Indirect Strategy

[Domoviyr]

In Sun Tzu's Art Of War, he speaks of two kinds of forces (ordinary and extraordinary) and two kinds of attack (direct and indirect). Now, the use of ordinary forces in direct attack is pretty self-explanatory, but I'm rather baffled at how to use extraordinary forces in indirect tactics on the battle field. Any of you Military Science buffs have an answer?

[Kyrian]

Here's an article that mentions ordinary and extraordinary forces within the context of the Iraq invasion:

http://www.sonshi.com/holmes.html

In particular, this passage caught my eye:

Finally, Sun prescribed a strategy of indirection founded on the concept that ''normal forces'' (cheng) should fix or distract the enemy though head-on engagements while ''extraordinary forces'' (ch'i) operated on the enemy's flanks, probing for weak spots and striking when the opportunity presented itself.

Using normal and extraordinary forces in concert, the commander could multiply the force of his army - keeping the enemy in disarray and unable to mount a defense. ''(T)he potential of troops skillfully commanded in battle may be compared to that of round boulders which roll down from mountain heights... Thus one need use but little strength to achieve much... The force applied is minute but the results are enormous.''

And another passage from this article, http://www.wargamer.com/articles/aow_indirectapproach/:

Sun Tzu's vision of the conduct of warfare concentrates on the roles, not the mere employment, of military forces in relation to successful strategy. "That the army is certain to sustain the enemy's attack without suffering defeat is due to operations of the extraordinary and the normal forces." [7] From this quote we see that Sun Tzu believes that combat forces have two fundamental roles. He explains these roles in a simple analogy: "The force which confronts the enemy is the normal; that which goes to his flanks the extraordinary." [8] It is here that we see our first definition of The Indirect Approach in its most basic form: the flank attack. He does not, however, explicitly state that these roles require separate forces (that is, an extraordinary force and a normal force), divided in time and space. One may easily be lured into such an explanation by taking only a cursory look at his writings, however. We shall return to that point later.

Based on these, I'd say that he's defining the extraordinary forces as the force designated for maneuvering around the enemy and hitting them from the flanks. These may have been cavalry but he may have also been referring to light infantry and/or skirmishers who wear minimal armor that would utilize their better mobility to their advantage.

In terms of the tactics we might use in Belegarth now, the extraordinary forces are the hammer while the ordinary forces are the anvil.

Kyrian