VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG

by Sun Tzu

　　1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field andawaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight;whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battlewill arrive exhausted. 2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will onthe enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him. 3. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemyto approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage,he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near. 4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him;if well supplied with food, he can starve him out;if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. 5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend;march swiftly to places where you are not expected. 6. An army may march great distances without distress,if it marches through country where the enemy is not. 7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacksif you only attack places which are undefended.You canensure the safety of your defense if you only holdpositions that cannot be attacked. 8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whoseopponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillfulin defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. 9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through youwe learn to be invisible, through you inaudible;and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands. 10. You may advance and be absolutely irresistible,if you make for the enemy's weak points; you may retireand be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapidthan those of the enemy. 11. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forcedto an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a highrampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attacksome other place that he will be obliged to relieve. 12. If we do not wish to fight, we can preventthe enemy from engaging us even though the linesof our encampment be merely traced out on the ground.All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountablein his way. 13. By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaininginvisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated,while the enemy's must be divided. 14. We can form a single united body, while theenemy must split up into fractions. Hence there willbe a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole,which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few. 15. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior forcewith a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits. 16. The spot where we intend to fight must not bemade known; for then the enemy will have to prepareagainst a possible attack at several different points;and his forces being thus distributed in many directions,the numbers we shall have to face at any given point willbe proportionately few. 17. For should the enemy strengthen his van,he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear,he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left,he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right,he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere,he will everywhere be weak. 18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepareagainst possible attacks; numerical strength, from compellingour adversary to make these preparations against us. 19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle,we may concentrate from the greatest distances in orderto fight. 20. But if neither time nor place be known,then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right,the right equally impotent to succor the left, the vanunable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van.How much more so if the furthest portions of the army areanything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearestare separated by several LI! 21. Though according to my estimate the soldiersof Yueh exceed our own in number, that shall advantagethem nothing in the matter of victory. I say thenthat victory can be achieved. 22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we mayprevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discoverhis plans and the likelihood of their success. 23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of hisactivity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself,so as to find out his vulnerable spots. 24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own,so that you may know where strength is superabundantand where it is deficient. 25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitchyou can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions,and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies,from the machinations of the wisest brains. 26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy'sown tactics--that is what the multitude cannot comprehend. 27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer,but what none can see is the strategy out of which victoryis evolved. 28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gainedyou one victory, but let your methods be regulatedby the infinite variety of circumstances. 29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in itsnatural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards. 30. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strongand to strike at what is weak. 31. Water shapes its course according to the natureof the ground over which it flows; the soldier worksout his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. 32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape,so in warfare there are no constant conditions. 33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to hisopponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be calleda heaven-born captain. 34. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth)are not always equally predominant; the four seasons makeway for each other in turn. There are short days and long;the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.