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usurped by the airplane. The general of tomorrow will view his lines, and those of his enemy, from the fuselage of an airplane, accompanied by his staff similarly "mounted" and escorted by a protecting flight of headquarters squadron. 
From the point of view of the command, the battle naturally subdivides itself into phases. There are of course no clearly defined lines of cleavage. Yet the characteristics of the three phases are fairly distinct, and constitute a convenient classification for discussion. 0 In point of time, the first or [[slash]] preliminary phase may be said to extend back indefinitely over the years in which knowledge of the enemy has been accruing. But for our purposes it will be considered to open at the entrance of our army into the into the actual theatre of operations, and to end so soon as the machinery for the delivery of the vital blow has been put in operation. It will cover the time requisite for an estimate of the situation, a decision based on this estimate, and the formulation of plans whereby this decision may be translated into action. The second phase is all important from a fighting standpoint. In this, the blow is sent home and victory or defeat dealt with as the situation develops. When the decision has been definitely arrived at, the third phase begins, where every effort is bent towards reaping the fruit of victory, or if the issue prove adverse, of gathering together the scattered forces to avoid the full payment of defeat. 
The first phase is concerned primarily with the search for information of the enemy, and of course preventing his securing information of our own troops. Since the subject of information will be dealt with in greater detail in a subsequent chapter, it will be touched on here in a general way only. Locally, the infantry and cavalry will perform their 

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