Strategic Assessments (The Art of War)
Outcomes are measured by the Way, the Weather, the Terrain, the Leadership and the Discipline.
*The Way means giving the people the same aim as Leadership, so they will face death without fear. Humanity is respected.
*in Weather, the seasons are very important. frostbite in winter, insect plagues in summer, access to supplies etc.
*The Terrain is to be assessed in terms of distance, ease/difficulty of travel, dimension, and safety. “The lay of the land”. Basic approaches are directly through, or circuitous routes. Find guides in unknown territory.
*Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness.
*Discipline means organization, chain of command, and logistics (overseeing supplies). These are the five measures.
*Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent.
*Draw them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion.
*When they have a strong bond between leadership and soldiers, be prepared. When they are strong, avoid them.
*Use anger to throw them into disarray. This works well on the leadership, especially if original plans have faltered.
*Use humility to make them haughty. Tire them by flight. Cause division among them. Attack when they are unprepared, make your move when they do not expect it.
*The formation and procedure used by the military should not be divulged beforehand. This sometimes includes inner ranks.
*When your strategy is deep and farsighted, you gain more. When your thinking is shallow and nearsighted, you gain less.
Doing Battle
*It is never beneficial to a nation to continue battle for a long time. Even if you are winning, you will exhaust strength, supplies will become inefficient, and you will lose support amongst your homeland.
*When you go into battle, you go all at once. You cannot return to the homeland a second time for more troops.
*At first you provide food, then you feed off the enemy.
*Lack of transporting food saves manpower. Transporting weapons can be troublesome and should be kept secret.
*When supplies are shipped to war, the homeland loses quantity and prices go up in the market. Long military campaigns will wear out a nation.
*Where there are big rewards, there are valiant men. Rewards should be kept to the one or few who succeed.
*Captured men should be well treated, to get them to work for you.
*Use the enemy to defeat the enemy. This overwhelms the opponent and strengthens you.
*The most important thing is victory, not persistence.
*Leaders are in charge of the lives of the people and the safety of the nation.
Planning a Siege
*Assess your opponents, cause them to lose spirit and direction so that even if the opposing army is intact it is useless. This is winning by the Tao. To destroy the army and kill the generals, and usurp their land, this is winning by force.
*The lowest is to attack a city. Siege of a city is only as a last resort. Take time to plan before making desperate moves.
*If the ratio is 10:1 surround them, 5:1 attack them, 2:1 divide them. 1:1 fight if able, keep away if less.
*Generals are nation's assistants. When their assistance is complete, the country is strong. If not, the country is weak.
Formation
*Making yourself invincible means knowing yourself, waiting for vulnerability in opponents means knowing others.
*Victory can be discerned but not manufactured. Invincibility is a matter of defense, vulnerability a matter of attack.
*Victory over others is not considered good, unless in war.
*Use sound to unite troops in formation.
*Do not follow a feigned retreat. Ambushes often lie in wait.
*Test abandoned food before consuming, in case of poison.
*On the day war is declared, borders are closed, passports are torn up, and emissaries are not let through. Matters are handled at headquarters.
*Generals have five weaknesses.
1. Those who are ready to die can be killed.
2. Those intent on living can be captured.
3. Those who are quick to anger can be shamed.
4. Those who are puritanical can be disgraced.
5. Those who love can be troubled.
Spies
*There are five kinds of spies.
1. Local spies are hired among the people of a locality.
2. Inside spies are hired from among enemy officials.
3. Reverse spies are hired from among enemy spies.
4. Dead spies transmit false information to enemy spies.
5. Living spies come back to report.
*Treat spies well, they may become renegades and work for the enemy. Spies usually get the highest treatment.
*Whenever you want to attack an army, besiege a city, or kill a person, first you must know the identities of defending generals, their associates, their visitors, and their guards, so have your spies find out.
*Bribe enemy spies to join you as reverse spies, they will give you valuable information and can contact inside spies.
Return to writings
Return to home