Attack Through Strategy

1. Sun Tzŭ said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

1. Sun Tzu said: In warfare, the best approach of all is to capture the enemy’s country whole and intact. Shattering and destroying the country is not as good. Likewise, capturing an entire army is better than destroying the army. Capturing a regiment, a detachment, or a company intact is also better than destroying those units.

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

2. So fighting and winning all your battles is not the greatest achievement. The greatest achievement is breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to baulk 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.

3. Thus, the best military leadership defeats the enemy’s plans. The next best prevents the enemy’s forces from joining together. Next comes attacking the enemy’s army in the field. 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.

4. The rule is to avoid besieging walled cities if at all possible. Preparing protective shields, movable shelters, and other military equipment will take three full months. And building mounds against the walls will take another three months.

5. The general, 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.

5. The general, unable to control his anger, will send his men to attack like swarming ants. As a result, one-third of his men are killed, while the town remains uncaptured. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

6. Therefore the skilful 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.

6. So a skilled leader subdues enemy troops without fighting. He captures their cities without laying siege to them. He overthrows their kingdom without a long military campaign.

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.

7. With his forces intact, he will compete for control of the Empire. His victory will thus be complete, without losing a single man. This is the method of attacking through strategy.

8. 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.

8. The rule in war is to surround the enemy if our forces outnumber them ten to one. If we outnumber them five to one, attack them. If we have twice as many troops, divide our army in two.

9. 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.

9. If we are evenly matched, we can fight. If we have slightly fewer troops, we can avoid the enemy. If we are far weaker in every way, we can flee from the enemy.

10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

10. So, although a small force may fight stubbornly, the larger force must eventually capture it.

11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State: if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

11. The general is the State’s defensive wall. If the wall is sound at every point, the State will be strong. If the wall has flaws, the State will be weak.

12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:—

12. A ruler can bring misfortune on his army in three ways:

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.

13. (1) By ordering the army to advance or retreat without realizing the army 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.

14. (2) By trying to run an army as he runs a kingdom, without understanding the conditions in an army. This approach makes the soldiers restless.

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.

15. (3) By assigning duties to his army’s officers without considering their differences. He does this because he does not understand the military principle of adapting to circumstances. This way of using officers shakes the soldiers’ confidence.

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.

16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, the other feudal rulers are sure to cause trouble. This unrest and distrust simply create chaos in the army and throw victory away.

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. Victory lies in the knowledge of these five points.

17. So we may identify five essentials for victory: (1) The commander who knows when to fight and when not to fight will win. (2) The commander who knows how to command both stronger and weaker forces will win. (3) The commander whose army shares the same spirit across all ranks will win. (4) The commander who is prepared and waits to catch the enemy unprepared will win. (5) The commander who has military skill and faces no interference from the ruler will win. Victory depends on knowing these five points.

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.

18. So the saying goes: If you know the enemy and yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, you will suffer one defeat for every victory. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will lose every battle.