Show KING DAVID AS A GENERAL A french on nil tactic kalnit Aal nit aba philistines at a late meeting of the academic des inscriptions et belles lettres M Dieu lafoy the well known explorer in persia rend a very interesting account of his visit to the scene of the decisive encounter between king david and the philistines in the valley of rephraim Rep haim M Dieu lafoy described how after the capture of jerusalem by david and the 01 ane israelite monarchy the philistines resolved to crush the nascent kingdom and how after alternations of success and failure they occupied alie valley of rephraim Rep haim situated at the foot of the slopes which led from the west to jerusalem it was then according to M Dieu lafoy that david constantly attacked by his enemies executed one of the finest military maneuvers recorded in his history M Dieu lafoy while indicating the various advances made by military art and having shown that before alie wars of the medes no nation had any acquaintance with the rules of higher tactics and strategy dwelt upon the fact that david was the first of the israelite lead era to form drilled and disciplined troops and pointed out what use the king made of this army in the valley of the plan of the battle very clearly described in the bible which ascribed the conception of it to jehovah com a flank march a rapid change of front the rapid encompassing of the eft wing of the philistines and an at cack from behind on this wing this was a complicated and bold turning very difficult to execute and something quite out of the common for the age in chich it was carried out M Dieu lafoy who had discovered the theater of operation and had made use of the general topography of the region in order to reconstitute the principal phases of the battle pointed out that this movement presented a striking analogy with those executed by frederick II 11 at the battles of mollwitz and rossbach and by napoleon at austerlitz in the conduct of this operation david gave evidence of the hig liest capacities taking advantage of all the inequalities of the ground form ing his troops afresh in the wool and charging impetuously anam Dieu lafoy insisted very strongly upon the similarity of his military genius to that of apoleon |