The criticism of Hood expands into a general warning about strategic self-deception. A comparison with Japanese high command in the Second World War shows leaders knowing the unfavourable numbers on paper without allowing those numbers to govern decisions. Dashing cavalry activity by Nathan Bedford Forrest could look energetic and successful while leaving the decisive balance unchanged. In this reading, movement and local action became substitutes for measuring whether an operation advanced the war's objective. The analogy separates the appearance of initiative from the achievement of strategic effect.
Notable Point · 1:20:39-1:21:43
When military activity substitutes for achievement
A comparison with Japanese high command warns that visible operational activity can conceal failure to confront an enemy's numerical and strategic advantage.