Prominent Scorpios with a Taurus Moon in history have often been tasked with removing themselves and others from the jaws of defeat—and sometimes right before the teeth click together. Keeping the force intact is of primary importance in warfare so it can live to fight another day. In politics good judgment is of equal import.
General Oliver Prince Smith
General Oliver Prince Smith (October 26, 1893) is one of our underrated heroes. Like all the individuals in this article, he was a Scorpio with the Moon in Taurus.* Famed astrologer Grant Lewi said this about that combination: “Your thoughts, emotions, plans, and aims are all on a wide and sweeping scale; you think in the grand manner.” “In personal and business matters there comes a day of reckoning, and when the chicken comes home to roost, look out for the one you shied a shoe at.” (Heaven Knows What, p. 107-108, Llewellyn Publications, 1962) The chickens effectively escape to the henhouse.
The Korean War (1950-1953 was a down and up conflict. North Korea invaded the south and nearly drove the UN forces (ours) into the sea. General McArthur countered by cutting off the North Koreans with a surprise amphibious landing at Inchon. We moved north, near the Chinese border. The Chinese massed 160,000 troops in Manchuria and then struck at our dispersed forces.
Before the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Smith consolidated his regiments so they could support one another. Secondly, he had his engineers scrape out two airstrips on the frozen ground so supplies and reinforcements be brought in and wounded taken out. Lastly, the American forces around the reservoir were in a formation that resembled the letter Y. Smith put himself at the junction where the forces came together. That point was to be held at all cost. (History Net, “Close Call at Chosin,” by Thomas E. Ricks, July 5, 2017)
Ferocious attacks by the Chinese ensued. They suffered terrible casualties. Smith led 10,000 marines south. They went through nine roadblocks and had to drop in bridge sections by air to traverse a notch in a cliff where a bridge had been destroyed. (Ibid) For every marine lost, ten Chinese soldiers were killed.
General Oliver Prince Smith Birth Chart
*In Smith’s chart Saturn, the planet of caution and organization, is well-aspected. It is conjoined with Mars in Libra and trine both Neptune and Pluto in Gemini. The Saturn/Neptune aspect gave him the ability to envision successful plans and bring them to fruition. It is interesting to note how Mars is constricted by Saturn in the nativity while there is a freedom loving and independent Sun/Uranus conjunction.
Oliver Prince was a quiet man who liked to read. He had to ignore the orders of his superior, for the man was reckless.
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (15 November 1891), ** known by the sobriquet the Desert Fox, was outgunned and out supplied in the campaign in North Africa. The British clobbered the Italians who retreated to Libya. Rommel’s Afrika Corps was sent in to rescue them. Rommel had many tricks up his sleeve. When he arrived in Libya, he had his tanks travel in circles so the British would think his forces were much larger. General Rommel “produced” tanks by installing tarpaulins on army vehicles and moving them from place to place at night. British Intelligence thought his force was large and strong. He defeated the British at El Ageila. When he captured the El Mechili fort, Erwin had only seven tanks and four armored personnel carriers. Rommel put cars, trucks, radio stations, and field kitchens in the advancing column to raise as much dust as possible on the flanks. Palm branches were tied to the cars. Motors and propellers from airplanes were placed on captured trucks. Much sand was lifted into the sky. The trick worked and Derna was captured. (“Erwin Rommel: The Historical Research About the Great Tactician,” www.erwinrommel.info/afrika-korps)
Rommel covered 300 kilometers in twelve days. He captured much of Cyrenacia in Libya. Although Erwin did not initially take Tobruk and was forced to retreat, he won more battles. Tobruk eventually fell in June 1942 and 35,000 British troops were captured. Rommel made plans to attack Egypt but was stopped at El Alamein. (Ibid)
The British were constantly resupplied while the Germans were not; hence Rommel was always greatly outnumbered. The Allies had a 14 to 1 advantage in tanks. He also ran out of fuel. His last victory was at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia—it’s between Algeria and Libya– where he defeated inexperienced Americans in February 1943. Rommel wanted to withdraw his troops to Sicily but Hitler refused to allow it. He was ordered to return to Germany by Hitler. In his absence the Afrika Corps eventually surrendered.
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel Birth Chart
**A key to Rommel’s horoscope is his heavily aspected Mercury in Sagittarius. It is conjoined with Venus and square to Neptune and Pluto. The Neptune/Pluto squares made him deceptive and cunning, great qualities in a general. Mercury also had a hard aspect from Jupiter. That gave him a fertile, original mind. Note Sagittarius is a big picture sign. Erwin Rommel would have been an able strategist as well as tactician.
Rommel flew his own airplane. This helped him plan his battles. He was also mechanically inclined. Field Marshall Rommel treated prisoners well.
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1987) helped Sun Yat-sen unify China and assumed control after his passing. His control was precarious because he faced opposition from warlords and communists. His government was marked by some corruption. In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria. He decided not to resist the Japanese until he had defeated the communists.
This was a mistake because the communists gained public support by fighting the invaders while Chiang’s army largely stood idly by. The communists gained combat experience. In 1937 a full-fledged war developed. Japan was defeated with the help of the United States. Civil war commenced in 1946. Chiang lost and retreated to Formosa (Taiwan) in 1949. (Britannica, “Chiang Kai-shek: Chinese Statesman”)
Chiang Kai-shek Birth Chart
Chiang’s horoscope is a bit of an anomaly for in some ways it is quite good. His Scorpio Sun is together with Jupiter, a lucky and fortunate combination. Mercury trine Saturn would have given him organizational ability and a proclivity to honesty. On the other hand, Hermes is opposed by Neptune. Chiang could have been self-deceptive. The Moon is in Aries. There may have been a tinge of selfishness and self-centeredness. Uranus, the planet of farsightedness, is entirely unaspected.
President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942. Faced with America’s longest war in Afghanistan, he decided to withdraw our 2,500-man force. It was done in a chaotic manner The Afghan army refused to fight the Taliban who quickly assumed power. The army surrendered billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, ammunition, and vehicles which we had supplied to them
Biden also failed to secure our borders. The population of Central American has skyrocketed in the last fifty years. Mexico is a third world country. The poor there and everywhere want a better life. He allowed the border with Mexico to become entirely porous. More than ten million people have entered our country. Biden put no stops in place, nor did he follow immigration law.
President Joe Biden Birth Chart
In President Biden’s horoscope Saturn, the planet concerned with imposing limits, is conjunct with do as I want, Uranus. This combination made him occasionally wrong-headed. Biden has a lucky chart. There are a number of trines involving Jupiter in Cancer. His love of family is also shown by that placement. Joe’s Sun, Mercury, and Venus are in the 12th House of service to others but also self-undoing. He was well-intentioned but sometimes badly wrong in a big way.***
Finis: Momentous challenges were faced by the aforementioned. The first two were largely correct in their decision making while the latter two sometimes erred egregiously.
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***To be fair-minded his infrastructure bill is a good idea. Many of our roads, bridges, and forms of transit need to be repaired and upgraded.
The war in Afghanistan was started by President George W. Bush in October 2001. The U.S. spent $2.26 trillion on the war. Included within that figure were direct war fighting costs of $800 billion, $85 billion to train the Afghan army, $750 million a year in payroll for the Afghan soldiers, and $300 billion for caring for our 20,000 casualties. (Forbes, “The War in Afghanistan Cost America $300 Million Per Day for 20 years” by Christopher Helman and Hank Tucker, updated August 17, 2021)
The war was financed with borrowed money. More than $500 billion in interest has been paid. (Ibid) President Biden made the right call in ending the war. I wish the Afghan women and girls could have continued to be protected. They have a lot to offer.