Mechanical power now enables the soldier to replace direct pro tection as afforded by the trench by direct protection as afforded by armour, as happened in the cavalry cycle, which followed the classical artillery cycle. The influence of this on the last tactical element, namely, weapon-power, will also be most marked, be cause not only will shock weapons disappear, but the smaller missile-throwing weapons also.
The combination of these remodelled tactical elements will re establish tactics as an art, and the anatomy of battle will once again take its full form. The decisive point of attack will once again become the rear of the enemy's army. The approach will be made rapidly not only by road but across country, consequently the nature of strategy will be changed. Hitherto strategy has been based on roads and railways, it has been linear. Linear movements demand column formations, but as the artillery cycle tlevelops, area warfare will replace linear warfare, and fronts may be any where. The old deployed fronts which protect the rear (the de cisive point) in approach and in attack will vanish, and will be replaced by a mobile elastic square within which the old rear will be established; the rear will in fact become the centre. The attack will be divided into the act of demoralization which is more and more likely to be waged against the command of the enemy, the brains of his army, than against the nerves of his men. And the act of decision will aim more at restricting the mobility of the enemy's main force than in physical destruction of its organiza tion. The enemy once held, the act of annihilation will take place.
For naval tactics see NAVAL STRATEGY AND TACTICS.
BismoGRAPHY.—General: G. Gilbert, The Evolution of Tactics (1907) ; J. Colin, The Transformations of War (1912) ; Jomini, Summary of the Art of War (1862) ; H. M. Johnstone, A History of Tactics (1906). Classical Cycle: T. A. Dodge, Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar (189o) ; B. H. Liddell Hart, A Greater than Napoleon.—Scipio Africanus (1926). Cavalry Cycle: C. Oman, A History of the Art of War (In the Middle Ages) (1923) ; G. T. Denison, A History of Cavalry (1877). Infantry Cycle: N. Machiavelli, The Arte of Warre (1905) ; T. A. Dodge, Gustavus Adolphus, Napoleon (1904) ; M. de
Saxe, Plan for New Modelling the French Army (1753); Puysegur, Art de la Guerre par Principes et par Regles (1749); Guibert, A General Essay on Military Tactics (1781) ; E. M. Lloyd, A Review of the History of Infantry (1908) ; J. F. C. Fuller, British Light Infantry in the Eighteenth Century (1925) ; B. H. Liddell Hart, A Science of Infantry Tactics Simplified (1926). Artillery Cycle: B. Robins, Principles of Gunnery (1741); Frederick the Great, Military Instructions from the late King of Prussia to his Generals (1797); H. W. L. Hime, Gunpowder and Ammunition; A. von Boguslawski, Tactical Deductions from the War of 187o-71 (1872) ; W. von Scherff, Studies in the New Tactics of Infantry (1873) ; Anon., The Influence of Fire-arms upon Tactics (1876) ; J. F. C. Fuller, Tanks in the Great War (192o). (J. F. C. F.) TAEL (tal). The tael is a Chinese weight of rather more than an ounce. It is usually applied to silver, and as the Chinese internal currency is based upon silver, the tael has become, for many important purposes, the monetary unit of China. This statement, however, is by itself incomplete and requires some explanation and qualification.
The original coinage of China consisted of copper coins known as li or cash. These are minted with a hole through the middle, and as each one is worth only of a penny or so, it was custom ary to string a whole bundle together. Again nominally, 1,000 cash equal one tael of silver, but this ratio naturally varies with the relative price of copper and silver, and owing to this and also to the confusion into which the Chinese coinage has fallen, the present ratio is rather greater than i,000.
As already said, the tael represents a definite weight of silver. It is not in internal circulation—for, as shown later, all silver coin age takes the form of dollars of one sort or another—but is used for many important purposes as money of account. Silver is imported in the form of ingots and recast into the form of shoes. This work demands the highest degree of craftmanship, and the shoes are in themselves a work of art. They vary slightly from centre to centre in their silver content, but those of the finest sil ver are known as "sycee." These shoes are weighed in taels.