The Art Of War: Strategy and Tactics

Introduction

• Sun Tzu Wu, from the Ch`i State, wrote a book called ART OF WAR.
• Ho Lu, King of Wu, asked Sun Tzu if he could apply his management of soldiers to a slight test.
• Ho Lu asked if the test could be applied to women.
• 180 ladies were brought from the Palace, and Sun Tzu divided them into two companies.
• He placed one of the King's favorite concubines at the head of each company.
• He ordered the ladies to take spears in their hands.
• Sun Tzu said: "I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand and left hand?"
• The girls replied: Yes.
• Sun Tzu then went on to say: "When I say "Eyes front," you must look straight ahead." "When I say "Left turn," you must face towards your left hand. When I say "Right turn," you must face towards your right hand. When I say "About turn," you must face right round towards your back."
• The girls assented.
• Sun Tzu set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to begin the drill.
• Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order "Right turn." But the girls only burst out laughing.
• Sun Tzu said: "If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame."
• Sun Tzu started drilling them again, and this time gave the order "Left turn," whereupon the girls once more burst into fits of laughter.
• Sun Tzu stated: "If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers."
• He ordered the leaders of the two companies to be beheaded.
• The king of Wu was watching the scene from the top of a raised pavilion.
• When the king saw that his favorite concubines were about to be executed, he was greatly alarmed and hurriedly sent down the following message: "We are now quite satisfied as to our general's ability to handle troops. If We are bereft of these two concubines, our meat and drink will lose their savor. It is our wish that they shall not be beheaded."
• Sun Tzu replied: "Having once received His Majesty's commission to be the general of his forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty which, acting in that capacity, I am unable to accept."
• Ho Lu saw that Sun Tzu was one who knew how to handle an army, and finally appointed him general.
• In the west, he defeated the Ch`u State and forced his way into Ying, the capital.
• To the north he put fear into the States of Ch`i and Chin, and spread his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes.
• Sun Tzu shared in the might of the King.
• A biography of his descendant, Sun Pin, born about a hundred years after his famous ancestor's death was written.
• Sun Tzu had his feet cut off and yet continued to discuss the art of war."
• It seems likely, then, that "Pin" was a nickname bestowed on him after his mutilation, unless the story was invented in order to account for the name.
• The crushing defeat of his treacherous rival P`ang Chuan, is found briefly related in Chapter V. ss. 19, note.
• In the third year of his reign [512 B.C.] Ho Lu, king of Wu, took the field with Tzu-hsu [i.e. Wu Yuan] and Po Pei, and attacked Chu.
• He captured the town of Shu and slew the two prince's sons who had formerly been generals of Wu.
• The general Sun Wu said: "The army is exhausted. It is not yet possible. We must wait"
• in the ninth year [506 B.C.], King Ho Lu addressed Wu Tzu-hsu and Sun Wu, saying: "Formerly, you declared that it was not yet possible for us to enter Ying. Is the time ripe now?"
• "Chu's general Tzu-chang is grasping and covetous, and the princes of Tang and Tsai both have a grudge against him. If Your Majesty has resolved to make a grand attack, you must win over Tang and Tsai, and then you may succeed." Ho Lu followed this advice, [beat Ch`u in five pitched battles and marched into Ying.]
• The Huai-nan Tzu passage is: "When sovereign and ministers show perversity of mind, it is impossible even for a Sun Tzu to encounter the foe."
• Liu Hsiang (80-9 B.C.) says: "The reason Sun Tzu at the head of 30,000 men beat Ch`u with 200,000 is that the latter were undisciplined."
• The SHU CHU mentions "the army" among the "eight objects of government."
• The I CHING says: "'army' indicates firmness and justice; the experienced leader will have good fortune."
• The SHIH CHING says: "The King rose majestic in his wrath, and he marshaled his troops."
• The Yellow Emperor, Tatang the Completer and Wu Wang all used spears and battle-axes in order to succour their generation.
• The SSU-MA FA says: "If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself may rightfully be slain." He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.
• In military matters, the Sage's rule is normally to keep the peace, and to move his forces only when occasion requires. He will not use armed force unless driven to it by necessity.

