Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (8 page)

 

11. All armies prefer high ground to low, and sunny places to dark.

 

12. If you are careful of your men, and camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind, and this will spell victory.

 

13. When you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunny side, with the slope on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers and utilise the natural advantages of the ground.

 

14. 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.

 

15. Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows, confined places, tangled thickets, quagmires and crevasses, should be left with all possible speed and not approached.

 

16. While we keep away from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them, we should let the enemy have them on his rear.

 

17. If in the neighbourhood of your camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to be lurking.

 

18. When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet, he is relying on the natural strength of his position.

 

19. When he keeps aloof and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the other side to advance.

 

20. If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering a bait.

 

21. Movement amongst the trees of a forest shows that the enemy is advancing. The appearance of a number of screens in the midst of thick grass means that the enemy wants to make us suspicious.

 

22. The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming.

 

23. When there is dust rising in a high column, it is the sign of chariots advancing; when the dust is low, but spread over a wide area, it betokens the approach of infantry. When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.

 

24. 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.

 

25. When the light chariots come out first and take up a position on the wings, it is a sign that the enemy is forming for battle.

 

26. Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.

 

27. When there is much running about and the soldiers fall into rank, it means that the critical moment has come.

28. When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is a lure.

 

29. When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

 

30. If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.

 

31. If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted.

 

32. If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied. Clamour by night betokens nervousness.

 

33. If there is disturbance in the camp, the general’s authority is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are weary.

 

34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots over the camp-fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to fight to the death.

 

35. The sight of men whispering together in small knots or speaking in subdued tones points to disaffection amongst the rank and file.

 

36. Too frequent rewards signify that the enemy is at the end of his resources; too many punishments betray a condition of dire distress.

 

37. To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy’s numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.

 

38. When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

39. If the enemy’s troops march up angrily and remain facing ours for a long time without either joining battle or taking themselves off again, the situation is one that demands great vigilance and circumspection.

 

40. If our troops are no more in number than the enemy, that is amply sufficient; it only means that no direct attack can be made. What we can do is simply to concentrate all our available strength, keep a close watch on the enemy, and obtain reinforcements.

 

41. He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.

 

42. If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, they will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.

 

43. Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.

 

44. If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.

 

45. If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.

1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporising ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.

 

2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called
accessible
.

 

3. With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage.

 

4. Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called
entangling
.

 

5. From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

 

6. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called
temporising
ground.

 

7. In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

 

8. With regard to
narrow passes
, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

 

9. 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.

 

10. With regard to
precipitous heights
, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

 

11. If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.

 

12. 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, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

 

13. These six are the principles connected with Earth. The general who has attained a responsible post must be careful to study them.

 

14. 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.

 

15. Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the
flight
of the former.

 

16. When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is
insubordination
. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is
collapse
.

17. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result is
ruin
.

 

18. When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter
disorganisation
.

 

19. When a general, unable to estimate the enemy’s strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be a
rout
.

 

20. These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.

 

21. The natural formation of the country is the soldier’s best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.

 

22. He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practises them, will surely be defeated.

 

23. If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler’s bidding.

 

24. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.

25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

 

26. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.

 

27. 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.

 

28. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

 

29. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.

 

30. Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.