h
the enemy's force, that is, engaged in partial combat, are weakened by
it; consequently, only so much as was unavoidably necessary, but by no
means all which was strategically in conflict with the enemy, unless
tactics has expended them unnecessarily. Corps which, on account of the
general superiority in numbers, have either been little or not at all
engaged, whose presence alone has assisted in the result, are after
the decision the same as they were before, and for new enterprises as
efficient as if they had been entirely inactive. How greatly such corps
which thus constitute our excess may contribute to the total success is
evident in itself; indeed, it is not difficult to see how they may
even diminish considerably the loss of the forces engaged in tactical,
conflict on our side.

If, therefore, in Strategy the loss does not increase with the number of
the troops employed, but is often diminished by it, and if, as a natural
consequence, the decision in our favor is, by that means, the more
certain, then it follows naturally that in Strategy we can never
employ too many forces, and consequently also that they must be applied
simultaneously to the immediate purpose.

But we must vindicate this proposition upon another ground. We have
hitherto only spoken of the combat itself; it is the real activity in
War, but men, time, and space, which appear as the elements of this
activity, must, at the same time, be kept in view, and the results of
their influence brought into consideration also.

Fatigue, exertion, and privation constitute in War a special principle
of destruction, not essentially belonging to contest, but more or less
inseparably bound up with it, and certainly one which especially belongs
to Strategy. They no doubt exist in tactics as well, and perhaps there
in the highest degree; but as the duration of the tactical acts is
shorter, therefore the small effects of exertion and privation on them
can come but little into consideration. But in Strategy on the other
hand, where time and space, are on a larger scale, their influence is
not only always very considerable, but often quite decisive. It is not
at all uncommon for a victorious Army to lose many more by sickness than
on the field of battle.

If, therefore, we look at this sphere of destruction in Strategy in
the same manner as we have considered that of fire and close combat in
tactics, then we may well imagine that everything which comes within
it