At Krasnoe, the Russians under Kutosof, occupied the strategic center and were covered by the Dnieper. To force the passage of the river cost Napoleon 30,000 men. * * * * * At the Beresina, the Russians under Benningsen, occupied the Strategic Center and were covered by the unfordable river. To force the passage cost Napoleon 20,000 men. * * * * * At Leipsic, Napoleon was caught between the allied army and the Elbe. The retreat across the river cost the French 50,000 men. * * * * * At Waterloo, the high plateau sloping gradually to a plain, various hamlets on front and flank and the forest in rear, made a perfect topography for a defensive battle. * * * * * At Sedan, the Emperor, Napoleon III, and his army were enclosed between the Prussian army and the frontier of Belgium and captured. * * * * * _“Where the real general incessantly sees prepared by Nature means admirably adapted for his needs, the commander lacking such talents sees nothing.”--Hannibal._ MOBILITY _“Success in an operation depends upon the secrecy and celerity with which the movements are made.”--Napoleon._ * * * * * _“An eye unskilled and a mind untutored can see but little where a trained observer detects important movements.”--Von Moltke._ * * * * * _“Caesar is a marvel of vigilance and rapidity, he finishes a war in a march.”--Cicero._ MOBILITY _“Victory lies in the legs of the soldier.”--Frederic the Great._ * * * * * _“The principal part of the soldier’s efficiency depends upon his legs._ _“The personal abilities required in all manoeuvres and in battles are totally confined to them._ _“Whoever is of a different opinion is a dupe to ignorance and a novice in the profession of arms.”--Count de Saxe._ _“It is easier to beat an enemy than commonly is supposed,” says Napoleon, “the great Art lies in making nothing but decisive movements.”_ To the proficient in Strategetics the truth of the foregoing dictum is self-evident. Nevertheless, it remains to instruct the student how to select from a multitude of possible movements, that particular movement or series of movements, which in a given situation are best calculated to achieve victory. Whatever may be such series of movements, obviously, it must have an object, _i.e._, a specific and clearly defined purpose. Equally so, all movements made on such line of movement must each have an objective, _i.e._, a terminus. These objectives, like cogs in a gear, intimately are connected with other objectives or termini, so that the project thus formed constitutes always an exact and often a vast scheme.