Identify the author’s mission in writing this book.
The least effective is the first dream when the lieutenant has no idea of what to do and allows laxity in his camp. As a result, he loses the post and has ten soldiers killed and 28 wounded.
In order to accomplish his mission, the author assumes that all directions are war fronts and that every kind and good looking stranger is a possible threat to the camp. He also knows that he should prevent any strangers from learning of his troop whereabouts and if they do, he should hold them in custody (Swinton 13).
He validates these assumptions in the book when he on the sixth attempt pitches camp in a concealed area where the enemy and the possible spies could not see his troop.
The most relevant part of the book is the sixth dream. After losing terribly in the last five dreams, he gathers 22 lessons which he uses to guard the post in the sixth dream. In this dream, he has learnt valuable lessons which he uses to his advantage. The theme of this book is to show the military tactics employed in a battle field and to caution soldiers of failure to take adequate security measures. It is lieutenant Baksight’s laxity that leads to his defeat in the first successive dreams. He always fails to completely read the entire situation after losing, but rather focuses on specific mistakes forgetting that the battle field encompasses more than his main reason for defeat (Swinton 24).
- In a battle field, all the directions are war fronts.
- It is better to take a concealed location than using the trenches
- Surprise is a key element in winning any battle.
- Every battle even if it is on the same location has different dynamics
I agree with author’s assumption on the element of surprise. In the first and second dream, despite Backsight’s troop having knowledge of the enemy’s existence, they were ambushed when they least expected. This was the main reason of their suffering so many casualties and the consequent defeat.
I do not agree with the author’s assertion of picking and keeping hostage all the individuals near the battle field. The moment the troop gets exposed to the people around, there would be several who will escape and alert the enemy. The best maneuver is to ensure that even the people around get a surprise. None of them should have a clue of the troop’s existence.
This book made a favourable impression on me. I admired the way after every defeat the lieutenant took it as a challenge and learnt from his mistakes. If he had failed to reflect and just gather back another group of soldiers to retaliate, he would have never succeeded in his mission.
Work Cited
Swinton, Dunlop. Ernest. The Defence of Duffer’s Drift. Seattle: Praetorian Press, 2012.
Print.
