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22-04-2023, 02:34 PM
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Notes Towards Martial Conduct and Victory
A treatise by Sith Saltaeon, Sith Warrior and Envoy of War
"War comes as a natural part of our life in the Empire and the galaxy. To deny war is to deny our very existence; the Sith are made by, and for, conquest. However war, conquest, and battle are not topics that every Sith are versed in; I aim to rectify this. The foundations of my work were laid by the Warrior Program, teaching Sith to respect martial might and the honour found in ritual duels and combat. These notes are the next step, to talk about the theory of war and the thoughts that should be in the mind of the competent commander. By no means are my writings the undeniable truth, they come from my experiences on a wide variety of battlefields and also from the historical studies of war through the history of the Sith. In time I may meet an experienced commander who I must respect due to a tally of victories, and said commander may not consider anything I write here. War is subjective, and ultimately victory is the final goal of any war and any battle. And truly only one rule applies; no tactic or strategy should be ignored, what achieves victory achieves victory. No means of battle should be excluded if that exclusion leads to defeat. The ‘any means necessary’ process of thought.
Battle is most often won by soldiers, but they are not always what delivers victory. They are components of the whole. One major part of every battle and every victory is that of information. It is with information that we can make the decisions that lead to our victory. Before we have confirmed information, we have theories. With every piece of data you gain, make a theory, determine what it may mean for yourself or the enemy. Consider how these theories play into your plan. Example; you are in command of a battalion of soldiers and lose comms link with your headquarters. Theory: the enemy is jamming your communications to suppress the flow of information, a solution to this may be to remove the source of the jamming or find a more powerful data link. Alternative theory: something has happened to headquarters, you cannot contact them because there is nobody to contact. Both theories should be considered, however, no practical solution should be implemented until supporting information arises to support one theory, the other theory, or a third theory not originally considered.
Theorise, but do not assume. Assumptions are your greatest pitfall and are the very bane of observation and analysis. Those that read this will be prideful and perhaps experienced, minds open to the infallibility of making assumptions of what they believe is right. Mistakes are bred from assumptions. The best shield against an assumption leading to a mistake, or defeat, is adaptability. This is not simply adapting to changing conditions; it is the ability to recognise that theories are just theories. Be ready to accept that contrary facts may rise and must be respected, alter your theory, or abandon it, as reflected by the facts that reality is presenting you. Practicalities and war are fluid and evolving, be ready to evolve your thoughts with them, do not make a theory and stick to it because of one convincing piece of evidence.
Information is your most powerful weapon in war, truly. Every action by the enemy is information you can dissect and use. Every attack and every manoeuvre reveals motive, intent, and means. If the enemy conducts a successful operation and doesn’t achieve immediate victory, it is your most up-to-date information of the enemies’ tactics, weapons, and strength. This information is how you make your theories, and how you make your plans. But this goes both ways: the enemy will learn from you as you learn from them. The commander that can digest and process the information on the enemy faster, and with the most accuracy can turn the strengths of the enemy into their weakness, and so the enemy will be the architect of their defeat.
Eventually, war and battle will start. And the first stage of preparation is consideration. War is a natural state of our people, but not one to be entered into lightly. All wars and all battles are painful and always have a price attached. The experienced commander knows that before a battle is committed to, other options should be considered. When the commitment to battle is finally made, you must be certain to pursue your objectives with as much efficiency as possible. You must apply force so rapidly and with such overwhelming vigour that you obliterate any means of return fire. Give no time to react, leave no material or opportunity to be used for the enemy to rally. Destroy the enemy physically and psychologically with your first shot. This is the truest form of attack and the truest form of battle. If this cannot be done, as is most often the case, you will go through the processes of a campaign. Losses will begin to rise and war-material will be used up. The men and women under your command will die in a war that could have been prevented by a more devastating first attack. This is the reason why consideration of battle is your first move, you need to be confident in your plan to cause a killing strike. But you will sometimes be forced to battle where this is not the case: it cannot be avoided, but with proper analysis of the enemy using data and facts, you can come to victory with as few deaths as possible. The Empire may be built on war, but we do not sign the death warrants of all our loyal soldiers.
