K. This is the 1st working draft of vol. VI. It still ... - From Marx to Mao

ON GUERILLA WARFARE
is forced into a passive position, its first duty is to extricate itself.
No method can be prescribed for this, as the method to be employed
will, in every case, depend on the situation. One can, if necessary,
run away. But there are times when the situation seems hopeless
and, in reality, is not so at all. It is at such times that the good
leader recognizes and seizes the moment when he can regain the lost
initiative.
Let us revert to alertness. To conduct one’s troops with alertness
is an essential of guerrilla command. Leaders must realize that
to operate alertly is the most important factor in gaining the initiative
and vital in its effect of the relative situation that exists between
our forces and those of the enemy. Guerrilla commanders
FROM MARX
TO MAO
adjust their operations to the enemy situation, to the terrain, and to
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prevailing local conditions. Leaders must be alert to sense changes
in these factors and make necessary modifications in troop dispositions
to accord with them. The leader must be like a fisherman,
who, with his nets, is able both to cast them and to pull them out in
awareness of the depth of the water, the strength of the current or
the presence of any obstructions that may foul them. As the fisherman
controls his nets through the lead ropes, so the guerrilla leader
maintains contact with control over his units. As the fisherman must
change his position, so must the guerrilla commander. Dispersion,
concentration, constant change of position — it is in these ways that
guerrillas employ, their strength.
In general, guerrilla units disperse to operate:
NOT FOR
COMMERCIAL
(1) When the enemy is in over-extended defence, and sufficient
force cannot be concentrated against him, guerrillas must
disperse, harass him, and demoralize him.
DISTRIBUTION
(2) When encircled by the enemy, guerrillas disperse to with-
draw.
(3) When the nature of the ground limits action, guerrillas
disperse.
(4) When the availability of supplies limits action, they disperse.
(5) Guerrillas disperse in order to promote mass movements
over a wide area.
Regardless of the circumstances that prevail at the time of dispersal,
caution must be exercised in certain matters:
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