Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Sunzi

  11. All armies prefer high ground to low,

  “High ground,” says Mei Yao-ch’ên, “is not only more agreeable and salubrious, but more convenient from a military point of view; low ground is not only damp and unhealthy, but also disadvantageous for fighting.”

  and sunny places to dark.

  12. If you are careful of your men,

  Ts’ao Kung says: “Make for fresh water and pasture, where you can turn out your animals to graze.” And the other commentators follow him… . [My reading] has reference to the health of the troops. It is the title for Chuang Tzu’s third chapter, where it denotes moral rather than physical well-being.

  and camp on hard ground,

  Dry and solid, as opposed to damp and marshy, ground. This is to be found as a rule in high places.

  the army will be free from disease of every kind,

  Chang Yü says: “The dryness of the climate will prevent the outbreak of illness.”

  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,

  Explained [by Mei Yao-ch’ên as “places enclosed on every side by steep banks, with pools of water at the bottom.”

  confined places,

  “Natural pens or prisons,” explained as “places surrounded by precipices on three sides—easy to get into, but hard to get out of.”

  tangled thickets,

  “Places covered with such dense undergrowth that spears cannot be used.”

  quagmires

  “Lowlying places, so heavy with mud as to be impassable for chariots and horsemen.”

  and crevasses,

  [According to Mei Yao-Ch’ên] “a narrow difficult way between beetling cliffs,” but Ts’ao Kung [denotes] something on a much smaller scale. Tu Mu’s note is “ground covered with trees and rocks, and intersected by numerous ravines and pitfalls.” This is very vague, but Chia Lin explains it clearly enough as a defile or narrow pass, and Chang Yü takes much the same view.

  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.

  Chang Yü has the note: “We must also be on our guard against traitors who may lie in close covert, secretly spying out our weaknesses and overhearing our instructions.”

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

  Here begin Sun Tzu’s remarks on the reading of signs, much of which is so good that it could almost be included in a modern manual like Gen. Baden-Powell’s “Aids to Scouting” [the reference is to Gen. R. S. S. Baden-Powell’s military manual Aids to Scouting for NCOs and Men (1899)].

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

  Probably because we are in a strong position from which he wishes to dislodge us. “If he came close up to us,” says Tu Mu, “and tried to force a battle, he would seem to despise us, and there would be less probability of our responding to the challenge.”

  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.

  Ts’ao Kung explains this as “felling trees to clear a passage,” and Chang Yü says: “Every army sends out scouts to climb high places and observe the enemy. If a scout sees that the trees of a forest are moving and shaking, he may know that they are being cut down to clear a passage for the enemy’s march.”

  The appearance of a number of screens in the midst of thick grass means that the enemy wants to make us suspicious.

  Tu Yu’s explanation, borrowed from Ts’ao Kung, is as follows: “The presence of a number of screens or sheds in the midst of thick vegetation is a sure sign that the enemy has fled and, fearing pursuit, has constructed these hiding-places in order to make us suspect an ambush.” It appears that these “screens” were hastily knotted together out of any long grass which the retreating army happened to come across.

  22. The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade.

  Chang Yü’s explanation is doubtless right: “When birds that are flying along in a straight line suddenly shoot upwards, it means that soldiers are in ambush at the spot beneath.”

  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.

  The commentators explain the phenomenon by saying that horses and chariots, being heavier than men, raise more dust, and also follow one another in the same wheel-track, whereas foot-soldiers would be marching in ranks, many abreast. According to Chang Yü, “every army on the march must have scouts some way in advance, who on sighting dust raised by the enemy, will gallop back and report it to the commander-in-chief.” [As] Gen. Baden-Powell [writes]: “As you move along, say, in a hostile country, your eyes should be looking afar for the enemy or any signs of him: figures, dust rising, birds getting up, glitter of arms, etc.” [Aids to Scouting].

  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.

  Chang Yü says: “In apportioning the defences for a cantonment, light horse will be sent out to survey the position and ascertain the weak and strong points all along its circumference. Hence the small quantity of dust and its motion.”

  24. Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance.

