In war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won,
Sun Tzu
During the Battle of Hattin a Crusader army foolishly marched through the desert outside Jerusalem and found themselves out of water. Saladin harassed them from afar with arrows and light skirmishers, but refused to commit the full weight of his troops into an all-out fight. By their own actions the Crusaders had already doomed themselves, and he knew all he had to do was wear them down until they were too weak to pose a significant threat.
Eventually that moment came, and the Saracens stormed the Crusader’s main defenses with few casualties. The survivors were either butchered or sold into slavery.
The takeaway is that an enemy often weakens you before he commits to an attack. Depending on the situation and context, it takes hours, days, weeks, years or even decades. But the day finally comes when he decides he is ready for a full-on assault.
A lot of people today see the assault happening in front of their very eyes, but think it’s the opening skirmish.
And thus:
All things fall apart/the center cannot hold.
