So after sundry
months of first-hand observation in one of the theaters of hostilities,
I tell myself that the trade of fighting is a trade to be learned by
slow and laborious degrees, and even then may be learned with
thoroughness only by one who has a natural aptitude for it. Either
that, or else I am most extraordinarily thick-headed, for I own that I
am still as complete a greenhorn now as I was at the beginning.
Having made the confession which is said to be good for the soul, and
which in any event has the merit of blunting in advance the critical
judgments of the expert, since he must pity my ignorance and my
innocence even though he quarrel with my conclusions, I now assume the
role of prophet long enough to venture to say that the day of the modern
walled fort is over and done with. I do not presume to speak regarding
coast defenses maintained for the purposes of repelling attacks or
invasions from the sea. I am speaking with regard to land defenses
which are assailable by land forces.
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