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VOLUME TWO
Weakness and Strength
Top. Part 34. Part 35. Part 36. Part 37. Part 38. Part 39. Part 40. Part 41
Part 34
Sun Tzu said: He who occupies the battlefield first
and awaits the enemy will be at ease; he who arrives later
and makes war in haste will be weary. Thus, he who is
skilled in war always leads the enemy by the nose, and will
not be manipulated by the enemy.
Give the enemy inducement and you can make him
come into your trap. Threaten him with danger and you
can stop him from approaching you. Therefore, the general should tire the enemy while he is at ease, starve the
enemy while he is well fed, and make the enemy move
while he is stationary.
Part 35
Appear at the place to which the enemy won't come;
attack a place where the enemy does not expect you. If
you can lead your troops to march a thousand li and without fatigue, it is because you march in the area where the
enemy has not set up defences.
That you are certain to take what you attack is because the enemy cannot fortify it. That you are certain of
success in holding what you defend is because the enemy
cannot attack it.
So with those who are adept in attack, the enemy
docs not know where and how to defend; and with those
who are adept in defence, the enemy does not know
where and how to attack. Be extremely subtle, so subtle
that no one can find any trace; be extremely mysterious, so
mysterious that no one can hear any information. If one
can do so, one can hold the enemy's fate in one's hands.
Part 36
The offensive one takes can be so strong that the enemy cannot defend just because one strikes at the enemy's
weak point. One can withdraw without being overtaken by
the enemy just because one moves so swiftly that the enemy cannot pursue. If we intend to fight, the enemy,
though holding fast to his position with ramparts high and
ditches deep, is compelled to fight with us because we attack where he must succour. If we do not intend to fight
with him, even though we set up little defence, the enemy
will not intrude upon us because we divert him from going
where he wishes.
Part 37
If we expose the enemy's disposition and hide ours,
we can concentrate our troops and divide the enemy's
forces. If we concentrate our forces at one place while the
enemy disperses his forces at ten places, then we are ten
to one when we launch an attack on him at one place,
which means our forces are numerically superior. If we
are able to use many to strike a few, naturally it well be
easy enough for us to deal with, because the enemy there
is small and weak.
The spot our forces intend to attack must not be
known to the enemy. In this way, he must take precautions
at many places against our attack, because he does not
understand where we shall strike; when he takes precautions at many places, his troops at any given spot will
be fewer.
Part 38
If the enemy takes precautions in the front, his rear
will be weak; if he takes precautions in the rear, his front
will be fragile; if his left gets strengthened, his right will be weakened; if his right is well prepared, his left will be easily destroyed; if he strengthens everywhere, he will be weak everywhere. One who has few must take precautions against possible attacks everywhere; one who has many compels the enemy to prepare against his attacks.
Part 39
If a general knows both the place and time of a battle
to come, he can lead his troops to go even a thousand li
away for a decisive battle. If he knows neither the place
nor the time of a battle to come, then his left wing cannot
help his right, and his right wing cannot save his left; the
troop in the front cannot .turn back to help the rear, and
the rear cannot go forward to relieve the front, let alone
looking after the more distant portions of the troops tens
of li apart and even the nearest several li away.
My opinion is that the troops of the state Yue* are many, but from the above mentioned principle, can you say
for sure that it will help Yue win a battle?
So a victory may be made. Even if the enemy's troops
are many, we can find a way to make them unable to fight.
* the state Yue: Wu and Yue were two states in ancient China, Sun Tzu himself helped Wu against Yue.
Part 40
If you consider and analyse the enemy's situation and
his plan to battle, you can have a clear understanding of
his chances of success. If you agitate the enemy, you can
know the patterns of his attack and defence. If you lure
the enemy, you can find out his vulnerable points. If you
count up the number of the enemy's soldiers and horses,
you can know his strengths and inadequacies.
Accordingly, the highest of the military art of
deceiving the enemy is to conceal your dispositions, In this
way, the most penetrating spies of the enemy cannot pry
in, even the wise man may not conspire against you. Even
if you make public that you have won victory by taking appropriate tactics in conformity to the enemy's changing
situation, they are still unable to comprehend it. Though
everyone knows the tactics by which you have won victory,
yet they are unable to know how it was applied to defeat
the enemy. Therefore the way to defeat the enemy should
not follow the beaten track, but change constantly according to the enemy's changing situation.
Part 41
Military tactics are like flowing water. Flowing water
always moves from high to low, and military tactics always
avoid the enemy's strong points and attack his weak
points. Whereas the course of flowing water is decided by
the different landforms, the way to win victory in a battle
is decided by altering the tactics according to enemy's
changing situation.
Accordingly, the way to fight never remains constant
and water never flows in the same way. Whoever can win
victory by taking appropriate tactics according to the enemy's different situations is one who directs military
operations with great skill. It is just like Wuxing* (the five elements), of which none is forever dominant, and the
four seasons, of which none can last forever; and the days,
which are, sometimes long and sometimes short; and the
moon, which sometimes waxes and sometimes wanes.
*Wuxing: Classic Chinese philosophy calls Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth the five elements. The five elements represent five states of forces of expansion or condensation.
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