The Art of War by Zi Sun (best short novels TXT) 📖

>(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.

 

18. 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.

 

IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

 

1. 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.

 

2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our

own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy

is provided by the enemy himself.

3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat,

but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

 

4. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer

without being able to do it.

 

5. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics;

ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient

strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

 

7. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the

most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in

attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven.

Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves;

on the other, a victory that is complete.

 

8. To see victory only when it is within the ken

of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

 

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight

and conquer and the whole Empire says, “Well done!”

 

10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;

to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight;

to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

 

11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is

one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation

for wisdom nor credit for courage.

 

13. 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.

14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into

a position which makes defeat impossible, and does

not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

 

15. 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.

16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law,

and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is

in his power to control success.

17. In respect of military method, we have,

firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity;

thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances;

fifthly, Victory.

 

18. 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.

 

19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as

a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

 

20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting

of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

 

V. ENERGY

 

1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force

is the same principle as the control of a few men:

it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

 

2. Fighting with a large army under your command

is nowise different from fighting with a small one:

it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

 

3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand

the brunt of the enemy’s attack and remain unshaken—

this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

 

4. 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.

 

5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used

for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed

in order to secure victory.

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible

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 to return once more.

 

7. There are not more than five musical notes,

yet the combinations of these five give rise to more

melodies than can ever be heard.

 

8. There are not more than five primary colors

(blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination

they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

 

9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes

(sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations

of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

 

10. 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.

 

11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn.

It is like moving in a circle—you never come to an end.

Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

 

12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent

which will even roll stones along in its course.

 

13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed

swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy

its victim.

14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible

in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

 

15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow;

decision, to the releasing of a trigger.

 

16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may

be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all;

amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head

or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.

17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline,

simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness

postulates strength.

 

18. 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.

 

19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy

on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to

which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something,

that the enemy may snatch at it.

 

20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march;

then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.

 

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined

energy, and does not require too much from individuals.

Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize

combined energy.

22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting

men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones.

For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain

motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope;

if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if

round-shaped, to go rolling down.

 

23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men

is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain

thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject

of energy.

 

VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG

 

1. 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.

 

2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on

the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.

 

3. 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.

 

4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him;

if well supplied with food, he can starve him out;

if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.

 

5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend;

march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

 

6. An army may march great distances without distress,

if it marches through country where the enemy is not.

 

7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks

if you only attack places which are undefended.You can

ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold

positions that cannot be attacked.

 

8. 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.

 

9. 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.

10. You may advance and be absolutely irresistible,

if you make for the enemy’s weak points; you may retire

and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid

than those of the enemy.

 

11. 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.

 

12. 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.

13. By discovering the enemy’s dispositions and remaining

invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated,

while the enemy’s must be divided.

 

14. We can form a single united body, while the

enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will

be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole,

which means that we shall be many to the enemy’s few.

 

15. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force

with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

 

16. 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;

and his forces being thus distributed in many directions,

the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will

be proportionately few.

17. For should the enemy strengthen his van,

he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear,

he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left,

he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right,

he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere,

he will everywhere be weak.

18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare

against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling

our adversary to make these preparations against us.

 

19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle,

we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order

to fight.

 

20. But if neither time nor place be known,

then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right,

the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van

unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van.

How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are

anything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearest

are separated by several LI!

21. Though according to my estimate the soldiers

of Yueh exceed our own