The commander with an experienced understanding of war and battle will understand disaster. Disaster shouldn’t be anticipated but expected to happen at some point. Even in the most perfectly planned campaign, mistakes will happen. Chance and luck and beyond the control of any commander and any soldier. That which we cannot see and cannot predict will forever be present in every battle and every war that will ever be fought. A skilful leader will aim to prevent disaster from striking, but as time progresses and war draws out to be longer, a disaster almost becomes a certainty. Don’t dwell on that fact: to always wait on disaster will cause the same disruption as never expecting disaster to ever happen. Fight your battles as if a disaster is impossible; only when it happens do you show that you had expected it to happen and are ready to counter it without delay. The truest test of your skill will be how you counter a disaster.
Alongside consideration of battle, you must also go through acquisition. To acquire either necessary materials or the perfect situation for your victory is an absolutely vital segment of the campaign. Warriors of the Sith are prepared to battle with little notice or warning, but it is the preparation and planning for war and accommodations made to your enemies that the warrior is the most successful. If you have laid the groundwork for your battle with knowledge of the enemy, approached war as a science and a craft instead of a state of conflict, then you can be almost certain in victory before you have fired the killing shot.
Found in both the phases of preparation and the battle itself is the consideration of resources. If you are placed on defence or in a situation where you can counter the enemy, you must be proactive. You will need to be aware of what commodities or resources you will need to gain the advantage over your enemy. Often these resources are food and ammo; especially in a prolonged battle. You must look at your enemy and establish if the enemy has any of the resources you need. Take the resources. In the situation where you require resources, you cannot chase glory, you cannot force battles for the sake of killing the enemy. Do not try to match the enemy while they still hold the resources you need. Do not waste your time like this, but come to a decision on what resources or tactical positions will make you strong enough to even the field, and make the acquisition of those resources your absolute priority. Above all physical resources, the most desired one is the ability to continue the war in a way that does not result in defeat or destruction.
The preparation phase of war, of resources and information, and the forming of plans are considered to be the key elements of every victory. However, to gain victory, you command soldiers. Those soldiers can’t falter or feel doubt. They must know that you are with them, in mind and body. When a leader is visible during key moments of a campaign, it can change the mood and the capabilities of the men. It reinforces belief in your interest, not just in the goal, but in those sworn to carry it out. A leader who lacks interest, in the goal and in the soldiers, invites and deserves defeat. This is not to say that a leader should lead from the front at all times, but to be seen can greatly help your cause. During the Siege of Plooma, the Arctis Compound was most invigorated when Darth Horuset walked through the soldiers and gave her commands. The Battle of Seline was won, despite the odds, because I was there and I was visible. It bolstered the morale of a shattered force. Further to this; it is expected that soldiers accept an order without a rationale being provided. But the absence of rationale or context should not be the default: to know the reasons why an action is taken can help it be taken with much greater efficiency.
In battle, have faith in your soldiers, and make sure they can have faith in you. However, your tools and weapons will be plenty; yet the wise and experienced commander knows that battles are won by men and women, not machines. Men can learn, while machines are droids are forever instructed. Men know loyalty to comrades and veneration of the Empire and the Sith, machines have no concepts of these. Whenever the day grows and victory is not yet secured, don’t look to droids for aid, but your soldiers. A droid can, and will, bring victory if you tell where to march and who to kill, they can even follow programming to work alone. For a time. Your soldiers and comrades will walk through fire, they will stride through the guns of the enemy at a single strong word from your lips, and they will deliver victory because you asked it of them. But they must have faith, in your skill, in your knowledge, in your dedication. An army is only as good as its weakest link, the commander must be the strongest.
