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 in number, that shall advantage
them
nothing in the matter of victory. I say then
that
victory can be achieved.
22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may
prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover
his plans and the likelihood of their success.
23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his
activity
or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself,
so as
to find out his vulnerable spots.
24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own,
so that you may know where strength is superabundant
and
where it is deficient.
25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch
you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions,
and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest
spies,
from the machinations of the wisest brains.
26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's
own tactics--that is what the multitude cannot
comprehend.
27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer,
but
what none can see is the strategy out of which victory
is
evolved.
28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained
you
one victory, but let your methods be regulated
by the
infinite variety of circumstances.
29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its
natural course runs away from high places and hastens
downwards.
30. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong
and
to strike at what is weak.
31. Water shapes its course according to the nature
of
the ground over which it flows; the soldier works
out his
victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape,
so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his
opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called
a
heaven-born captain.
34. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth)
are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make
way for each other in turn. There are short days
and long;
the moon has its periods of waning and
waxing.