  “As though they stood in great fear of us,” says Tu Mu. “Their object is to make us contemptuous and careless, after which they will attack us.”

  Chang Yü alludes to the story of T’ien Tan of the Ch’i State, who, in 279 B.C. was hard-pressed in his defence of Chi-mo against the Yen forces, led by Ch’i Chieh. In … the Shih Chi we read: “T’ien Tan openly said, ‘My only fear is that the Yen army may cut off the noses of their Ch’i prisoners and place them in the front rank to fight against us; that would be the undoing of our city.’ The other side being informed of this speech, at once acted on the suggestion; but those within the city were enraged at seeing their fellow-countrymen thus mutilated, and fearing only lest they should fall into the enemy’s hands, were nerved to defend themselves more obstinately than ever.

  “Once again T’ien Tan sent back converted spies who reported these words to the enemy: ‘What I dread most is that the men of Yen may dig up the ancestral tombs outside the town, and by inflicting this indignity on our forefathers cause us to become faint-hearted.’ Forthwith the besiegers dug up all the graves and burned the corpses lying in them. And the inhabitants of Chi-mo, witnessing the outrage from the city walls, wept passionately and were all impatient to go out and fight, their fury being increased tenfold. T’ien Tan knew then that his soldiers were ready for any enterprise. But instead of a sword, he himself took a mattock in his hands, and ordered others to be distributed amongst his best warriors, while the ranks were filled up with their wives and concubines. He then served out all the remaining rations and bade his men eat their fill. The r
egular soldiers were told to keep out of sight, and the walls were manned with the old and weaker men and with women.

  “This done, envoys were despatched to the enemy’s camp to arrange the terms of surrender, whereupon the Yen army began shouting for joy. T’ien Tan also collected 20,000 ounces of silver from the people, and got the wealthy citizens of Chi-mo to send it to the Yen general with the prayer that, when the town capitulated, he would not allow their homes to be plundered or their women to be maltreated. Ch’i Chieh, in high good humour, granted their prayer; but his army now became increasingly slack and careless.

  “Meanwhile, T’ien Tan got together a thousand oxen, decked them with pieces of red silk, painted their bodies, dragon-like, with coloured stripes, and fastened sharp blades on their horns and well-greased rushes on their tails. When the night came on, he lighted the ends of the rushes, and drove the oxen through a number of holes which he had pierced in the walls, backing them up with a force of 5000 picked warriors. The animals, maddened with pain, dashed furiously into the enemy’s camp where they caused the utmost confusion and dismay; for their tails acted as torches, showing up the hideous pattern on their bodies, and the weapons on their horns killed or wounded any with whom they came into contact.

  “In the meantime, the band of 5000 had crept up with gags in their mouths, and now threw themselves on the enemy. At the same moment a frightful din arose in the city itself, all those that remained behind making as much noise as possible by banging drums and hammering on bronze vessels, until heaven and earth were convulsed by the uproar. Terror-stricken, the Yen army fled in disorder, hotly pursued by the men of Ch’i, who succeeded in slaying their general Ch’i Chieh … The result of the battle was the ultimate recovery of some seventy cities which had belonged to the Ch’i State.”

  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

  Every man hastening to his proper place under his own regimental banner.

  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.

  As Tu Mu remarks: “One may know the condition of a whole army from the behaviour of a single man.”

  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.

  A useful fact to bear in mind when, for instance, as Ch’ên Hao says, the enemy has secretly abandoned his camp.

  Clamour by night betokens nervousness.

  Owing to false alarms; or, as Tu Mu explains it: “Fear makes men restless; so they fall to shouting at night in order to keep up their courage.”

  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.

  And therefore, as Capt. Calthrop says, slow to obey. Tu Mu understands the sentence differently: “If all the officers of an army are angry with their general, it means that they are broken with fatigue” [owing to the exertions which he has demanded from them].

  34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food,

  In the ordinary course of things, the men would be fed on grain and the horses chiefly on grass.

  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.