In war, it can be necessary under the most extreme circumstances to methodically destroy an opponent’s infrastructure along with your enemy himself. Sometimes, a complete military triumph is not enough; there may be times where you must salt the ground of their world. Arguments for this extreme measure are usually of two major categories. Psychological warfare; to diminish the wills of a particularly defiant foe, to ensure they fear you. To ensure security; purging the ground of something that you believe too dangerous to exist. Other arguments exist, cruel arguments. I won’t comment. However, none of the potential reasons for such devastating warfare are comforting or appealing to the modern and practical Imperial commander. And it has a profound effect on the soldiers carrying out the order; firebombing a world, releasing toxins into a city, spreading waste and corpses across fields. It is psychological warfare against those who commit it. War is the journey to victory, not supreme destruction. Even if that is required against some foes. This kind of war, of razing and breaking, is seen with hyper-aggressive forces; like the Sith, we are able to commit to this type of war, even if the rest of the Empire cannot. We wage this war of totality against the Jedi, our war will never be done until every Jedi is dead and there is no way for the Order to rebuild. But that is our war, not the war of Imperial soldiers, though they are used in it.
After your preparation and battle are done, you are in one of two states: Victory or Defeat. Victory is well written about, it is what our Empire is built around. But work does not end after victory: you must consolidate your forces, secure your territory, and take note of losses of resources and power. And identify your next step. If you are wounded, see that your wounds are healed. If you are scratched and bruised, chase the enemy or find your next enemy. Though orders and situations may change this approach. After the war is done, loss must be recognised. This is quite often the hardest lesson for a warrior to learn. We do not write about it, and defeat is often not valued or even defined: you need to be able to identify when you have lost. This is as important as knowing and achieving victory. If you have already lost but continue to chase a victory that can never be reached, you will kill the soul of your forces. Once you have identified the defeat you can decide your next moves, those that you can afford to do. You can withdraw, to save what strength is left and what resources you can save. You can surrender if your life and the lives of your men have value in captivity. You can commit your final moments to damage the enemy as much as possible, so that his next enemy may finish the battle you could not. How you deal with defeat is the greatest indication of the capabilities of a warrior, it will be the more truthful mark of your strength rather than how you deal with victory.
This is a large part of my current thoughts. On the mental process towards war and how I believe it should be conducted. This was as much an exercise in staying true to myself as it was an educational piece. I have more that I intend to take note of in the future, concerning elite troops and methodologies to certain tactics or strategies. This will be some time away, I won’t comment on methods of war that I haven’t experienced yet. That would be fiction and not a true analysis and intellectual piece, that I aim to provide. For my readers, I encourage you at this point to read this again and think long and hard on what I’ve said before you approach me for debate. Do not approach me with rebuttals or arguments, this is an infinite number of ways that war can be waged, to even claim that some are wrong is to break one rule that I stated at the beginning. Any means necessary. "
Battle is most often won by soldiers, but they are not always what delivers victory. They are components of the whole. One major part of every battle and every victory is that of information. It is with information that we can make the decisions that lead to our victory. Before we have confirmed information, we have theories. With every piece of data you gain, make a theory, determine what it may mean for yourself or the enemy. Consider how these theories play into your plan. Example; you are in command of a battalion of soldiers and lose comms link with your headquarters. Theory: the enemy is jamming your communications to suppress the flow of information, a solution to this may be to remove the source of the jamming or find a more powerful data link. Alternative theory: something has happened to headquarters, you cannot contact them because there is nobody to contact. Both theories should be considered, however, no practical solution should be implemented until supporting information arises to support one theory, the other theory, or a third theory not originally considered.
Theorise, but do not assume. Assumptions are your greatest pitfall and are the very bane of observation and analysis. Those that read this will be prideful and perhaps experienced, minds open to the infallibility of making assumptions of what they believe is right. Mistakes are bred from assumptions. The best shield against an assumption leading to a mistake, or defeat, is adaptability. This is not simply adapting to changing conditions; it is the ability to recognise that theories are just theories. Be ready to accept that contrary facts may rise and must be respected, alter your theory, or abandon it, as reflected by the facts that reality is presenting you. Practicalities and war are fluid and evolving, be ready to evolve your thoughts with them, do not make a theory and stick to it because of one convincing piece of evidence.
