Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein Page A

information. I'll handpick not over a
    dozen to act as reporters to me, and I won't tell them anything they don't
    have to know."
    Any way he looked at it, simple, straightforward military use of the new
    weapons was not expedient. Brutal frontal attack was for the commander
    who had men to expend. General U. S. Grant could afford to say, "I will fight
    it out on this line if it takes all summer," because he could lose three men to
    the enemy's one and still win. Those tactics were not for the commander who
    could not afford to lose any men. For him it must be deception, misdirectionfeint and slash and run away-"and live to fight another day." The nursery
    rhyme finished itself in his mind. That was it. It had to be something totally
    unexpected, something that the PanAsians would not realize was warfare
    until they were overwhelmed by it.
    It would have to be something like the "fifth columns" that destroyed the
    European democracies from within in the tragic days that led to the final
    blackout of European civilization. But this would not be a fifth column of
    traitors, bent on paralyzing a free country; but the antithesis of that, a sixth
    column of patriots whose privilege it would be to destroy the morale of
    invaders, make them afraid, unsure of themselves.
    And misdirection was the key to it, the art of fooling!
    Ardmore felt a little better when he had reached that conclusion. It was
    something he could understand, a job suited to an advertising man. He had
    been trying to crack it as a military problem, but he was not a field marshal
    and it had been silly of him to try to make a noise like one. His mind did not
    work that way. This was primarily a job in publicity, a matter of mob
    psychology. A former boss of his, under whom he had learned the racket,
    used to tell him, "I can sell dead cats to the board of health with a proper
    budget and a free hand."
    Well, he had a free hand, all right, and the budget was no problem. Of
    course, he could not use the newspapers and the old channels of advertising,
    but there would be a way. The problem now was to figure out the weak points
    of the PanAsians and decide how Calhoun's little gadgets could be used to
    play on those weak points until the PanAsians were sick of the whole deal
    and anxious to go home.
    He did not have a plan as yet. When a man is at a loss for a course of
    action, he usually calls for a conference. Ardmore did.
    He sketched out to them the situation up to date, including all that
    Thomas had learned and all that had come in by television through the
    conquerors' "educational" broadcasts. Then he discussed the powers that
    were made available to them by the research staff, and the various obvious
    ways in which they could be applied as military weapons, emphasizing the
    personnel necessary to use each type of weapon effectively. Having done so,
    he asked for suggestions.
    "Do I understand, Major," Calhoun began, "that after rather pointedly
    telling us that you would make all military decisions you are now asking us to
    make up your mind for you?"
    "Not at all, Colonel. I have still the responsibility for any decision, but this
    is a new sort of military situation. A suggestion from any source may prove
    valuable. I don't flatter myself that I have a monopoly on common sense, nor
    on originality. I would like for every one of us to tackle this problem and let
    the others criticize it. "
    "Do you yourself have any plan to offer us?"
    "I am reserving my opinions until the rest of you have spoken."
    "Very well, sir"-Dr. Calhoun straightened himself up-"since you have
    asked for it, I will tell you what I think should be done in this situation-what, in
    fact, is the only thing that can be done.
    "You are aware of the tremendous power of the forces I have made
    available." Ardmore noticed Wilkie's mouth tighten at this allocation of credit,
    but neither of them interrupted. "In your resume, you underestimated them, if
    anything. We have a dozen fast scout