  I may quote here the illustrative passage from the Hou Han Shu, … in abbreviated form … : “The rebel Wang Kuo of Liang was besieging the town of Ch’ên-ts’ang. Huang-fu Sung, who was in supreme command, and Tung Cho were sent out against him. The latter pressed for hasty measures, but Sung turned a deaf ear to his counsel. At last the rebels were utterly worn out, and began to throw down their weapons of their own accord. Sung was now for advancing to the attack, but Cho said: ‘It is a principle of war not to pursue desperate men and not to press a retreating host.’ Sung answered: ‘That does not apply here. What I am about to attack is a jaded army, not a retreating host; with disciplined troops I am falling on a disorganised multitude, not a band of desperate men.’ Thereupon he advanced to the attack unsupported by his colleague, and routed the enemy, Wang Kuo being slain.”

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

  The musket made the infantryman, and the infantryman made the democrat.

  Gen. J. F. C. Fuller, The Conduct of War (1961)

  36. Too frequent rewards signify that the enemy is at the end of his resources;

  Because, when an army is hard pressed, as Tu Mu says, there is always a fear of mutiny, and lavish rewards are given to keep the men in good temper.

  too many punishments betray a condition of dire distress.

  Because in such case discipline becomes relaxed, and unwonted severity is necessary to keep the men to their duty.

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

  Another possible meaning, set forth by Tu Yu, Chia Lin, Mei Yao-ch’ên and Wang Hsi, is: “The general who is first tyrannical towards his men, and then in terror lest they should mutiny, etc.” This would connect the sentence with what went before about rewards and punishments.

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

  Tu Mu says: “If the enemy opens friendly relations by sending hostages, it is a sign that they are anxious for an armistice, either because their strength is exhausted or for some other reason.”

  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.

  As Ts’ao Kung points out, a manœuvre of this sort may be only a ruse to gain time for an unexpected flank attack or the laying of an ambush.

  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.

  Literally [with reference to the latter phrase], “no martial advance.” That is to say, chéng tactics and frontal attacks must be eschewed, and stratagem resorted to instead.

  What we can do is simply to concentrate all our available strength, keep a close watch on the enemy, and obtain reinforcements.

  This is an obscure sentence, and none of the commentators succeed in squeezing very good sense out of it… . I follow Li Ch’üan, who appears to offer the simplest explanation: “Only the side that gets more men will win.” … Chang Yü [expounds the] meaning to us in language which is lucidity itself: “When the numbers are even, and no favourable opening presents itself, although we may not be strong enough to deliver a sustained attack, we can find additional recruits amongst our sutlers and camp-followers, and then, concentrating our forces and keeping a close watch on the enemy, contrive to snatch the victory. But we must avoid borrowing foreign soldiers to help us.”

  He then quotes from Wei Liao Tzu … : “The nominal strength of mercenary troops may be 100,000, but their real value will be not more than half that figure.” [Chang Yü’s] interpretation means “to get recruits,” not from the outside, but from the tag-rag and bobtail which follows in the wake of a large army. This does not sound a very soldierly s
uggestion, and I feel convinced that it is not what Sun Tzu meant.

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

  Ch’ên Hao [says, quoting from the Tso Chuan]: “If bees and scorpions carry poison, how much more will a hostile state! Even a puny opponent, then, should not be treated with contempt.”

  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.

  Yen Tzu (B.C. 493) said of Ssu-ma Jang-chü “His civil virtues endeared him to the people; his martial prowess kept his enemies in awe.” [Wu Tzu says]: “The ideal commander unites culture with a warlike temper; the profession of arms requires a combination of hardness and tenderness.”

  Is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse? The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fall in one of the two.

  Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)

  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,

  Tu Mu … says: “A general ought in time of peace to show kindly confidence in his men and also make his authority respected, so that when they come to face the enemy, orders may be executed and discipline maintained, because they all trust and look up to him.”

  the gain will be mutual.

  Chang Yü says: “The general has confidence in the men under his command, and the men are docile, having confidence in him. Thus the gain is mutual.” He quotes a pregnant sentence from Wei Liao Tzu … : “The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts.” Vacillation and fussiness are the surest means of sapping the confidence of an army.