...It's a pretty thought, lad. And it's true -- some pieces are prized for something other than their ability to fire three rounds a minute and stand. But you're daft or naive to think continental war is to be lost or won on the merits of a single soldier. Batallions are pawns. Companies are pawns. Men have become the bits of wood and laquer what make those pawns up.

[ did he agree? no. but it was his reality. ]