04-06-2007, 05:21 PM
Quote:All this can never be more than pure speculation. It's like our discussions about cavalry charges. Unless you can convince a group of guys to fight to the death phalanx style while you videotape, you really can't know what works and what doesn't.
I would speculate that when your life is on the line in any war, your first priority is your own personal safety. Once you are secure, you then take opportunities to do harm to your enemy from a safe position. If I were to guess on how to use spear and shield in formation, I would put them in a position that first provided them with the utmost safety, even if this dimishes their ability to do harm.
It is compatible with both individual and collective interests to *not* lose the battle, rather than to take any risk in order to win. So long as your force stays somewhat intact, you retain some control over your destiny. Defeating your enemy only makes this control a bit easier, but the goal here is to maintain the control.
I say safety first!
Alas, the history of war doesn't support this position. Every single battle of the gunpowder age involved some people standing up and advancing into the range of the enemy's weapons, in a situation where the defenders either: could fire first, could fire and reload and refire a lot faster then moving men, and/or were not standing up in the open as targets.
Someone always took this risk and abandoned the safer defensive situation.
Felix Wang