Information is your most powerful weapon in war, truly. Every action by the enemy is information you can dissect and use. Every attack and every manoeuvre reveals motive, intent, and means. If the enemy conducts a successful operation and doesn’t achieve immediate victory, it is your most up-to-date information of the enemies’ tactics, weapons, and strength. This information is how you make your theories, and how you make your plans. But this goes both ways: the enemy will learn from you as you learn from them. The commander that can digest and process the information on the enemy faster, and with the most accuracy can turn the strengths of the enemy into their weakness, and so the enemy will be the architect of their defeat.
Eventually, war and battle will start. And the first stage of preparation is consideration. War is a natural state of our people, but not one to be entered into lightly. All wars and all battles are painful and always have a price attached. The experienced commander knows that before a battle is committed to, other options should be considered. When the commitment to battle is finally made, you must be certain to pursue your objectives with as much efficiency as possible. You must apply force so rapidly and with such overwhelming vigour that you obliterate any means of return fire. Give no time to react, leave no material or opportunity to be used for the enemy to rally. Destroy the enemy physically and psychologically with your first shot. This is the truest form of attack and the truest form of battle. If this cannot be done, as is most often the case, you will go through the processes of a campaign. Losses will begin to rise and war-material will be used up. The men and women under your command will die in a war that could have been prevented by a more devastating first attack. This is the reason why consideration of battle is your first move, you need to be confident in your plan to cause a killing strike. But you will sometimes be forced to battle where this is not the case: it cannot be avoided, but with proper analysis of the enemy using data and facts, you can come to victory with as few deaths as possible. The Empire may be built on war, but we do not sign the death warrants of all our loyal soldiers.
The commander with an experienced understanding of war and battle will understand disaster. Disaster shouldn’t be anticipated but expected to happen at some point. Even in the most perfectly planned campaign, mistakes will happen. Chance and luck and beyond the control of any commander and any soldier. That which we cannot see and cannot predict will forever be present in every battle and every war that will ever be fought. A skilful leader will aim to prevent disaster from striking, but as time progresses and war draws out to be longer, a disaster almost becomes a certainty. Don’t dwell on that fact: to always wait on disaster will cause the same disruption as never expecting disaster to ever happen. Fight your battles as if a disaster is impossible; only when it happens do you show that you had expected it to happen and are ready to counter it without delay. The truest test of your skill will be how you counter a disaster.
Alongside consideration of battle, you must also go through acquisition. To acquire either necessary materials or the perfect situation for your victory is an absolutely vital segment of the campaign. Warriors of the Sith are prepared to battle with little notice or warning, but it is the preparation and planning for war and accommodations made to your enemies that the warrior is the most successful. If you have laid the groundwork for your battle with knowledge of the enemy, approached war as a science and a craft instead of a state of conflict, then you can be almost certain in victory before you have fired the killing shot.
Found in both the phases of preparation and the battle itself is the consideration of resources. If you are placed on defence or in a situation where you can counter the enemy, you must be proactive. You will need to be aware of what commodities or resources you will need to gain the advantage over your enemy. Often these resources are food and ammo; especially in a prolonged battle. You must look at your enemy and establish if the enemy has any of the resources you need. Take the resources. In the situation where you require resources, you cannot chase glory, you cannot force battles for the sake of killing the enemy. Do not try to match the enemy while they still hold the resources you need. Do not waste your time like this, but come to a decision on what resources or tactical positions will make you strong enough to even the field, and make the acquisition of those resources your absolute priority. Above all physical resources, the most desired one is the ability to continue the war in a way that does not result in defeat or destruction.
The preparation phase of war, of resources and information, and the forming of plans are considered to be the key elements of every victory. However, to gain victory, you command soldiers. Those soldiers can’t falter or feel doubt. They must know that you are with them, in mind and body. When a leader is visible during key moments of a campaign, it can change the mood and the capabilities of the men. It reinforces belief in your interest, not just in the goal, but in those sworn to carry it out. A leader who lacks interest, in the goal and in the soldiers, invites and deserves defeat. This is not to say that a leader should lead from the front at all times, but to be seen can greatly help your cause. During the Siege of Plooma, the Arctis Compound was most invigorated when Darth Horuset walked through the soldiers and gave her commands. The Battle of Seline was won, despite the odds, because I was there and I was visible. It bolstered the morale of a shattered force. Further to this; it is expected that soldiers accept an order without a rationale being provided. But the absence of rationale or context should not be the default: to know the reasons why an action is taken can help it be taken with much greater efficiency.
