Quotes About Terrain

Always know your battlefield. He

freshmen. Even among English speakers, then, geocentric terms may be used when the terrain offers a conspicuous visual frame of reference

The Wehrmacht soldiers have the advantage of surprise and know this terrain far better than their enemies do. They slaughter the men of the Third Army where they lie hiding, killing them one by one. The last words many of the Americans will ever hear are spoken in German, in the quiet whisper of an assassin. Last

Our "always in a hurry" ways of living seemed doubly insignificant. Intimacy with weather, terrain, and pronghorn taught me to hold each foot-worn trail in my mind as it deepened. I liked to think that a "green light" glowed inside those animals, instructing them how to survive and eat well. We humans might do the same and, in the process, vernalize our minds.

Never travel by sea when you can go by land.

Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.

The nature of the place...whether high or low, moist or dry, whether sloping north or south, or bearing tall trees or low shrubs...generally gives hint as to its inhabitants.

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country -- its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognises nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.

Military formation is like water—the form of water is to avoid the high and go to the low, the form of a military force is to avoid the full and attack the empty; the flow of water is determined by the earth, the victory of a military force is determined by the opponent.

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) Facile ground; (3) Contentious ground; (4) Open ground; (5) Ground of intersecting highways; (6) Serious ground; (7) Difficult ground; (8) Hemmed-in ground; (9) Desperate ground.

Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) Entangling ground;               (3) Temporizing ground;               (4) Narrow passes; (5) Precipitous heights; (6) Positions at a great distance from the enemy.

fact that the meaning of the Chinese elsewhere in the sentence indicates something in the nature of a defile, make me think that Sun Tzu is here speaking of crevasses.] should be left with all possible speed and not approached. 16. While we keep away from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them

equipaje está perdido, sin sus provisiones está perdido, sin sus bases de suministro, está perdido. 12. No podemos entrar en alianzas hasta estar familiarizados con los designios de nuestros vecinos. 13. No se está en condiciones de conducir un ejército en marcha, a menos que se esté familiarizado con cada aspecto del país que se recorre; con sus montañas y sus bosques, sus trampas

So much for operations in salt-marches.

Those who do not know the conditions of mountains and forests, hazardous defiles, marshes and swamps, cannot conduct the march of an army. Those who do not use local guides are unable to obtain the advantages of the ground.

El primero de estos factores es la doctrina; el segundo, el tiempo; el tercero, el terreno; el cuarto, el mando; y el quinto, la disciplina.

Without local guides, your enemy employs the land as a weapon against you.

Confirmation of the ground is of the greatest assistance in battle. Therefore, to estimate the enemy situation and to calculate distances and the degree of difficulty of the terrain so as to control victory are virtues of the superior general.

One ignorant of the plans of neighboring states cannot prepare alliances in good time; if ignorant of the conditions of mountains, forests, dangerous defiles, swamps and marshes he cannot conduct the march of an army; if he fails to make use of native guides he cannot gain the advantages of the ground. A general ignorant of even one of these three matters is unfit to command the armies of a Hegemonic King.

Un ejército prefiere un terreno elevado y evita un terreno bajo, aprecia la luz y detesta la oscuridad.

Los terrenos bajos son húmedos, lo cual provoca enfermedades y dificulta el combate.

Connais toi toi-même, connais ton ennemi, ta victoire ne sera jamais mise en danger. Connais le terrain, connais ton temps, ta victoire sera alors totale.