Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/92

 68 YEN WANG. commandant, thougb at the head of some myriads of men, did not dare to make even a sally, for Whang's was a dreaded nama Yen men then attacked and broke down the fort at the ford of Woosoong,* entered Gaoyang, burning and destroying all round, and taking back with them 30,000 captive familie& This clever stroke compelled the huge army of Jao Wang to move west from Longan to save the bare country from destruction. Jao Wang was apparently unable to make use of the tremendous army which he had banded together; and the sudden move of Whang, destroying so much of his stores, opened his eyes to the damage, incalculable, which a sudden inroad of Whang might cause by a flank movement, especially as the defensive resources of his kingdom were almost all collected for that enormous ofifensive weapon. Had he been as good a general as Whang, he could have quickly settled the matter ; but his knowledge that his own powers were insufficient to cope with the ability of Whang, on anything like equal terms, made him nervou& Hence we learn that even then, when bows and arrows were the artillery, and javelins the rifles of fiifteen centuries ago, generalship — ^that is, mental power — ^ability to intuitively see the best move, and to see it at a glance ; ability to work out in theory, and cany out in practice, the most probably successful of all possible plans — was then as important a factor in gaining a victory, as when the tactics of Napoleon dumb- foundered the Austrians, or the movements of Yon Moltke disconcerted the French. It was in all ages the wise general, rather than the brave soldier, who won the day. Or perhaps it would be more proper to say that it was the wise general who made the brave soldier, by inspiring confidence, and compelling unity and obedience. History never shows that " Providence is on the side of the biggest battalions " ; but it does show that, as a. rule, the general, though at the head of the smaller army, who is able to concentrate a greater number of men on a given point, who therefore attacks and pierces through the weak point,
 * 25 li west of Aiuoohien of Faoting.