V. ENERGY

by Sun Tzu

　　1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large forceis the same principle as the control of a few men:it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers. 2. Fighting with a large army under your commandis nowise different from fighting with a small one:it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals. 3. To ensure that your whole host may withstandthe brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken--this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect. 4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstonedashed against an egg--this is effected by the scienceof weak points and strong. 5. In all fighting, the direct method may be usedfor joining battle, but indirect methods will be neededin order to secure victory. 6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustibleas Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams;like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew;like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more. 7. There are not more than five musical notes,yet the combinations of these five give rise to moremelodies than can ever be heard. 8. There are not more than five primary colors(blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combinationthey produce more hues than can ever been seen. 9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes(sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinationsof them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted. 10. In battle, there are not more than two methodsof attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these twoin combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. 11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn.It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end.Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination? 12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrentwhich will even roll stones along in its course. 13. The quality of decision is like the well-timedswoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroyits victim. 14. Therefore the good fighter will be terriblein his onset, and prompt in his decision. 15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow;decision, to the releasing of a trigger. 16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there maybe seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all;amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without heador tail, yet it will be proof against defeat. 17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline,simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weaknesspostulates strength. 18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder issimply a question of subdivision; concealing courage undera show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy;masking strength with weakness is to be effectedby tactical dispositions. 19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemyon the move maintains deceitful appearances, according towhich the enemy will act. He sacrifices something,that the enemy may snatch at it. 20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march;then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him. 21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combinedenergy, and does not require too much from individuals.Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilizecombined energy. 22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fightingmen become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones.For it is the nature of a log or stone to remainmotionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope;if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but ifround-shaped, to go rolling down. 23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting menis as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountainthousands of feet in height. So much on the subjectof energy.