A theme of the “Six Soldiers of Fortune” is that in order to achieve a goal, one must utilize the necessary resources according to their purpose.
The goal is the “all the treasures” of the king’s kingdom and the necessary resources are men of specific skills as the main character is “a man who was a Jack-of-all-trades”. The first soldier he recruits has incredible strength with the ability to uproot trees and carry at least six on his back. Though this soldier is the first to join the army, he is utilized in the final stage in the achievement of the goal, literally, carrying off “the wealth of his realm”.
The second soldier’s skill is amazing marksmanship. As the runner slept, the king’s daughter was on her way to winning the race until the huntsman shot the hard pillow “from under the runner’s head without doing him any harm” which resulted in the runner- an exceedingly fast runner- waking up. The huntsman was utilized in the first stage when the plan deviated from protocol and managed risk.
The use of the appropriate means to produce a specific result occur with every soldier- the man with the little hat provided a frost that overcame the unbearable heat the army suffered from. Similar to the huntsman, he served as a corrective measure to the plan going a rye. The blower keeps the king’s army from reaching them so that they could retain their spoils.
The leader did not directly contribute to the challenges but recognized the talents of each of his soldiers and used their strengths to achieve the goal. He managed all of their abilities taking macro perspective and long term view. We can compare the fictional army of uniquely talented soldiers to a modern day football team with specialty players in each position- quarterback for implementing the most effective probable play, the running back to carry the ball forward, the tight-end to serve as a blocker and receiver, etc.
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