Final answer:
A soldier must be equipped with discipline, adaptability, resilience, and strategic thinking to effectively engage in close combat, as they face the unpredictability and mechanized nature of modern warfare.
Step-by-step explanation:
To combat the characteristics of close combat, a soldier must possess various attributes and resources. Throughout history, the sword has been a fundamental short-range weapon, used for cutting or thrusting into flesh, featuring a sharp blade, a hilt, and a cross-guard. Emotional attachment to such weapons was common among soldiers who relied on them for survival and combat effectiveness.
In the face of mechanized warfare, the chivalric concepts of combat have become obsolete. Soldiers must adapt to a reality where skill and bravery are often overshadowed by the random lethality of technology, such as artillery. In these scenarios, attributes like discipline, adaptability, and resilience become crucial.
Sun Tzu's teachings in The Art of War suggest military success relies on strategic principles, much like the adaptability of water. These include deploying tactics to avoid direct confrontation with enemy strengths and adapting strategies according to the situation, thus putting oneself beyond defeat before seeking enemy engagement.
Armor development, running parallel with weaponry, provided soldiers with protection against close-range and projectile weapons. Adaptation to desperate or hemmed-in situations as described in the excerpts suggest that soldiers may exhibit heightened fearlessness and tenacity, qualities that significantly contribute to combat effectiveness.
Ultimately, military strategy and a soldier's mental disposition are critical in overcoming the raw brutality and unpredictability of close combat, guided by wisdom like that of Sun Tzu, which emphasizes psychological readiness, tactical positioning, and morale alongside physical equipment and training.