The Need for Organisational Resilience - Chapter 3

[Text Box starts] Von Clausewitz: Assembly of forces in space

The best strategy is ALWAYS TO BE VERY STRONG, first generally then at the decisive point.

Therefore, apart from the energy which creates an Army, a work which is not always done by the

General, there is no more imperative and no simpler law for Strategy than to KEEP THE FORCES

CONCENTRATED. No portions should be separated from the main body unless called away by some

urgent necessity. On this maxim we stand firm, and look upon it as a guide to be depended upon.

What the reasonable grounds are on which to allow a detachment of forces, we shall learn by

degrees. Then we shall also see that the principle cannot have the same general effects in every War;

these are different according to means and ends.

It seems incredible, and yet it has happened a hundred times, that troops have been divided and

separated merely though a mysterious convention, without any clear perception of the reasons.

If concentration of the whole force is acknowledged as the norm, and every division and

separation of it as an exception which must be justified, not only will that folly be completely avoided,

but also many a groundless argument for separating troops will be avoided. (Adapted from Von

Clausewitz 2011, 91).

[TEXT BOX ENDS]

The Challenge: Crossing a River

Crossing the Meuse river posed a formidable challenge for the Germans. The east bank of

the river was fortified and the surrounding area dotted with thick forest and high ground that

allowed a defender to train their artillery. However, once the river was crossed, the

defender’s main line of defense pierced, the Germans could run amok across the open and

undefended French countryside.

7 | P a g e