1. Laying Plans
All warfare is based on deception.
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.
If his forces are united, separate them.
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2. Waging War
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
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3. Attack by Stratagem
Sun Tzu 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 recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.
Therefore the skillful 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.
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
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.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
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4. Tactical Dispositions
Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat,
but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
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5. Energy
In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack: the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.
The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.
Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision;
concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy;
masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.
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6. Weak Points and Strong
Sun Tzu 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.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible
and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.
By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.
Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them;
conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
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7. Maneuvering
The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
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.
We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.
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 advantage to account unless we make use of local guides.
In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men;
when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery
Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
He will conquer who has learnt the artifice of deviation.
Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning;
by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent only on returning to camp.
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.
It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.
Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.
Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy.
Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.
Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
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8. Variation in Tactics
There are roads which must not be followed,
armies which must be not attacked,
towns which must not be besieged,
positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.
The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;
(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;
(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;
(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
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9. The Army on the March
All armies prefer high ground to low.
and sunny places to dark.
When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet, he is relying on the natural strength of his position.
When he keeps aloof and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the other side to advance.
If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering a bait.
Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance.
Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will retreat.
When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is a lure.
If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted.
The sight of men whispering together in small knots or speaking in subdued tones points to disaffection amongst the rank and file.
To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.
When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.
If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.
Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline.
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