Sun Tzŭ said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces.
These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.
In order to carry out an attack, we must have means available.
We may take it then that an army without its baggage-train is lost; without provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost.
Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, "Well done!"
When, in consequence of heavy rains up-country, a river which you wish to ford is swollen and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides.
In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.
If in the neighbourhood of your camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to be lurking.
The following are the principles to be observed by an invading force: The further you penetrate into a country, the greater will be the solidarity of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail against you.
On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear.
Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpose.
If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a clump of trees.
By employing the officers of his army without discrimination,
When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy’s forces. He overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented from joining against him.
The host thus forming a single united body, is it impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone.
Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.
Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.
The Book of Army Management says:
A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points;
Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies.
Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible.
Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhausible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away but to return once more.
Make forays in fertile country in order to supply your army with food.
Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants,
When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct;
Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows,
If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.
Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.
We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbours.
Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience,
If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle,
Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
Rapidity is the essence of war:
Sun Tzŭ said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals.
Sun Tzŭ said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them;
Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.
If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.
Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity.
Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.
Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not.
If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.
Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.
From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.
In night-fighting, then, make much use of signal-fires and drums, and in fighting by day, of flags and banners, as a means of influencing the ears and eyes of your army.
On serious ground, gather in plunder.
