In raiding and plundering be like fire,
To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.
If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.
These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.
If you are careful of your men,
It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.
Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy’s camp.
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.
If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
Therefore the skilful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
Camp in high places,
We cannot enter into alliance with neighbouring princes until we are acquainted with their designs. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country—its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
One who acts thus is no leader of men, no present help to his sovereign, no master of victory.
Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our own spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.
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.
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.
Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows,
Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.
Should the enemy forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned.
Movement amongst the trees of a forest shows that the enemy is advancing.
Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, "Well done!"
Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.
If equally matched, we can offer battle;
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,
They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness.
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
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.
Sun Tzŭ said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle, will arrive exhausted.
In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.
On open ground, do not try to block the enemy’s way.
Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.
If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.
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.
When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.
Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is contentious ground.
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.
If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.
When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions.
Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.
Hence in the wise leader’s plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage will be blended together.
When the enemy’s men were scattered, they prevented them from concentrating; even when their forces were united, they managed to keep them in disorder.
Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances.
How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics—that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.
Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.
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.
By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.
When it was to their advantage, they made a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped still.
Thus, without waiting to be marshalled, the soldiers will be constantly on the qui vive; without waiting to be asked, they will do your will;
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.
Hence the skilful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible;
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.
That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg—this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.
When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.
