The War
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the four horsemen that are described in the first part of the sixth chapter of the Apocalypse. The chapter speaks of a scroll in the right hand of God that is sealed with seven seals, in that scenario Jesus opens the first four seals of the seven, releasing these horsemen who ride on four white, red, black and yellow horses. According to exegesis they represent and are allegories of conquest or Glory, war, famine and death, respectively, although only the latter is designated by this name.
Today we will talk about the second horseman, the one who rides the red horse, the war, although this leads to the other three, the conquest, the hunger and the death.
A cruel invasion of a sovereign country is taking place in Europe, by its tyrannical neighbor, in order to annex part of its territory and make a government that makes it uncomfortable with its totalitarian desires and undemocratic spirit disappear.
But this armed conflict is leaving several lessons worthy of study.
The Art of War is the best strategy book of all time. He inspired Napoleon, Machiavelli, Mao Tse Tung, and many more historical figures. This 2,500,year-old book is one of the most important classical Chinese texts, in which, despite the time that has elapsed, none of its maxims has become outdated, nor is there a single piece of advice that is not useful today. But the work of General Sun Tzu is not only a book of military practice, but a treatise that teaches the supreme strategy of wisely applying the knowledge of human nature in moments of confrontation. It is not, therefore, a book about war; it is a work to understand the roots of a conflict and seek a solution. "The best victory is to win without fighting," Sun Tzu tells us, "and that is the distinction between the prudent and the ignorant man."
Obviously, winning without fighting has not been taken into account by the tyrant, who, repeating a previous action, in 2014, already incorporated the Crimean peninsula into his territory, and since then infiltrated and protected the pro-Russians from the Dombas region, arming them and sending mercenaries, who have since maintained a low-intensity war with the Ukrainian government, which already had a whopping 15,000 deaths, before this second invasion.
What the invader did not count on was the stubborn resistance of the Ukrainian people in not letting their independence and freedom be taken away, nor with the heroism of its president, nor with the wave of foreign solidarity and the help that the people and the Ukrainian army from Europe, where they belong in their own right, and from NATO, which does not welcome a territorial expansion of the Russian nuclear power so close to the borders of its member countries.
Sun Tzu says: war is of vital importance to the state; is the domain of life or death, the path to survival or loss of the Empire: it is forced handle it well. Not to reflect seriously on everything that concerns him is to give proof of a guilty indifference regarding the conservation or loss of what is dearest to us; and this must not happen between us. It must be assessed in terms of five fundamental factors, and comparisons made between various conditions of the rival sides, with a view to determining the outcome of the war. The first of these factors is doctrine; the second, time; the third, the land; the fourth, command; and the fifth, discipline.
The doctrine means that which makes the people in harmony with their ruler, so that they follow him wherever he goes, without fearing for their lives or running any danger.
Time means Yin and Yang, night and day, hot and cold, clear or rainy days, and the changing of the seasons.
Terrain implies distances, and refers to where it is easy or difficult to move, and whether it is open country or narrow places, and this influences the chances of survival.
The leadership must have as qualities: wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and discipline.
Finally, discipline must be understood as the organization of the army, the ranks and ranks among officers, the regulation of supply routes, and the provision of military material to the army.
These five fundamental factors must be known by every general. He who dominates them, wins; the one who doesn't, is defeated. Therefore, in drawing up plans, the following seven factors must be compared, weighing each with the greatest care: Which leader is the wiser and more capable? What commander has the most talent? Which army gains advantages from nature and terrain? In which army are the regulations and instructions best observed? What troops are stronger? What army is better trained officers and troops? Which army administers rewards and punishments more fairly? By studying these seven factors, I will be able to guess which of the two sides will be victorious and which will be defeated.
Knowing to all how this conflict is developing, it gives the impression that the Russian General Staff has not valued any of the points collected by Sun Tzu, or rather has undervalued them, although in military academies around the world, it is a text of compulsory study.
In the same way that it has overestimated the potential of its own forces, and what was thought as a blitzkrieg and a military parade, is turning into a terrible carnage, where the Russians are leaving not only the lives of their soldiers, and much of his material, but also the morale of his troops and his international prestige.
A leader is a leader when he knows that the time has come to rectify and he does it with generosity and gallantry, anything other than stopping this unreason, brings the fall of the tyrant closer every day, brought down by his own people who are inflicting many hardships , and who continues to deceive with propaganda hiding the reality.