SUN TZU, CLAUSEWITZ, A.T.MAHAN, DAN JULIAN CORBETT

Sun Tzu,  adalah ahli strategi perang yang hidup pada abad-5 Sebelum Masehi. Berkat keahliannya dalam berperang, dia diangkat menjadi Panglima Perang kerajaan Wu di daratan China / Tiongkok, yang waktu itu diperintah oleh Raja Ho Lu. Di bawah pimpinan Sun Tzu,  kerajaan Wu berhasil menundukkan kerajaan-kerajaan di sekitarnya.  Ke arah Barat kerajaan Wu mengalahkan kerajaan Chu,  dan ke arah Utara berhasil menundukkan kerajaan Chi dan Chin. Bagi kerajaan-kerajaan di sekitarnya, serangan-serangan yang dilakukan oleh pasukan Wu yang dipimpin oleh Sun Tzu menimbulkan kekaguman.  Sebagian kerajaan-kerajaan kecil lainnya tunduk kepada kerajaan Wu tanpa mengadakan perlawanan.

THE SINKING OF THE PRINCE OF WALES BATTLESHIP

 Image from forum.nationstates.net

Force Z is a British naval squadron that consists of two capital ships, which are the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and a battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four accompanying destroyers: HMS Electra, HMS Express, HMS Encounter and the HMS Jupiter.

CORBETT, CLAUSEWITZ AND SUN TZU

  By Michael I. Handel, Author Master of War

Even the most creative theories in history were not conceived in a vacuum; one way or another, they owe something to the works of others. To describe this intellectual and intuitive process, historian of science I. B. Cohen has developed a concept called “the transformation of ideas,” which reveals how great scientists have used the existing body of knowledge as a basis of or catalyst for their own inspiration.  Scientists such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, for example, either synthesized and combined the work of others, while adding their own ideas, or were heuristically stimulated by existing ideas to develop their own original concepts. The same is true of those whose creative and analytical thought processes have “transformed” the intricacies of strategy—in this case, naval strategy—into an innovative theory or body of work. It is well known that Alfred Thayer Mahan, as he himself made clear, was significantly influenced by Baron de Jomini’s work and that Sir Julian Corbett was equally influenced by Clausewitz’s On War.

BLACK BUCK OPERATIONS AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT

From a strategic point of view, Operation Black Buck demonstrated to Argentina that Britain had both the will and the capability to perform long-range air strikes in the South Atlantic. It also raised the possibility of air-raids on the Argentine mainland. Furthermore, the raids provided an powerful boost to British morale and domestic opinion.

Before the sun rise on April 2, 1982, the Argentinean command troops landed in East Falklands near Port Stanley, attacked and controlled the British mariner base. This surprise attack was conducted by Argentine through the sea and air, and without making any prior war declaration.