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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: [16] Lit. "makes plain its grounds of terror as of confidence."
Indeed I take it to be the mark of a really prudent general never to
run a risk of his own choosing, except where it is plain to him
beforehand, that he will get the better of his adversary. To play into
the enemy's hands may more fitly be described as treason to one's
fellow-combatants than true manliness. So, too, true generalship
consists in attacking where the enemy is weakest, even if the point be
some leagues distant. Severity of toil weighs nothing in the scale
against the danger of engaging a force superior to your own.[17]
Still, if on any occasion the enemy advance in any way to place
himself between fortified points that are friendly to you, let him be
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