Quotes About Combat

When he stopped hitting me and seized my wrists, I darted my head in and bit his hand as hard as I could. He roared and then screamed with pain and outrage. Assassins take no pride in fighting fairly. We take pride in winning.

It is this kindness of his that unsettles me most. I can dodge a blow or block a knife. I am impervious to poison and know a dozen ways to escape a chokehold or garrote wire. But kindness? I do not know how to defend against that.

It was a war requiring the use of strategy as well as of tactics - but, above all, it was a war that could only be won by the use of superior technology and superior skills in command.

There were not enough guns and, as a result, their fire was too widely dispersed. Gas, so useful in other attacks, not least to deter the enemy gunners, was not employed in this bombardment, except for a small amount from French 75 mm guns. Many British guns were outranged by many German guns. The ammunition was all too often faulty, either failing to go off or sometimes exploding in the barrels of the guns. The weight of shot was not enough to penetrate the deep German dugouts

The generals were now two years into this war and it should have been - and indeed was - glaringly apparent that the methods being employed to attack the enemy lines, be they British, French or German, were simply not working. Increasing the scale of the attack by the current methods simply increased the number of casualties

most of the French generals were, indeed, totally indifferent to the welfare of the men, provided the attacks went in.

After all, Jack had gone into war five times and the only really bad injury he'd sustained was a pretty miserable shot in the ass. Not everyone who went to war came out crippled.

Don't you agree? Swordplay is a dance of sorts, an understanding of the logical, most sophisticated next step. Except that in a fight, one must take the unexpected step. In dance it is all about taking the right, expected step.

I don't duel, boy. I kill as a soldier kills, which is as a butcher kills, as quickly, efficiently, and with as least risk to myself as I can arrange.

Women shouldn't be in combat, said Vorkosigan, grimly glum. Neither should men, in my opinion.

Leadership is mostly a power over imagination, and never more so than in combat.

Modern warfare wasn't supposed to have this much blood in it. The weapons were supposed to cook everyone neatly, like eggs in their shells. (Mark Vorkosigan's first experience with warfare, on seeing Miles Vorkosigan splattered before him)

And right or wrong, what I also saw was that you made an enemy, and left him alive behind you. Great charity. Bad tactics.

I guess it just doesn't look very heroic to sneak up behind somebody and shoot them in the back. I can't help thinking it would be more efficient, though.

Good God, Enrique was writing poetry to her? Yes, and why hadn't he thought of poetry? Besides the obvious reason of his absence of talent in that direction. He wondered if she'd like to read a really clever combat-drop mission plan, instead. Sonnets, damn. All he'd ever come up with in that line were limericks. He

Ethan thought he understood how a propaganda-stuffed young soldier must feel the first time in combat, stumbling by some sudden chance over his enemy's human face. He had gloried for a red moment in his power to break her. Now he stood foolishly with the pieces in his hands. Not at all heroic.

a skilled soldier kills your enemies, but a skilled duelist kills your allies. I

The president of the League of Women Voters and the Chairwoman of the Sully Township Concerned Citizens' Committee were rumored to be close to trial by combat in city council meetings.

It's not the ship that's different. It's the men. Leadership is mostly a power over imagination, and never more so than in combat. The bravest man alone can only be an armed lunatic. The real strength lies in the ability to get others to do your work.

First blood has been shed.

Nothing is unobtainable to the sword.

Speed is more than just how fast you can thrust your foot into the other guy's stomach. Whether you're punching, kicking, blocking, or moving your entire body, other factors are of equal importance, and they too must be trained.   ~Perception speed ~Reaction speed ~Movement speed ~Recovery speed

A veteran of the gender wars.

deck. Gavagan rushed him, getting inside and hitting him with a right to the jaw.