The Art of War

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.” 

Sun Tzu stresses that victory relies on deception. It is always vital to appear strong when weak and weak when strong, so that the enemy miscalculates, positions its forces in the wrong places, and over- or underestimates its chances. These techniques also demonstrate an army’s efficiency and adaptability, attributes that help reduce the deadly cost of warfare. 

“Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.”

Supply lines bring food and weapons from home, but this can bankrupt a nation. When on the attack, it is better to supply an army with goods taken from the invaded country. This also goes to Sun Tzu’s point about fighting quickly—though not in haste—so that the outcome is speedy and the cost to the state is relatively small. 

“In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.” 

The cost and risk of war make it imperative that an advancing army move quickly and attack efficiently. An invader also should obtain much of its weaponry from the enemy. Equipment taken in battle can be re-flagged and re-used against the opponent. Even enemy soldiers, if kindly treated, can sometimes be recruited to join the invaders. With these techniques, a war can be over in weeks instead of months or years. 

“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

It is most efficient to win without doing battle. Thus, anything that prevents an opponent from attacking is effort well spent. Worst of all is laying siege, which can take months and break the spirit—not of the attacked city, but of the attackers themselves. 

“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.” 

Good generals know themselves and the strengths and weaknesses of their armies. They know how to inspire great effort from the troops and how to keep the king’s nose out of their business. Their strength is in careful planning. Like a lawyer who never asks a question in court unless they already know the answer, good generals never make a move until they know the full situation and its probable outcome. 

“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” 

Chief among Sun Tzu’s principles of war is thoroughness. Thus, armies must arrange themselves into impregnable positions and wait for an opportunity. The secret, thereafter, is to let the enemy show a weakness that may be attacked. 

“Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.” 

Planning, good defense, and watchful waiting are the hallmarks of strategy. An enemy that relies on brute force and heroic displays can easily be outwitted and defeated. Wise generals keep their armies out of the way and then, when the moment is right, strike massively and decisively. The difference between the victorious general and the vanquished one is that the winner expects to win while the loser merely hopes to win. 

“Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.”

Direct attacks use force in obvious ways while indirect attacks are used as decoys. An apparently disordered sally against one section of the enemy, or simply displaying weakly arrayed troops and hiding the true strength in the rear, tempts the opponent to attack at the wrong point while the major part of the army strikes at the enemy’s weak spots. If the other side interprets a weak side attack or poorly arrayed troops as a sign of fear and confusion, it will relax, become overconfident, and fall into the trap.

“The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals.” 

Smart leaders place their troops carefully. They position forceful ones for direct attacks; they then put clever and deceitful ones on the sidelines where they can encourage unwarranted arrogance in the ranks of the enemy. Thus, each company has specific duties attuned to its abilities. None become exhausted from trying to do too much, and the total effect is efficient and powerful.

“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. 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.” 

This is the essence of Sun Tzu’s teachings: Remove any weaknesses in your own position, and then attack the enemy’s weak spots. Attacking a strong position is heroic but foolish; it’s like trying to take a castle from below. A much smarter method is to attack a position at its weakest point and then pour through the resulting gap. 

“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.” 

Direct, frontal attacks are a fool’s way of conducting warfare. It is much better to find a valuable resource of the enemy and attack it, forcing the well-defended opponent to leave its protection, split its forces, and struggle weakly to defend elsewhere. Faced with an impregnable border fortress, an invader can simply make a detour and attack a weaker unit out on the field, forcing the fortress soldiers to emerge and defend its cohorts. 

“To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished:—this is the art of husbanding one's strength. To refrain from intercepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order, to refrain from attacking an army drawn up in calm and confident array:—this is the art of studying circumstances.”

If possible, make the enemy work hard while one’s own army stays rested. An opponent that must march constantly to keep up, squandering its supplies and perhaps even going hungry, is a weakened opponent. An army that’s refreshed, well fed, and well defended, on the other hand, is not one to trifle with. It is better to wait for a better opportunity than to attack such a force. 

“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.”

This simple rule reveals an important principle—namely, always to think carefully about each move in the game of war. A desperate army can do serious damage when cornered; letting at least some of it escape will vent that energy. Besides, a retreating army is a satisfying thing to watch. 

“The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops. The general who does not understand these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.” 

