III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

by Sun Tzu

　　1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the bestthing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact;to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it isbetter to recapture an army entire than to destroy it,to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entirethan to destroy them. 2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battlesis not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consistsin breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. 3. Thus the highest form of generalship is tobalk the enemy's plans; the next best is to preventthe junction of the enemy's forces; the next inorder is to attack the enemy's army in the field;and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities. 4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if itcan possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets,movable shelters, and various implements of war, will takeup three whole months; and the piling up of mounds overagainst the walls will take three months more. 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 disastrouseffects of a siege. 6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy'stroops without any fighting; he captures their citieswithout laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdomwithout lengthy operations in the field. 7. With his forces intact he will dispute the masteryof the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumphwill be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem. 8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are tento the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one,to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our armyinto 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. 10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be madeby a small force, in the end it must be capturedby the larger force. 11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State;if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State willbe strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State willbe weak. 12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bringmisfortune upon his army:-- 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. 14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in thesame way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorantof the conditions which obtain in an army. This causesrestlessness in the soldier's minds. 15. (3) By employing the officers of his armywithout discrimination, through ignorance of themilitary principle of adaptation to circumstances.This shakes the confidence of the soldiers. 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 flingingvictory away. 17. Thus we may know that there are five essentialsfor victory:(1) He will win who knows when to fight and whennot to fight.(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superiorand inferior forces.(3) He will win whose army is animated by the samespirit throughout all its ranks.(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to takethe enemy unprepared.(5) He will win who has military capacity and isnot interfered with by the sovereign. 18. Hence the saying: If you know the enemyand know yourself, you need not fear the result of ahundred 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 willsuccumb in every battle.