In battle, have faith in your soldiers, and make sure they can have faith in you. However, your tools and weapons will be plenty; yet the wise and experienced commander knows that battles are won by men and women, not machines. Men can learn, while machines are droids are forever instructed. Men know loyalty to comrades and veneration of the Empire and the Sith, machines have no concepts of these. Whenever the day grows and victory is not yet secured, don’t look to droids for aid, but your soldiers. A droid can, and will, bring victory if you tell where to march and who to kill, they can even follow programming to work alone. For a time. Your soldiers and comrades will walk through fire, they will stride through the guns of the enemy at a single strong word from your lips, and they will deliver victory because you asked it of them. But they must have faith, in your skill, in your knowledge, in your dedication. An army is only as good as its weakest link, the commander must be the strongest.
In war, it can be necessary under the most extreme circumstances to methodically destroy an opponent’s infrastructure along with your enemy himself. Sometimes, a complete military triumph is not enough; there may be times where you must salt the ground of their world. Arguments for this extreme measure are usually of two major categories. Psychological warfare; to diminish the wills of a particularly defiant foe, to ensure they fear you. To ensure security; purging the ground of something that you believe too dangerous to exist. Other arguments exist, cruel arguments. I won’t comment. However, none of the potential reasons for such devastating warfare are comforting or appealing to the modern and practical Imperial commander. And it has a profound effect on the soldiers carrying out the order; firebombing a world, releasing toxins into a city, spreading waste and corpses across fields. It is psychological warfare against those who commit it. War is the journey to victory, not supreme destruction. Even if that is required against some foes. This kind of war, of razing and breaking, is seen with hyper-aggressive forces; like the Sith, we are able to commit to this type of war, even if the rest of the Empire cannot. We wage this war of totality against the Jedi, our war will never be done until every Jedi is dead and there is no way for the Order to rebuild. But that is our war, not the war of Imperial soldiers, though they are used in it.
After your preparation and battle are done, you are in one of two states: Victory or Defeat. Victory is well written about, it is what our Empire is built around. But work does not end after victory: you must consolidate your forces, secure your territory, and take note of losses of resources and power. And identify your next step. If you are wounded, see that your wounds are healed. If you are scratched and bruised, chase the enemy or find your next enemy. Though orders and situations may change this approach. After the war is done, loss must be recognised. This is quite often the hardest lesson for a warrior to learn. We do not write about it, and defeat is often not valued or even defined: you need to be able to identify when you have lost. This is as important as knowing and achieving victory. If you have already lost but continue to chase a victory that can never be reached, you will kill the soul of your forces. Once you have identified the defeat you can decide your next moves, those that you can afford to do. You can withdraw, to save what strength is left and what resources you can save. You can surrender if your life and the lives of your men have value in captivity. You can commit your final moments to damage the enemy as much as possible, so that his next enemy may finish the battle you could not. How you deal with defeat is the greatest indication of the capabilities of a warrior, it will be the more truthful mark of your strength rather than how you deal with victory.
This is a large part of my current thoughts. On the mental process towards war and how I believe it should be conducted. This was as much an exercise in staying true to myself as it was an educational piece. I have more that I intend to take note of in the future, concerning elite troops and methodologies to certain tactics or strategies. This will be some time away, I won’t comment on methods of war that I haven’t experienced yet. That would be fiction and not a true analysis and intellectual piece, that I aim to provide. For my readers, I encourage you at this point to read this again and think long and hard on what I’ve said before you approach me for debate. Do not approach me with rebuttals or arguments, this is an infinite number of ways that war can be waged, to even claim that some are wrong is to break one rule that I stated at the beginning. Any means necessary. "
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