Checkup: A Way to Wage War

Donovan and Diana remained quiet for some time, taking in this speech that almost seemed practiced. There was logic to this argument, one they understood at some level, however neither fancied theirself a philosopher. To them, this was relatively new information. To Diana in particular, this seemed to be the Arboreal Maiden's way of teaching them how to fashion the ideal society.

A few minutes after the Arboreal Maiden left them to think, Diana piped up. "That was only six sins right? Aren't there seven?"

"Indeed, there are seven. Unfortunately, I myself struggle to describe the relationship between Wrath and Patience. Definitionally, Impatience is the antonym for Patience, and Calm or Happiness would serve as the antithesis to Wrath. However these two are what the great Csillacra posits must be balanced. The thing is that it is possible to hold Wrath in your heart, yet be extremely patient in the way that you go about redressing the grievances that may have caused it. Similarly, there are people who are extremely impatient yet would never hurt a fly in anger.

I suppose it might be a means to balance someone's actions, someone who is easily angered and impatient is likely to make mistakes, maybe even lethal ones, while one who is a patient person unable to get angry at another will only end up pushed around.

I feel I simply must not have seen enough of your development to fully understand the intricacies of what the Great Csillacra means by this."

"Well the meaning is simple isn't it?" Donovan didn't see what was so hard about it. "It's the method of waging war."

"The method of waging war? What do you mean by that?"

"Wrath, anger, is an emotion usually expressed when in combat, at least that's what I think. Anger is usually accompanied by a degree of impatience, a desire to avenge whatever slight caused the conflict in the first place. That anger, wrath, would appear to be an incredible tool while in physical combat, increasing adrenaline and pushing the body to the limit. However you can't afford to be like that while in command, while responsible for strategy. You need to be patient and wait for opportunities instead of just throwing your resources at everything. Anger, especially that shared by many people, can be taken advantage of to draw your enemy into a disadvantageous position.

The further up the command structure you are, the more patient you should be. Never abandoning wrath of course, that often being part of the raison d'etre for a soldier in war, but you can't base your actions on it. The ideal is to have your ground troops, those actually fighting, be in a state of default aggressive, attacking anything they can if orders do not outright forbid it. Every step on the chain above them, the officers should become progressively more patient.

The commanding officer of a platoon should be thinking more about how to accomplish their objective and issue orders to his subordinates, but he should still be focusing on combat. The tier above them should keep an eye on their positions and work to get them in positions that maximize their lethality and effectiveness, the tier above that in turn should be focusing more on the tactical level objectives, above that focusing more on operational objectives, all the way to the top where they aren't at all focused on combat but instead winning the war.

At that level, the focus should be on securing extremely important logistic hubs and supply routes, forming large scale strategies to seize or prevent the seizure of key objectives, and minimizing overall damage to your own side while maximizing damage to the other. At this level, patience is desirable as it will prevent you from making mistakes where it matters and jeopardizing the lives and material required to wage war. It is also desirable because it takes time for the results of your plans to reveal themselves, impatience might ruin all your careful planning."

The Arboreal Maiden began to lightly pinch her bottom lip in thought. Ultimately, she was not very skilled in the art of war. In fact, she actively avoided such matters. Perhaps she would have to discuss this matter with the Marshall.

"If we think of it like that, then I believe that this comparison holds some water in the realm of diplomacy and government too. War is usually what is defaulted to when diplomacy falters after all.

I was told it was incredibly important to remain patient when negotiating with another party, especially those in a stronger position than you, in order to get a better deal. At the same time, you need to know when to push your advantage when you have the better position. Push too far and you might lose everything, don't push enough and you might not get what you want.

The wrath of the people you represent can be used as a powerful tool, the threat of war and severance of trade deals being powerful cards you can play as a result, but it might also pose issues. A good diplomat isn't controlled by emotion, but they know not to ignore it. Ideally, the temperament of a diplomat mirrors that of the people they represent, so knowing when to make your anger, discontent would be more appropriate in this case, evident is also an important quality.

As for government, righteous fury isn't a fantasy. Corruption can exist anywhere, so when it becomes apparent that the government has become corrupt and no longer acts as a representative of the people they claim to represent it would not be surprising to see assassinations and revolts performed by the common man. Ideally, there would be a legal path to take to remedy these faults, but even those can become corrupted. In this regard, acting patiently to accumulate a list of grievances and build a large base of support is needed so that change can be made peacefully before violence erupts.

If you act too soon, you lose all support. If you act too late, nothing gets done and support for your cause fizzles out."

"I think I understand now. Outside of war, wrath acts as a catalyst for societal change. I seem to recall revolutions following a similar pattern to what you described."