LSP, HHG was not berating the western philosphy of war. by saying that they dont understand terrain, flanking, etc. I had it explained to be as such when i watch a documetary of Tsun zu (or however you spell his name). Western generals have long been developed with the strategic base of that of a chess board. Chinese generals such as tsun zu come into war with the mindset more along the lines of chinese checkers. I dont know if you have ever played chinese checkers but it ties into HHG point on using shih and flowing like a river to snare your oppenent rather then dominate your enemy like western generals do.
Oh, I did not think he was berating Western military thinking at all. I believe that the general notion of a clear distinction between the two is in some part arbitrary and in some part exaggerated. When we look at battles of antiquity, we find for example that armies tended not to clash immediately upon sighting the enemy and try to crush him with overwhelming force. Instead, they were likely to keep moving and shuffling and waiting, exploring each and every slight advantage. To me, this ties in very well with the image of flow, even though we are talking about blocks of troops. In the same vein, concentration of force or non-skirmishing units were very common in the East.
The number of times a Western commander has laid an ambush or stepped into one or lured his opponent into a trap, or led reserves (flowing) around the enemy, or simply declined battle are legion. Look at Metellus' and Marius' campaign against Jugurtha (if Hannibal is considered Western, then Jugurtha should be) or Caesar's diplomacy in dividing Gallic and "Belgian" tribes, or Scipio Africanus' clever use of a feinted attack on while leading an elite force through a swamp against an undefended part of the wall...
The problem with theories is that they are often vague and have to be filled in with practical examples. When I do look at the examples of battles I read, it would appear that the distinction is often more cultural than of military practice, and more ephemeral than it might appear at first glance. When Herodotus describes the differences between "Western", Greek and Persian armies, order and impetus, free fighter-citizens and servile hordes, then we can extract an element of truth from this but we must be wary of his agenda and the rhetoric device of contrast to sharpen the differences. The truth is more complex when we notice that Darius and others used Greek phalanges themselves in the form of mercenaries. The fact that they did not use them all the time or exclusively can probably be put down to availability of resources more than to any cultural or intellectual differences in outlook.
