Sun Tzu's Art of War for Women. Catherine Huang
Legal and moral standards (according to the Tao)
The ruler’s subjects should follow his authority, by which they willingly live and die for him without fear.
2. Nature (weather and related conditions)
Heaven and Earth contain yin and yang such as night and day, hot and cold, and seasonal variations.
3. Earth (terrain)
Terrain refers to near and far, hard and easy, and various shades of safe and unsafe.
4. Leadership
A good general (leader) possesses the qualities of wisdom, credibility, consideration, courage and discipline.
5. Organization and discipline
Organization and discipline are essential elements in leading people and managing logistics.
Every general (leader) should be familiar with these basic elements. Those who are will be successful; those who aren’t are destined to fail.
Comparisons
When seeking to determine military conditions, use the following issues as your basis of comparison:
1. Which of the two rulers (ours or theirs) best complies with legal and moral standards?
2. Which leader appears to be more capable?
3. Which group holds the greatest advantages in natural conditions and terrain?
4. Which side is better disciplined?
5. Whose resources are stronger?
6. Which side is better trained?
7. Which side is more consistent and fair in giving out rewards and punishment?
This evaluation will enable me to predict victory or defeat. The general who follows and acts upon this advice will win and should be kept in charge. The one who neither pays attention to my counsel nor acts upon it will lose, for which reason you should replace him.
Taking all of this into consideration, seek any additional advantages that may be available. Mold your tactics to the existing external factors and follow a flexible strategy that compensates for any tactical imbalances.
Deception
Sun Tzu tells us here (and continuously throughout The Art of War) that warfare is based upon deception. Thus he advises us to appear (to the enemy) weak when we are strongest and:
1. Pretend to be resting while you advance;
2. When you are far away, create the appearance of being near, and when you’re close, feign being far;
3. Use bait (e.g., the illusion of a weakness) to tempt the opposition;
4. Confuse the enemy with false signs and information;
5. Prepare for a substantial enemy but avoid them if they are very strong;
6. If they appear flustered or anger, try to irritate them;
7. If they’re resting, force them to use their energy;
8. If they are cohesive, introduce conflict into their midst;
9. Attach where they are least prepared;
10. Move forward when they don’t expect it.
These are the strategies that lead to success. They should not be divulged in advance even to your own side, and must be designed as opportunities present themselves.
The general who wins a battle will have meticulously calculated his plans beforehand. Thorough preparations promote victory, whereas indifferent calculations increase the likelihood of defeat.
2: Waging War
Sun Tzu wrote:
In order to field a thousand swift chariots, an equal number of heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with enough armor and other items (such as glue and paint) to carry them a thousand li1, the total expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver per day.
Seek a Timely Victory
“I have heard of awkward haste, but have never observed skill in overlong campaigns.”—Sun Tzu
When you engage such a large force in battle, a prolonged campaign will dull their weapons, dampen their enthusiasm and deplete your funds. If you attack cities, the men’s strength will be exhausted. Then the enemy will rise to take advantage of your weakened forces, and even the wisest leader will be unable to control the consequences. Only those who are well acquainted with the dangers inherent in employing a major force are capable of truly understanding how to engage a military action to advantage.
Provisions
A skillful leader does not conscript the same people more than once or transport provisions more than twice. At first, bring your equipment from home, and then forage upon the enemy. This should be enough to feed your army. Continuing to transport food and other provisions from home will impoverish the state.
Those who are in close proximity to the army will raise their prices, causing the people’s substance to be drained away. This further leads to strains upon the rich (who are supporting the army) and the poor, who will not be able to afford adequate food and living necessities. The expenses of the rich will amount to seven-tenths of their wealth, and the ruler’s unrecoverable expenses for ruined chariots, broken-down horses, damaged breast-plates, helmets, bows and arrows, spears and protective shields, sturdy oxen and heavy wagons, will expend six-tenths of his total resources.
Thus the wise general will forage on the enemy. A single bushel of the enemy’s food is worth twenty of his own, and the same applies to a picul2 of fodder.
Motivation
Anger is what motivates soldiers to slay the enemy, and material rewards encourage them to seize the enemy’s property. In a fight where ten or more chariots have been captured, give a reward to the first man who captured one. Then remove the enemy’s flags and insignias from the captured chariots, replace them with your own, and use them alongside ours.
Treat the captured soldiers well, and reorient those you can to fight on your side. This is known as conquering the enemy to strengthen your own side.
To summarize, focus your objective on victory, not a prolonged siege. The general who understands warfare is thus the master of the people’s fate, and is responsible for the safety or endangerment of the nation.
3: Attack Strategically
Sun Tzu wrote:
Overall, the best way to defeat your enemy is to take their state undamaged. This is highly preferable to destroying it. It follows that capturing their forces is better than annihilating them, all the way from the entire army down to its battalions, companies and squads.
Thus winning a hundred victories is not the height of excellence; breaking their resistance without fighting is the true height of excellence.
Strategy
The most efficient and effective warfare policy is to neutralize the enemy’s plans; next to block their alliances; then to attack their army; and last (worst) to siege their fortified cities.
As a rule, attacking fortified cities should be avoided whenever possible and undertaken only as a last resort. Building massive protective shields capable of being moved forward, not to mention armored assault vehicles and a host of additional materials, will take three whole months; and building