Fic Updates 48

[Norgarth]

A Thing of Vikings
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089.../102809256

“Soldiers are prepared to fight the last war,” “Generals are always ready to fight their father’s war,” and “the military mind is always fighting the last war,” as the saying and its variants go. What this means is that militaries are fundamentally conservative institutions, looking back and thinking on what they have done wrong in previous conflicts as compared to looking forward and adapting to what is coming. This is especially well seen around the times where shifts in technology and tactics render the old ways obsolete, and yet the commanders persist in sticking closely to what they know, typically refusing to adapt to the changes in warfare, even in the face of proven losses. Typically adaptation happens by the removal of those elder generals—either by political removal or death on the battlefield—and the appointment of newcomers who are aware of the new battlefield realities and are willing to change and throw out conventional knowledge in the face of new lessons.

The loss of life before this happens can be staggering…

—Statecraft: The Great Game Of Diplomacy, Espionage, & War By Other Means, 1732, Rouen University Press