"The force of any army, like momentum in mechanics, is represented by the mass multiplied by the rate of movement.” - Napoleon

 "The force of any army, like momentum in mechanics, is represented by the mass multiplied by the rate of movement.” - Napoleon (1769-1821). Napoleon in His Own Words, 8, comp. Jules Bertaut, 1916

Not just the force of any army acts in this way, but also the force of anything which exerts a force. The physical law of the universe is repeated again and again for rocks, armies, societies, souls, and silences. An army which is small and nimble but that moves fast may win over a large but slow army - up to a point. After all, quantity is a quality all its own. There are two possible tricks to beating an army bigger than you are. Either you outmaneuver them on an open field, tactically or strategically, or else you fight them in an enclosed space, where they cannot bring their force to bear. If you are large and slow, then your task is to catch the enemy, and if you are small and fast, then your task is to avoid the enemy. The ideal state, of course, is to be large and fast, so that you will not be beaten. Something with a complete and well-rounded strength is to be preferred in almost all cases. 

However, one question which may arise is the issue of supplies. That is, as the strength of an army is a result of its speed multiplied by its mass, it would seem to require, in theory, the same amount of energy to move a large force slowly, as a small force swiftly. I wonder to what extent this is true - don't we often find it easier to move a small thing fast, even though it requires the same amount of energy as moving a heavy thing slowly? There is inertia to contend with, and also a worry over how dangerous the thing is. We also worry over issues of control, where if a thing is too big then we cannot direct it, and if something is too fast, we cannot modify its path without harm. Such are things like the mountains and bullets. Perhaps a mountain is something which it is possible to move and modify because it is made up of many smaller parts, but on the other hand there is always the danger of mudslides and falling rocks, or unintended consequences. The forces of the mountain take a long time to gather, but once they start moving they are unstoppable. The dangers of a mountain and a speeding bullet are, thus,  not so different, because in neither case do we know what is coming. 

An army is a gathering of many tiny pieces, whether it is made up of thousands or millions of men, or billions or trillions of atoms. There is a force which binds all the parts together, a force which moves all the pieces as one, and an outside force that tries to tear it all apart. As it is with the army, so too it can be with society, or a personal soul, or a company. What is valid and important advice for running an army, or for directing your own life, is often relevant and useful advice for many other things in life as well. The information is not always directly applicable, as each type of organized thing has its own internal balance of forces, its own goals, and its own situation, but there seems, nevertheless, to be some sort of similarity. We can change our lives swiftly in small ways, or slowlin in large ones. We can find our society changed all at once by a war or a sickness, or changed imperceptibly over time, by the slow changing of generations. So on and on goes the circle of life, and the laws of the world. 

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