III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR

THE OLDEST MILITARY TREATISE IN THE WORLD

孫子兵法

Translated from the Chinese

By LIONEL GILES, M.A. (1910)

III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

 1. 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.

 2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles

    is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists

    in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

 3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to

    balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent

    the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in

    order is to attack the enemy's army in the field;

    and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

 4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it

    can possibly be avoided.  The preparation of mantlets,

    movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take

    up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over

    against the walls will take three months more.

 5. The general, unable to control his irritation,

    will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants,

    with the result that one-third of his men are slain,

    while the town still remains untaken.  Such are the disastrous

    effects of a siege.

 6. 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.

 7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery

    of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph

    will be complete.  This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

 8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten

    to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one,

    to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army

    into two.

 9. If equally matched, we can offer battle;

    if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy;

    if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made

    by a small force, in the end it must be captured

    by the larger force.

11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State;

    if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will

    be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will

    be weak.

12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring

    misfortune upon his army:--

13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat,

    being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. 

    This is called hobbling the army.

14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the

    same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant

    of the conditions which obtain in an army.  This causes

    restlessness in the soldier's minds.

15. (3) By employing the officers of his army

    without discrimination, through ignorance of the

    military principle of adaptation to circumstances. 

    This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

16. But 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.

17. 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.

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.