In the field, the situation can change suddenly, and leaders who depend on textbook theories on how to wage war can find themselves unable to maneuver their way out of trouble. The ability to improvise in the moment is vital to success in battle, as in any occupation—from business to politics—and this lesson in leadership stands as a general life principle. The art of deftly shifting one’s tactics with changes in circumstances, abandoning previous beliefs in the face of new information, is the mark of victors.

“There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction; (2) cowardice, which leads to capture; (3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; (4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; (5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.”

Each of these character flaws amounts to a burst of negative emotional energy, which overthrows a leader’s ability to consider carefully and logically the battle situations that arise during war. These faults are dangerous or fatal to an army, providing opportunities for an opponent to aggravate them deliberately. Accomplished commanders avoid these weaknesses at all costs and encourage them in their enemies. 

“Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows, confined places, tangled thickets, quagmires and crevasses, should be left with all possible speed and not approached. 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.” 

Armies should look for flat, dry land on which to camp and fight. Rough terrain like mountains, rivers, or marshes limit maneuverability. In turn, it is advantageous to position things so the enemy finds itself trapped between your army and difficult ground. If it must retreat, that effort will be slow and costly.

“If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.” 

Punishing soldiers too soon, before they’ve learned to trust and admire the leader, will breed resentment. However, failing to punish after they have bonded with the general will spoil the troops and lead to chaos. The best approach is to win the hearts of the troops and then be strict, since the men will respect the general’s actions, even if they’re painful, and they’ll learn to be orderly, a vital quality during battle. 

“We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.” 

Accessible ground is flat with good roads, useful to either side, which an army should try to occupy first; entangling ground is hard to traverse and therefore dangerous to retreat through; temporizing ground offers no good position for either side, where both opponents must simply wait, or where one retreats as a lure. From narrow passes and high cliffs an army can blockade an enemy or swoop down onto it; distant positions require one or both sides to travel, which exhausts them. Thus, an army should claim the flat terrain and occupy passes and cliffs while avoiding difficult, complex, or distant terrain. 

“Now an army is exposed to six several [sic] calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout.” 

Small armies tend to run away in the face of huge opponents; strong soldiers who serve under weak officers may rebel; when the staff is overly forceful, weak soldiers may collapse from overwork. Angry or impatient general staff will put their troops into untenable positions; muddled or confusing orders will cause attack and defense to lose focus; and forces launched into battle before the enemy’s strengths are analyzed can find themselves thrown against a wall of superior force. All of these disasters are mistakes of leadership; the cures are careful planning and calm decisiveness. 

“The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.” 

Dispersive ground, usually a place in the home territory, is where soldiers in a losing situation are most likely to abandon their posts and run home. Facile ground is enemy territory just inside their border, where invading troops still think of home, and where a smart general burns boats and bridges to remove that temptation. Contentious ground is a place of great value; open ground is where the first army to arrive has the advantage; intersecting highways are regions at the border of multiple states, where an invader can threaten several kingdoms at once and force alliances. Serious ground is deep inside enemy territory, where the invaders have no option but to fight; difficult, hemmed-in, and desperate ground are where soldiers must fight or die and thus often do their best work. 

“The further you penetrate into a country, the greater will be the solidarity of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail against you.” 

The deeper an army delves into enemy territory, the greater the danger. The region isn’t well known to most of the soldiers and officers, supply lines can break, and regiments can be surrounded and annihilated. However, this sense of danger is useful to a crafty general, who uses the threat to inspire troops to greater effort: If they don’t do their utmost during battle, they’re likely to die. Thus, an army in dire straits will fight ferociously and win battles that observers might assume would be lost. Likewise, it is foolish to corner a defeated enemy because its troops will battle for their lives and might even turn the tide.  

“There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to burn soldiers in their camp; the second is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.” 

Fire can simplify warfare by destroying an enemy’s supplies and equipment. It can also force an enemy from its camp, the escaping soldiers picked off as they emerge. Fire has a tremendous power to disrupt, agitate, and exhaust an opponent. Water also can be diverted into a camp, but it doesn’t destroy the enemy’s equipment as thoroughly as fire does.

“Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.”

Smart leaders look constantly for things they can use in the field to gain an advantage. These may include a well-set fire on a windy night; a pass quickly held against an approaching army; a high-ranking official taken prisoner; or a diversion that splits the opponent’s forces. Such situations reveal themselves during maneuvers or battle. The wisest leaders search for and make quick use of them.