One Piece Episode 472

[Sentenal]

The worst thing in a fight is not to do the wrong thing but to do nothing. Or like Sousuke Sagara said it: Only a second-rate hunter licks his lips before pressing the trigger. So, in my opinion, what you said cannot be true. Whitebeard surely isn't a man of such low calibre.

I rather think it's a combination of what DarthEnder said: he knows he's pretty weak already, and, perhaps more importantly, if he had gone down there immediately, he wouldn't have seen anything but the immediate battlefield right in front of him. We actually saw that the admirals weren't all fighting at the same time, ever. I'd say between the admirals and Whitebeard, there was a sort of mental battle going on, both keeping watch on the other, to possibly counter had the other one done something (like they did with the tsunami and freezing it) or to seize the chance if the other one was sufficiently preoccupied.

I realise my second point is actually close to what you said, Sentenal, but the important nuances are different.

Still, that all being said, this whole operation was terribly planned. Even if saving Ace isn't actually saving one specific man but to make it clear that there will be a swift response to attacks against the Whitebeard pirates, it still makes poor sense if the counterattack achieves little but massive losses on their own side...

Well, I disagree with "doing nothing is worse than screwing up", but regardless of that, I don't even think that is applicable here. If you smell a trap, you don't go rushing in. I mean that is just common sense. Whitebeard clearly smelled a trap, and wasn't foolish enough to just rush in.

Also, technically all Whitebeard would need to do to "win" at Marineford is rescue Ace, and then excape. Even if they do take alot of losses, if they can trash Marineford, beat down some Shichibuaki and maybe some Admirals, and then get away with their lives, that would be a huge victory. After all, Ennies Lobby was considered a huge victory for the Straw Hats, so getting away with something like this (which is wayyy bigger) would be huge. It would go a very long way to undermine the World Government's authority, and possibly cause even more Pirates to set out to sea.

[Kraco]

Well, I disagree with "doing nothing is worse than screwing up", but regardless of that, I don't even think that is applicable here. If you smell a trap, you don't go rushing in. I mean that is just common sense. Whitebeard clearly smelled a trap, and wasn't foolish enough to just rush in.

You likely read it far too literally. The point of the proverb is that if you hesitate in a battle, you will never get the chance to do the right thing either.

What was the trap he smelled? The one that caught him like a sword through his chest because he stayed behind?