of course, political leaders are unarmed Generals. Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war. The guiding principle of bombing actions should be this: the objective must be destroyed completely in one attack, making further attack on the same target unnecessary. Destroy the enemy's means of production and his communications and make enemy starve. To strike with strong effect, and strike at weakness of enemy.

The art of war consists of a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive followed by rapid and audacious attack. The art of war and the science of war are not coequal. The art of war is clearly the most important. It's science in support of the art. Any time that science leads in your ability to think about and make war, it believe you're headed down a dangerous path. The art is the thinking. It is the intellectual underpinnings of war. It is the understanding of the theory and the nature. Its understanding how it is you want to bring combat power to bear, and what the operating concepts are. The science is represented by the weapons.

The Art of War included on such subjects as doing battle, planning attacks, Army maneuvers, ground formations, and using spies. The "calculations" you might recognize as today's strategic planning—the more of that you do, the more you will win.

The art of war consists of six distinct parts: Statesmanship in its relation to war; Strategy or the art of properly directing masses upon the theater of war, either for defense or for invasion; grand tactics; logistics or the art of moving armies; Engineering,—the attack and defense of fortifications; and minor tactics.

The penetration--one of the oldest maneuvers--is a main attack that attempts to pierce the enemy line while secondary attacks up and down the enemy line prevent the freeing of the enemy reserves. Turning maneuvers are indirect approaches that attempt to swing wide around an enemy's flank to so threaten an enemy's supply and communication lines that the enemy is forced to abandon a strong position or be cut off and encircled. Unthinking rigid attention to a principle of war, however, can be unfortunate.

The Principles of War and Operations are 1) Objective, 2) Offensive Action, 3) Mass, 4) Economy of Force, 5) Maneuver, 6) Unity of Command, 7) Security, 8) Surprise, and 9) Simplicity. Additional Principles of Joint Operations are 1) Perseverance, 2) Legitimacy, and 3) Restraint.

Strategist Bernard Brodie once observed that "good strategy presumes good anthropology and good sociology." Fundamentally, war involves an iterative competition between peoples whose behavior patterns will be a result of a complex combination of factors. We need to gain a deep and nuanced understanding of any conflict we are about to embark on and acquire as thorough a grasp of the nature of the adversary as possible. This includes becoming well-informed about the culture of the adversarial social and political systems.

Michael Howard stressed many years ago, "Wars are not tactical exercises writ large. They are conflicts of societies, and they can be fully understood only if one understands the nature of the society fighting them. The roots of victory or defeat often have to be sought far from the battlefield, in political, social, or economic factors." One can see the need for cultural intelligence and understanding in almost every phase of Operation. Without a deep understanding of the nature of war and the societies involved, defining an achievable objective or end state is an exercise in delusion. Good planning requires branches and alternatives, not a fixed path.

Winning tomorrow's messy and ambiguous wars will not be easier. The conduct of warfare never is, and conclusive answers to tomorrow's problems can never be found in a list of generic bromides or bland statements. Both the art and science of war have to be fused by the creative use of the human mind. There are "no formulas for the successful framing of strategy or conduct of war." However, adding understanding as a principle of war would be a good step forward toward creating the necessary context to frame future strategies and guide the conduct of future wars.

To be continued.....

Warning: This is only refined general concept of war craft. All technical and tactics are omitted in the write up to avoid imitation and wrong practices. It requires a lot of research works and technical skills for practical application. This essay is writing after release of "Chainarol" ancient Meitei way of warrior.