Weakness And Strength

Sun Tzu said:

“In general, whoever occupies the battlefield first and awaits the enemy will be at ease; whoever occupies the battleground afterward and must rush to the conflict will be fatigued. Thus he who is skilled at warfare moves the enemy and is not moved by the enemy.”

“In order to entice the enemy to come of their own, show him advantage. In order to prevent the enemy from coming forth, show them the potential of harm.”

“Therefore if the enemy is rested be able to exhaust him; if he is well fed, be able to starve him; if he is settled, be able to move him. Go forth to positions to which he must rush to defend. Rush forward where he least expects it.”

“To travel a thousand li without becoming fatigued, march through unoccupied terrain. To be certain to take the objective in an attack, strike positions that are undefended. To be certain of an impenetrable defense, secure positions that the enemy can not attack.”

“Therefore when someone is skilled in attacking, the enemy does not know where to mount his defense; when someone is skilled at defense, the enemy does not know where to attack. Subtle! Subtle! They become formless. Mysterious! Mysterious! They become soundless. Therefore he can be the enemy’s Master of Fate.

“To achieve an unhampered advance, strike their weak points. To achieve a retreat that cannot be overtaken, depart with superior speed. Therefore if we want to engage in battle, even though the enemy has high walls and deep moats, he cannot avoid doing battle because we attack objectives he must defend.”

“If we do not want to engage in battle, even though we merely draw a line on the ground and defend it, he will not be able to engage us in battle because we divert his movements.”

“Therefore if we determine the enemy’s disposition of forces while we have no perceptible form, we can concentrate our forces while the enemy is fragmented, then we attack him with ten times his strength. Therefore we are many and the enemy is few. If we can attack his few with our many, the enemy will be on unfortunate ground.”

“The location where we will engage the enemy must not become known to them. If it is not known, then the positions they must prepare to defend will be many. If the positions the enemy prepares to defend are many, then the forces we will engage will be few. Therefore if they prepare to defend the front, to the rear they will be weak with few men. If they defend the rear, then it is in the front they will be weak. If they prepare to defend the right flank, then on the left they will be defended by a few. If he prepares to defend everywhere, then they are weak everywhere. The few are those preparing to defend against others, the many are those who make others prepare to defend against them.”

“Therefore if one knows the field of battle and knows the day of battle, he can march a thousand li and assemble to engage in battle. If he does not know the field of battle nor know the day for battle, then the left flank cannot aid the right nor the right aid the left; the front cannot aid the rear nor the rear aid the front. How much more so if he is separated by tens of li, or even but a few li? Based on my calculations, even though Yűeh’s troops were numerous, of what great advantage is it to them in respect to victory? Therefore I say victory can be achieved. Even though the enemy is more numerous, they can be prevented from doing battle.

“Therefore know the enemy’s plans and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Provoke them to know the patterns of their movements. Determine their dispositions of force to know the terrain of death and of life. Probe them to know where they have strength, and where they are insufficient.”

“Therefore the summit of military deployment approaches the formless. If you are formless, then even the most penetrating spy cannot discern you and the wisest councils will be unable to make calculations against you.”

“All will know how the formation by which you have achieved victory, yet none will know the formations by which you were able to create victory. Therefore your strategies for victories in battle are not repetitious, and your formations are in response to the enemy are endless.”

The army’s formation is like water. Water’s configuration avoids heights and rushes towards the low. So the army’s formation of force avoids the strong and strikes the weak. Water adapts its flow in accord with the terrain. So the army adapts to the enemy to achieve victory. Therefore the army does not maintain any constant force or configuration of power. Therefore of the five elements, none a constant victor, of the four seasons, none has constant position. The sun shines for short and long periods; and the moon waxes and wanes.”