Laying Plans

• The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
• It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.
• It is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
• The art of war is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field including:
  • The Moral Law
  • Heaven
  • Earth
  • The Commander
  • Method and discipline
• The MORAL LAW causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
• HEAVEN signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons
• Meng Shih refers to "the hard and the soft, waxing and waning" of Heaven.
• EARTH comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
• The COMMANDER stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.
• The Chinese include the 5 cardinal virtues including:
  • humanity or benevolence
  • uprightness of mind
  • self-respect, self-control, or "proper feeling
  • wisdom
  • sincerity or good faith
• METHOD AND DISCIPLINE are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
• The five heads including The Moral Law, Heaven, and Earth should be familiar to every general
• Being familiar with the five heads will mean victory
• In your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, they should be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise including:
  • Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law, "is in harmony with his subjects."?.
  • Which of the two generals has most ability?
  • With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
  • On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? -Which army is stronger being Morally as well as physically?
  • On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
  • In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
  • there should be the most absolute certainty that merit will be properly rewarded and misdeeds summarily punished?
• By means of the seven considerations one can forecast victory or defeat
• The general that hearkens to counsel and acts on the advice, will conquer
• While heading the profit of counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
• All warfare is based on deception.
• When able to attack, one must seem unable
• When using forces, one must seem inactive
• When near, one must make the enemy believe we are far away
• When far away, one must make him believe we are near.
• Hold out baits to entice the enemy
• Feign disorder, and crush him when he is in disorder
• If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
• If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him
• Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
• If he is taking his ease, give him no rest, although some may say, wait for the enemy to tire out.
• If his forces are united, separate them.
• Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where one is not expected.
• These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
• The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.
• The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.

Waging War

• He who wishes to fight must first count the cost, which prepares for the discovery that the subject of the chapter is primarily a consideration of ways and means.
• Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are on the field including:
  • 1000 swift chariots
  • 1000 heavy chariots
  • 100,000 mail-clad soldiers
• The "swift chariots" were lightly built and, and used for the attack and the "heavy chariots" were heavier, and designed for purposes of defense.
• Each swift chariot was accompanied by 75 footmen, and each heavy chariot by 25 footmen, so that the whole army would be divided up into a thousand battalions, each consisting of two chariots and a hundred men
• there are with provisions enough to carry them 1000 LI which goes to a mile
• the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day.
• the cost of raising an army is 100,000 men that can be brought into the field with provisions enough to carry them a thousand LI,
• When engaging in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If they lay siege to a town, they will exhaust their strength
• If the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of extremism. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
• Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays, as speed may sometimes be injudicious, tardiness can never be anything but foolish as it means impoverishment to the nation.
• There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. There is little gain from being thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. Only way to do so is with is with rapidity.
• The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.
• War is declared with a goal being not to waste time in waiting for reinforcements and crossing the enemy's frontier without delay and without returning to camp.
• Bring war material, or things for the army to use from one's home and forage for food on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs
• 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. The husbandmen sent their contributions of provisions to the army directly because the State is to poor to do so itself
• The proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.
• When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.
• With this loss and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated
• Government expenses for broken chariots, worn horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons. will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.
• A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single PICUL of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store which translates to
• Because twenty cartloads will be consumed in the process of transporting one cartload to the front
• A PICUL unit of measure equal to 133.3 pounds (65.5 kilograms)
• In order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger. If they are defalcating to the enemy, they must have their rewards.
• Rewards are necessary to make the soldiers see its in their best interest to beating the enemy, thus, when capturing spoils from the enemy, they must be used as rewards, so your men may have a keen desire to fight on their own accord.
• In chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded. One's own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy
• The captured soldiers should be treated kindly and kept
• War main goal is ultimately to secure victory and not to fight a lengthy war.
• 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.

