And since the battle against the yetzer hara is a war, we need strategies to win our war with the yetzer hara. About this, Chazal (Brachos 17.) say, ביראה ערום אדם יהא לעולם, "A person should be clever with his yiras Shamayim." One must be clever to be successful in this great battle.
Tzaddikim would speak about armies and how they won wars and battles and learn strategies that we can use against the yetzer hara. One primary strategy of war is to be courageous and fearless.
A general once told Napoleon that he foresaw that they would lose a particular battle. Napoleon replied, "If you thought we could win, we would have. But since you were pessimistic, we will lose."
The Yesod HoAvodah zt'l tells about a general who said to his wife, "I just received a telegram that tells terrible news. It predicts that we are losing at a certain battle." His wife responded, "I just received another telegram. It came this moment; it tells of an even greater problem. It says you lost your courage, which is the greatest problem."
The same is true when we fight with the yetzer hara. We must be courageous and fight with confidence that with Hashem's help, we can win and overcome the yetzer hara.
Reb Yaakov Meir Shechter shlita explained the power of courage with an analogy:
When you are among a pack of dogs and show them you are afraid, they’ll run after you. But if you show them you aren't scared, the dogs will leave you alone. Reb Yaakov Meir explained that this is also how it is with the yetzer hara. If you show fear and meekness in front of the yetzer hara, the yetzer hara can overpower you. But if you show confidence and courage, the yetzer hara leaves you alone.
Czar Nikolai's army would fight during the day and drink at night. One soldier drank too much, and he was still asleep when his troop moved on. Upon awakening, he knew he had to catch up with his battalion quickly, but first, he wanted something to eat.
It was Friday night. He came to a Jewish home and helped himself to the pot of steaming cholent. He mounted his horse, placed the pot of hot cholent on the horse's mane, and set off to find his division. The hot cholent burned the horse's back, which spurred the horse to run quickly. It didn’t take long before he reached his battalion, but his horse, on fire, kept charging forward, straight towards the front.
The enemy soldiers saw him charging full speed towards them, and they were afraid. They assumed he surely had a powerful weapon since he wasn't scared to face them alone. They fled in panic. In this manner, Czar Nikolai's army won the war without firing a single gunshot. Reb Mendel Futerfas zt'l told this story and explained that it is the same with our battle against the yetzer hara. If one shows courage and hislahavus, the yetzer hara will be afraid of him and leave him alone.
