????論及軍事，業余軍迷總喜歡談論謀略戰術，而專業人士則研究后勤保障。兩本有關二戰史的新作則提醒我們，后勤在戰爭中為何如此之重要。保羅?肯尼迪的著作《工程師的勝利：誰決定了二戰的勝負？》（Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War）詳細解釋了盟軍科學家、技術專家以及實業家改進和創新裝備以令部隊在戰場上節節獲勝的功績。而史蒂芬?布迪安斯基的《布萊克特的戰爭：他擊敗了德國U型潛艇》（Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare）則講述了一個鮮為人知的故事，一個默默無聞的英國物理學家通過令人震驚的技術與組織管理技巧扭轉了整個戰爭的走勢。

????“戰略思維”的信徒們或許會覺得這兩本書里的說法不值一提。不怪他們——戰爭時期，后勤的地位遠遜于戰略。肯尼迪和布迪安斯基都將書中的主人公設定為首席創新官，他們負責盟軍與軸心國補給供應線的生死戰，但卻都深陷于繁文縟節的官僚政治斗爭之中。在這場斗爭中，破壞敵人的供給線通常要比保護自己的補給線來得更加重要。

????肯尼迪是一位學院派的大戰略家，他也曾著有暢銷書《大國的興衰》（Rise and Fall of the Great Powers）。對他而言，這是一次成為專業人士的機會。書中的各章節討論的都是軍事上最棘手的挑戰，比如如何安全地通過大西洋；如何取得制空權；如何在重兵把守的情況下搶灘登陸等等。這些慘烈的戰役的重述與改寫模仿了克勞塞維茨著名的警句：“戰爭中的一切看似都非常簡單，但最簡單的同時卻也是最困難的。”在二戰中，沒有什么是簡單的。

????怎樣的技術、戰術、宣傳、組織管理以及分析手段的綜合，或者說是系統化運用，才使得盟軍的勝利成為可能？在不止一場的戰役中，什么樣的領導品質能夠帶來決定性的優勢？肯尼迪雖然是在全面論述戰爭，但他針對于上述問題的回答還是受到了他一貫的戰略思維的影響。但越是對后勤創新有所了解，人們就越覺得宏大的戰略作用甚微。

????It's a military truism that amateurs talk strategy while professionals study logistics. Two engaging new World War II histories remind us why logistics matter more. Paul Kennedy's Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War explains how Allied scientists, technologists and industrialists improvised and innovated their way to give their armed forces a fighting chance. And Stephen Budiansky'sBlackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare tells the little-known story of an obscure British physicist who applied extraordinary skills in technology and organizational management to transform the Allied war effort.

????Disciples and devotees of "strategic thinking" might find both books humbling. They should. In wartime, logistics eats strategy for lunch. Kennedy and Budiansky cast their lead characters as chief innovation officers who struggle to manage bureaucratic battles even as they oversee life-and-death conflicts between Axis and Allied supply chains. In this competition, disrupting enemy supply chains often proves more important than protecting one's own.

????For Kennedy, an academic grand strategist who authored the best-selling Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, this is an opportunity to turn pro. Chapters are themed to the military's most daunting challenges: How to Get Convoys Safely Across The Atlantic; How to Win Command of the Air; How to Advance on an Enemy-held Shore, etc. These painful tales of iteration and adaptation mock Clausewitz's famous aphorism: "Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult." In World War II, nothing was ever simple.

????What mix -- or system -- of technical, tactical, doctrinal, organizational, and analytical ingredients made the Allied victories possible? What leadership qualities conferred competitive advantage for more than a battle? While comprehensively informed, Kennedy's answers are inflected by his lofty strategic perspective. But the closer one examines the logistical innovations, the more they overshadow grand strategy.