Attack by Stratagem

• 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, much like how 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. _Equivalent to an army corps consists nominally of 12500 men _Equivalent to a regiment contained 500 men _Equivalent to a detachment consists from any number between 100 and 500 _Equivalent to a company contains from 5 to 100 men
• To fight and conquer in all battles is not supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting,
• Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans by delivering one's own attach first.
• Next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces isolating him from his allies. We must not forget multiple states or principalities
• Next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field when he is already at full strength
• The worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities because the preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months.
• It is not quite clear what the Chinese defined as "mantlets. but were "large shields", to protect the heads of those who were assaulting the city walls at close quarters much like a Roman TESTUDO, ready made.
• The name is also applied to turrets on city walls used to create a "movable shelters" they are able to convey parties of men to and from the walls, for the purpose of filling up the encircling moat with earth that are now called to as "wooden donkeys, with the piling of mound against the walls for a further three months.
• The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, is a spectable of an army of ants climbing a wall meaning is that the general, losing patience at the long delay, may make a attempt before his engines of war are ready, with the men getting hurt without killing the other party
• Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them. They overthrow their king without any violence and attack.
• Notes the importance of only overthrowing he government of the people and doing little harm to the people
• With forces intact, it is best to dispute the mastery of the Empire without losing any men to complete his triumph, while weapon remains sharp and not blunted by use, its keenness remains perfect."]
• It is a rule in war, how the forces align when our forces are ten to the enemy's one then we surrounding him if five to one, to attack him: if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.
• If equally matched, then offer battle, if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy;
• the act of watching the enemy, is a great improvement to avoid getting in a difficult situation for there is no good authoritive variant if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
• Though an obstinate fight may be by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force. Now the general is the bulwark of the State The gap indicates deficiency. _If ability is not well versed, the army lacks strength
• There are rulers bring trouble when : commanding to advance or to retreat
• It is like tying together the legs of a bred thorough
• When the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.
• Thus there are essentials for victory:
• The commander is able to fight or not to fight
• Will win if he knows he's able to handle the situation at hand with force and a quick plan
• By applying the art of war, it is possible with a lesser force to defeat a greater, and vice versa and there should be great analysis
• Whose army is animated by the same spirit through its ranks and the one who prepared himself or will not do an task. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the a hundred battles, only for a victory not an defeat

Tactical Dispositions

• marching and countermarching on the part of the two armies with a view to discovering each other's condition"
• Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the enemy, will be fresh the later may be forced as result. if not. To prevent this, move in the open of the attack the to avoid not being pushed off one another in an isolated form
• Security against defeat = defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy the offensive.
• Great skill is gained for the better but to each must be aware of his own position if know all in high levels there, a great advantage can occur There the point of the to see only what is in to keep those in a place that would be in a safe retreat and it is at this time not in harmony to what one. Sun Tzu is not in touch if would all be the same Tactical of a team and how can a man who has that of others to understand that from this great skill and all is possible at once will what the point may be.
• Of much but the acme and how may be put only by what those do.

Energy

• the control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: The control and splitting of members is in regards to how all subordinates will operate in harmony with their superiors and their teams.
• Fighting with a large party under your directive is like fighting with a unit, but it is the key to instituting directions and signals.
• The most complex terms to the Chinese is the discussion of the CHENG and the CHI.
• That Impact may be what your team does to the enemy using quick judgements. 5. In all directions for battle, the direction may be. This needs to give the victory. Develop indirect tactis from the back and flanks in an orderly fashion.
• Indirect and efficiency needs with a team by the sun and will bring on new members. And by the present that sun has, that will have you only,
• Musical not only are these but each gives to the music of their teams, while there comes from one to the other with every step. Is this the energy that it to the victim may have of strength from a unit because his will to do them is very effective.
• **
• NOTE:*
• There may be some incomplete sentances.
• This was due to OCR and word recognition being a bit inconsistent and resulting in loss of context
• Also due to how some concepts related to China are foreign and difficult to describe

Questions cover Sun Tzu's principles on military strategy. Topics include interpreting key terms, analogies for victorious armies, and tactics for engaging the enemy. It also covers strategy when facing united enemy forces.