III. PLANNING ATTACK

III. PLANNING ATTACK
- 1. Sun Tzu said:
- [Art of War]
  - It is better to capture a country intact,
    - than to destroy a country;
  - It is better to capture an army intact,
    - than to destroy an army;
  - It is better to capture a regiment intact,
    - than to destroy a regiment;
  - It is better to capture a unit intact,
    - than to destroy a unit.
  - It is better to capture a squad
    - than to destroy a squad;
- [Excellence]
  - 2. Therefore to fight and conquer in all your battles
    - is not supreme excellence;
    - supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
- [Leadership]
  - 3. Therefore the highest form of commandership 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 commander, 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.
- [Rules in War]
  - 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.
    - 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.
- [Guardian]
  - 11. Now the commander is the guardian of the State;
    - if the guardian is complete at all points; the State will be strong;
    - if the guardian 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.
      - 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.
    - 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.
- [Essentials for Victory]
  - 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.